Margaret & Betty

When I was applying for this job a while back I had to write a letter, publish it and email it to multiple people at the company. The instructions were to write a letter about something that I had accomplished and email multiple recipients since that would be something that I'd be doing a lot of at this job. other than raising children. Though I'm not done raising mine, far from it, I couldn't think of anything that I have accomplished that could even compare to something like that. So i thought and thought and figured I'd better look at it as if I'd never had children but was still where I am today. Then I realized that I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't have children, I mean who would I have made a superhero cape for to begin with, or and adorable bear hat?! I really enjoyed that writing exercise and thought I'd share it with you. It's about how I got started sewing & crocheting, I shared a little about it on Mandie's blog last week.  Enjoy!


I am supposed to tell you about one of my greatest accomplishments. It happens that I can write to you about anything else but raising my children, I would like to tell you first though that my greatest accomplishments are my children. Even though they are still so young I am so very proud of them and
everything else just seems minute. The one accomplishment that I am choosing to share with you though is something I never thought I could or would do. I taught myself how to sew and crochet and now I have my very own “small business”.


When I was in high school I would go visit a couple of the elderly women from our church. One of the women was Mrs. Margaret, she got me started on cooking. We would make lunch and dessert and while it cooked or baked we would play card games. The other lady that I remember fondly was Mrs. Betty. Mrs. Betty had a lot of health issues so I would help her tidy up her house and then we would chat. Sometimes I would go to Mrs. Betty’s and there would be small fabric squares arranged for a quilt on her living room floor, she made the prettiest quilts. Her money was tight so all of her fabric was from old items of
clothing, yard sales, and the clearance bins at the fabric store. I admired her patience, her imagination, her creativity. One day her next door neighbor and friend had a sewing machine for sale, Mrs. Betty bought it for me. It was an old sewing machine, one that came on a sewing table. I still have it and still use the table, just with an updated sewing machine. Mrs. Betty didn’t teach me how to sew, but she sure planted the seed. Within a few weeks I had started practicing and made myself an a-line skirt. The skirt was crooked, but I was very proud of it and wore it anyway. Since then, learning from mistakes, from books, from others, from asking questions, and from the internet I’ve made things I never thought I would. This last week I gave one of my best friend’s custom bedding for her baby girl. She picked out and bought the fabric, I did the work. Never in my life did I think I would be able to make a crib bumper, a crib sheet, a crib skirt, a changing pad cover. Now I go to the store and think, “ooh! I could make that!”. I haven’t made a big intricate quilt yet, but have a small one for my son who hardly ever sleeps without it and made a rag doll for my daughter who will not sleep without it either. Another thing that Mrs. Betty really enjoyed doing was crocheting. This completely fascinated me and I actually asked her to teach me. She taught me the basics, I think that two lessons was all we had, at the end of which she gave me an instruction book on needlework that had belonged to her mother. I still have it. Now I’ve made hats, blankets & scarves.


I guess that the most mind blowing thing for me though is having my own little shop. It’s an online shop, but it’s doing well. Now, I know that I won’t become rich from it, at least not yet, a girl can dream though right? But it’s amazing to know that people I know and people I don’t even know from as far away
as Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Utah want to pay me to make something for them. People want to pay me to create, to do what I love, to do what Mrs. Betty Inspired me to do.