My Sewing Story

Everyone has one right?  How you started in something your passionate about?  So how did I start you ask?  Well, let me tell you....

Like many, I did get exposure to sewing when I was little.  My mom made me clothes (one mint green dress in particular that I remember fondly)

& my grandma (my dad's mom) let me help her make PJs once.  My senior year of high school I took Sewing I & Sewing II...hey, it was my senior year, of course I'm going to take easy classes.  In class I made a pair of boxer shorts as my final project (which I still have);

but my main sewing projects were mostly hair scrunchies (totally 90s), sewing down the seams of my uniform skirt (so awesome) & garters to wear for proms (why again?).

After high school, my sewing projects were limited to only garters for my friends as they got married.  In fact, if any of my pants' hems came down, I'd be more apt to staple it back up than try to sew it.  However, the year I got married I had a bee in my bonnet to get a sewing machine & for my birthday that year my parents got me one!  I was so excited & I immediately went out to get fabric & a pattern to make PJ bottoms for Steve.  I made them, he didn't care for them...and that was the end of that...the bee left my bonnet & the sewing machine sat dormant for nearly 9 years!!!  Yikes.

So what influenced the resurrection of my 9-year-old sewing machine you ask?  Well, a little 4-legged girl name Vivian Olive (wink!) & a heat cycle.  Yep, that's right a heat cycle really started it all.  Walt Disney has a mouse that started it all, I have a heat cycle...ok, I'm going to change it to I have a bulldog who started it all...sounds much better!

Vivi was not spayed because I show her in conformation at dog shows.  There are lots of doggy diapers out there for heat cycles, the pattern for all available are pretty much the same but it's very hard to find a pair without a tail hole.  Bulldogs' tails are so close to their body that using the regular dog panties is pointless because the tail hole is just in the exact wrong spot.

After I found a pair without a tail hole I had a weird feeling that I could actually make them too.  Not sure why, but I was certain I could...and after getting some really cute fabric, cutting out my own pattern & dusting off the sewing machine, I was ready to start sewing panties...cute panties...cute panties for bulldogs! 

...and sew I did.  Since August 2009 I have made a few pairs of very cute panties for friends, their friends & bulldog club members, I have even ventured into some that had (GASP!) tail holes!  My favorite part of it all?  The fabrics!  I love making them in really cute fabrics people choose & I even make the inside cute!  :0)  In 2010, friends were impressed that I could sew & they asked if I could make a cool collar and belly bands...I was up for the challenge & son-of-a-gun, if they didn't turn out!!

Last year, I realized I found a talent!  Who knew?  Not me!  I had given up years ago!  I never thought I had any kind of talent...I can't draw, was never good at sports, quit every musical instrument I ever tried playing, hate to cook, dancing--well, we won't go there.  Basically, I thought my "talent" was being organized....and I was ok with that.

I'm excited to find this talent, and I'm proud of what I've been able to create & how my sewing has evolved (from dog panties to tote bags).  I'll show anyone what I've made regardless if they wanted to see it or not!  I love taking raw materials & making something tangible!  I find a lot of joy in trying to figure out how to make something work or am amazed I can figure out how to fix something that doesn't.  I love coming up with new projects to make, whether that means searching the web for hours, pouring over pattern books, or sketching an idea that came to me while the alarm was going off.

Basically...I love to sew...Thanks Vivian Olive for bringing this talent to my attention!  Can't wait to share here what I learn & make!!

~Olive 2 Sew~