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Oh, Christmas Tree

Holiday Traditions Grow and Change

This baby Norfolk pine tree is an unlikely canditate for a Christms tree. Or is it?

Christmas Past (1974)

It was our first Christmas together as a married couple. Our apartment was tiny, but cozy and close enough for us to walk to the campus of Ball State University where we were finishing up our degrees. The balance in our bank account was as small as our apartment and we’d be returning to our hometown to celebrate the holiday with our families that year.  It made little sense to decorate for Christmas. I thought I’d be OK with that, but as we approached the holiday, it just didn’t seem right. I felt like Charlie Brown in the Christmas special when he said “what this place needs is a tree.”

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Sewing Holiday Pillowcases

(can be addictive)

Burritos for Christmas

On the first holiday season after retiring from teaching, I got “crafting fever.” I wanted to sew somenting festive. I was browsing through Pinterest when I came across a video with directions for making a simple pillow case, complete with contrasting trim, by using the burrito method.  Yes, the burrito method. NO, not this kind of burrito:

This kind….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAomYjHzUQk Named for the way that you roll the fabric up during sewing

It was the perfect project to help me revive my sewing skills that had been dormant for most of my teaching years. Off to the fabric store I went with the exact measurements in hand eager to get started. I found the perfect holiday themed flannel on sale and bought several different prints. The first pillowcase, a candy-cane print with a snowflake border, stitched together in a flash. I ran to show my husband the finished product, eager to impress him with my talent.

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Dress A Girl

Sew-A-Thon

Every year, on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, people take time to kick off the holiday season by giving back to their community. Whether it is donating money to a charitable cause or volunteering, Giving Tuesday is a day set to benefit the community. For me, the opportunity to give back came a bit early this year.

On November 6, 2021, hundreds of people gathered at church in my community to sew dresses for the Dress A Girl Around the World organization. Founder Rachel Eggum Cinader describes the organization this way: “Dedicated volunteers throughout the United States and around the world gather to sew and distribute dresses to girls in need around the world because we believe every girl deserves at least one dress…”  https://dressagirlaroundthe world.com

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Vintage Sewing Machines

…have personalities!

I’m not sure why vintage sewing machines intrigue me. Maybe because we live in a throwaway world, always looking for the latest, fastest, newest models of cars, appliances, phones… and it’s satisfying to find well-made machines from the past that still work. It could be because I learned to sew on a (now vintage) 1970s Sears Kenmore that holds many memories and is still my go-to machine. Or perhaps, as I get older, these vintage machines remind me that us “older models” still have a lot to offer.

I recently visited an antique mall where I discovered a booth dedicated to vintage machines, patterns, and sewing accessories. The catchy name and display of cleverly arranged machines drew me in. The owner had written descriptions giving the sewing machines names and personalities. Each one “seamed like a story” just waiting to be told. The writer in me couldn’t resist. (disclaimer: I don’t claim to be a vintage-sewing machine expert. I am going by what was on the tags and some feeble attempts at research.)

  Let me introduce you to:

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Homecoming

Back Home Again in Indiana

I’m a Hoosier transplanted to Arizona. Though I love my southwest home, after “Autumn in Arizona” http://seamslikeastory.com/autumn-in-arizona/ I needed to experience fall for real. A three hour plane ride and I was back home again in Indiana. http://seamslikeastory.com/fly-away-thoughts/ Several things made this trip important to me:

A Wedding

John (not his real name) was a student in my first grade class and, nine years later, was also a student in my husband Ed’s high school biology class. I remember him as a lively red-haired little guy. By the time he was in high school, “lively” would be a mild term. Ed saw through the antics and challenged this bright young man to live up to his potential. After he graduated from high school, John joined the Marines. Ed and I kept in touch, often taking him out for lunch when he was home on leave. We’d lost touch for a while, and were excited to receive an invitation to his wedding this fall. Of course, we had to go.

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