Project D, § 1: A sewing project

While I was home with my parents for the auctioning of my grandpa's possessions, I asked my mom to help me figure out my sewing machine. I received him almost two years ago and just had trouble getting the hang of how to work it, and in my frustration just let it sit. While Mom helped me through my learning curve, she gave me some buttons and fabric she had in her sewing kit from the 70's and 80's that she knew she wasn't going to use again.

My project already had family in mind, so my mom's contributions significantly helped this project's progress; the more family I could include, the better.

I used fabric from my late great aunt (cut from clothes from the 60's-70's) to make some human forms:


My dad was able to buy a window frame at the auction (it was just leaning up against the house)--score one for Grandpa... and as a background, Mom's square of fabric is used:


Throughout the process of sewing, threading and re-threading the machine became second-nature :)


Slowly but surely it began to come together.


...but it took a long time. Before I knew it I was working on the project for seven hours straight (beginning at 8pm or so, only to look up hours later and find a clock that read 4am).

Snags... no pun intended:
Broken needle



This could be caused by various things, yet it was often trial and error to figure out the exact cause, and often involved re-threading the machine a few more times...

Coming together!


* * * * *

My thoughts on this project seem to revolve around still finding the balance between family and school life. Lately I've felt the need to mend relationships between others, mend my own feelings, and still find comfort. Working with the fabric has so far provided a means for me to feel more connected with family while focusing on school (i.e. the images in the project are school-related).