As much as I am inspired by all those craftacular people out there who can bake a cake to look like a castle, create a gingerbread house with stained glass windows, whip out a blanket, dress, custom or other nifty doo-dad on their sewing machine as well as knit and crochet anything in a matter of minutes, alas, I am not one of them.
Amira's soon to be first grade teacher came for a home visit a couple of weeks ago to see where Amira lives and what she likes. While she was here I dragged out many a half completed project (fairy house, apron, skirt) to display my desire to be able to sew and yet my lack of ability. Amira will be in a class with kids who have moms who actually make money sewing skirts and putting on fashion shows. And, yet, somehow I volunteered or got volunteered to sew 30 bean bags for the class. Yes, that's right, THIRTY.
I consoled myself. Bean bags, that should be pretty easy as projects go. It could be a lot worse. I mean, those crayon pouches look like a lot of work.
Well, it took me an entire weekend to make the bean bags. It's always daunting to start with giant bolts of fabric and a sack of beans and imagine the finished project. (Well, it may not be hard for some people, but I am crafticapped after all).
Michael and I made a little assembly line. I sewed pouches, he turned them right side in and filled them with beans and then I filled them with a little lavender I dried from our garden and sewed them up. The process was not difficult. Finding the time to set aside was a little daunting. It took a couple of days.
I really felt triumphant as I dropped of a 15 pound bag of wonderful smelling bean bags into the classroom. I did my duty and now I'm done.
But then I saw a note from my friend Caryl who had gotten volunteered to do those crayon pouches. She suddenly realized there were not enough hours in life to deal with them and needed someone else to take over.
I guess I was a little high on lavender scented bean bags when I wrote to her and said, "Is there a pattern? Why don't you just drop the stuff off at my house and I'll do it for you." Caryl tried to warn me, "Really? Are you sure? She wants these by the first day of school and it's going to take some time." Like a case of turrets, here it came, "How hard can it be?"
I about cried when I saw the gigantic bolt of fabric take up my entire living room. And there was a piece of paper with a sort of directions. But I decided I could do it. Failure was not an option.
Sadly, you know that saying,
I remembered it too ... after I cut. So, making one crayon pouch is not a problem. Making 30 of them identical is a challenge. Let's just say I can't make two matching mittens when I knit. So, thirty of these rascals are all over the map. I just hope the kids can fit their crayons into them without it falling apart.
And I have a new respect for those poor people in the sewing sweat shops around the world ... and their talent to put out identical garments!
So, here's my pile of 30 crayon pouches. They are bundled up so the size difference won't be apparent until the kids start comparing.
On the plus side, if the job is that bad, I might be fired. Then I won't have to worry about any more sewing jobs! And also on the plus side, I can thread a sewing machine and tear apart a bobbin case like it's nobody's business. I'm feeling more confident in that realm. It's the measuring and cutting I need to work on in the future.
I'm so fired.
