Home-Ec to the Rescue

Amah making bedskirts

When I arrived in the halls of North Olmstead Junior High, an attitude arrived with me. Why do I need to take math? What will I do with that? Why do I need to learn German? What will I need that for? The heaviest sigh, however, was reserved for Home-Ec. Yuk!   I had no interest in learning to sew, cook or any of the other “girlie” things they wanted to teach. “Why can’t I take Shop?” Now, that is a class where you can really learn to do something! But, girls were not allowed to take shop so I got stuck sewing instead. 
The project, a ”smock top”, was a strangely maternity like top for 12 year olds and was all the rage in 1971. My Mother, a “sewing wizard”, who made most of my clothes, all the curtains in the house and just about anything else that could be stitched together, was very excited that her only daughter was going to learn to sew. With a chip on my shoulder, I grouchily went to the fabric store and picked out a very “mod” fabric that included brown, orange and lime green. We’re talking 70’s here. So, I spent the next few weeks painfully pinning, tracing, cutting, fitting and stitching. When it was finally finished, I was reluctantly happy and somewhat proud of my accomplishment. Starting to feel a trace of excitement, I tried on my new “hip” top. I admired it in the mirror in the Home-Ec room. From all sides, I oohed and aahed at how well it fit, how “cool” it really was and that I actually made it. Then, I saw it. At first I thought it was just a fold in the fabric or perhaps a funky reflection in the mirror. But, on closer inspection, I saw what it really was. A slice, a cut, a hole in the fabric! NOOOoooo! I HAD SOMEHOW MANAGED TO CUT A HOLE IN MY FIRST SEWING PROJECT! Here, I was on the verge taking my self- esteem to the stars and instead it was reduced to a 12 year old nothing. I ripped off the smock top, threw it in a heap and that was the last I would have to do with sewing, the top never to be worn.
Fast forward 2011. The window treatments in the RV are reminiscent of the 80’s mauve and grey generation. The inside of the RV is just plain ugly and I have been struggling with whether to do something about it or just block it out. After purchasing futons with pleasantly colorful covers for the boys’ beds, I decided that if I was going to live in this space for a year I might as well make it, well, nice. My self-confidence has bumped up a few notches since 1971 and I COULD figure out how to make curtains, bed skirts and cushion covers. But, it would probably take a really long time and not look all that great in the end. Oh, how I wished I had had a better attitude and learned something in Home-Ec. But, I didn’t. So, I decided to call in reinforcements. Someone who paid attention in Home-Ec , actually enjoyed it and managed to apply the skills learned to a lifetime of sewing projects…my Mother!

Bedskirts and curtains

At 78, her fingers are still deftly fluent and with her new fancy sewing machine we could transform the interior into a space that we wouldn’t mind looking at and even enjoy 24 hours a day for the next year. Fortunately, my Mother always has a good attitude and agreed to bail me out even though I failed her in 1971. So, we worked together; me, contributing to color and design and she, her sewing wizardry. The interior of the old RV is finally becoming quite homey and I think I am ready to put my previous sewing failures where they belong – in the past.