I imagine all of you who’ve been reading this week have realized we’re in the throes of moving.
In particular, we are Moving Home. After five years in the Big City (or the Western Canadian equivalent, anyway, which my American co-workers assure me isn’t anything like actually big), we’re moving back to our hometown, which thinks it’s a big city only because there’s no comparison within easy driving distance.
As with any such move, I’m a little torn. Part of me is excited to be back around the friends and family I’ve missed so much. Part of me feels like we’re admitting failure, running back to the small and familiar. Part of me is sad because I know it won’t be the same, regardless.
But on the sewing front, despite the intense tragedy of losing my in-home sewing room (current plan is to set up at my mother-in-law’s house, a few blocks away), I’m actually pretty excited. About (I know!) sewing for other people.
Aside from my the assortment of nieces, I am excited about sewing for my sisters-in-law and my mother.
My stylish sister-in-law is close to my size, but she’s a classic pear shape, very different from mine. We’ve been stealing each others’ clothes since we were teenagers (yes, I was still a teenager when I met her…) , with varying degrees of success. And she’s kept my children for a full month every summer for the last five years, with little or no recompense, so a bit of sewing is the least of what I owe her. Also, I’m pretty sure her figure is more-or-less what Tyo is going to end up with in a few years, so hopefully I can get ahead of the curve there. 😉
My crafty sister-in-law is a little bigger than us, and curvy, with a classic hourglass shape. She’s the only person I’ve ever measured who actually has bust, waist, and hips in the same size by the pattern envelopes, although probably she needs a smaller size in the shoulders. She’s also one of those people who never wants to spend the time and money on herself to look as good as she could—she wears oversize clothes, whatever she can pick up cheap. I’d like to help her feel as beautiful as she actually is, although how receptive she’ll be remains to be seen.
And then there’s my mother. The woman who taught me to sew. The woman who sewed the Grad Dress. The woman I learned style from, even if my style has never been on the same planet as hers. And one of the biggest crimps in my mom’s style over the years has been fit—she has the same short waist, long limbs, and square shoulders that I have, plus a full bust—so I’m excited to get her at least a few items that actually fit, both her body and her style.
Then there’s my (almost) fifteen-year-old niece (daughter of Crafty, for those attempting to keep track). Not sure if I want to sew for her or not. I mean, I’d love to if she wanted to. (I’d love even more if we could sew together and it could be that rarest of things, adult-teenage bonding time) But it would have to be very niece-led. I have zero interest in creating something for a teenager they’re not going to wear. And of course there’s my little nieces, who are enjoying their new dresses.
Don’t worry—I promise I’ll extract blog-modeling promises before embarking on any of this non-selfish sewing.
But first I need to get that sewing room set up!
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Yay for sewing adventures! Even if the teenage niece isn’t interested, maybe you can hook they little ones. Mom got me young, and it stuck. Also, will you be able to do paleontology from home? After hearing bits and pieces over the years I’m also curious about the rest of the dino-action
Yeah… it’s a little disturbing how much more I’d rather set up the sewing room than, say, my bedroom. 😉
How much paleo is in my future remains to be determined… but I’d be happy to answer any questions ;). Although I admit the paleo/sewing crossover is fairly minimal…
Looking forward to your family sewing adventures! Hope you get settled in soon. 🙂
Thanks!
You’re home! How nice to be closer to your loved ones. There’s something archetypal about coming home after years abroad, Greek myths and Prodigal Son Biblical (not that you were either at war or squandering your inheritance, may I hasten to add). Remember that the virtue of living in a small place is that everyone knows everyone, and all about what everyone else is doing, all the time. Remember that this is also the curse of living in a small place.
Yeah—my hometown is not *quite* so small that everyone’s in everyone’s business all the time, but it is a lot closer than where we were before. I’ll go with archetypal over pathetic any day. 😉
I don’t think theres anything wrong with moving back home, I’m from a very very very small northern BC town where I lived out in the boonies another 45 minutes from that little town and whenever I go back there it’s delightful to just sit back and enjoy the much more relaxed pace! Plus with all these people to sew for you will have a never ending list of creative projects to do.
Yeah, as long as I can get the sewing facilities figured out there’ll be no lack of projects…
I hope the relaxed thing kicks in… when we come home for visits everything is always insanely frantic trying to fit everyone in…
As someone who just went almost as far away from Home as possible and still be in the same country, I’m a teeny bit jealous.
You’re right, it’s never the same coming back home, but you’re coming back as an adult with your own life and family, so that might help a bit. I hope you guys settle in nice and quick. Totally not so that we can see more of your lovely creations. Of course not. >.>
Yeah, that move to the Yukon was BOLD! Hehe.
I hope to be settled in soon, too. This living out of boxes and bags thing blows. I still haven’t found my pillows. 😦
You know, I’m glad you have family to move back to, because mine has always been scattered across the world. I guess most of Mom’s family is concentrated in Colorado now, but I barely know them. My husband’s family (which is deeply southern) has become my surrogate in many ways. And I have had friends I’ve made over the years that ARE family, just not by blood.
In any case, I applaud your willingness to sew for others. I’m starting to get to a comfortable enough point in my life that I might be willing to sew for others, but I’m setting expectations up front that if someone ASKS me to sew for them, I will charge. Fee depends on how much I like you. 😉
My own family (as opposed to my husband’s) is pretty scattered, too, but there’s enough of them here to make it a fairly logical centre-point. And my husband’s family is pretty tight, so I totally feel you on the surrogacy ;).
I’m kind of interested in the opportunity to fit bodies other than my own, so there’s a bit of self-interest even in the unselfish sewing. 😉 So far I have “orders” for lots of coats… we’ll see how that goes. I plan to extract payment in the form of help setting up the sewing room, and possibly childcare… 😉
It seems you are already fantasy-sewing quite a bit 🙂 Looking forward to fantasy-turning-reality.
Good luck with the big move!
Yup, no lack in the fantasy department! Thanks! 🙂
Moving home is always a bit (well a lot really!) stressful, I hope you get all settled back in okay soon hun 🙂
Shame your sewing space will be a few blocks away – will you keep 1-machine at home (e.g. for emergency hem repairs/etc.), and the rest of your stuff and other machines at your MIL’s? I’m just being nosey LOL!
LOL! That was my original plan—I used to keep the machine on one end of our L-shape computer desk. But my husband has co-opted the computer desk for the entertainment centre, so no dice. We’ll see… I’m not sure I have the space to store even one machine here right now. /sniffle.
I can’t decide whether I’m jealous about you getting to move home or not. I don’t think I could ever do that and be happy, even though I adore my family and my in-laws. Your new sewing adventures sound very exciting and rewarding, hopefully, it will be that and more. 🙂
Anyway, get settled in, we’ll be here once you get everything unpacked and set up. 🙂
Yeah, I definitely waffle. I think mostly I’m happy, but I wish our circumstances were a bit better. Once we’re settled (and employed and stuff) I’ll feel better about everything.
I’ve never really moved far enough away to move back, but it’s something my husband I talk about with him being from Manitoba. We’ve seen many of his friends leave and return. I think if we were to move there (so not going to happen) he would have those same mixed feelings of happy to see friends and family but maybe feeling a bit of a failure for the potential perception of “not cutting it” rather than just wanting to live there. It’s easy to just say don’t think it, but I really doubt anyone is actually viewing it that way when you’re coming back with great daughters, a solid education and a happy family.
Thanks.
We both hit a point a year or two ago where the reasons for leaving no longer felt so imperative, and the reasons for being home just seemed bigger and bigger. Our motto has always been “Family, Friends, Fun” in order of priority… and the first two of those were heavily weighted towards coming home. At least the internet makes my little corner of the world not quite so isolated as it might otherwise be… 😉
Ah, I would LOVE to be able to return home, but it isn’t in the cards at this time. I know what you mean about sewing for teens, I have a teen daughter but she isn’t too interested in homemade items. Oh well…
I think the only reason my kids are still into it is because I started sewing for them so late… we’ll see how that develops over the next few years. I don’t think Tyo will suddenly turn into a brand-fetishist, but I’m not so sure about Syo.
I hope your path takes you home eventually.
There’s a pleasure in making a life away from family, and a pleasure in being close to those you love and that which you know intimately. Sadly, we can’t be in both places at the same time. But you can holiday in the big city! And time with family is precious. I have no family around (other than my husband and child), which can be very lonely. Of course, it’s liberating too.
I think the *best* thing about being home is that we’ll finally be able to actually *take* a holiday, rather than running home every vacation. We never get to go anywhere because we’ve always been heading home.
And I won’t lie, having family around when you have a kid or two rocks, majorly.
My twin daughters are almost 16 and while I sewed a lot for them when they were young, these days I do it only if they ask me to make something, which tends to be special occasion dresses for dances and proms since what I can make will always be a 100 times better than anything we could buy. But for day wear they like to shop – or trade clothes with friends!
Best wishes for a homecoming and new sewing frontiers !