Humble Beginnings

The other day I was talking with my boyfriend (Brooks) about my current lack of a hobby--I had plenty of hobbies when I was younger but over time they just were no longer feasible because I didn't have the talent, the appropriate space, or the community to really keep them up.  My boyfriend is the kind of man who have multiple hobbies that he does so well with he is devoting his entire life to them to try to make a career out of it (think actor, director, writer)--he's very talented in so many areas so it's a good decision for him and he's already getting his foot in the door.  When I introduce him to others I'm always sure to point out all the projects he's currently working on or any past projects that may impress them. 

Flash back to me.  "What do you do?" Oh... Uh... I watch a lot of TV? It's almost laughable how boring I am! I used to have the "I'm really busy with school and work" excuse but now that I've graduated from college I'm finding myself with an awful lot of time on my hands and absolutely nothing productive to show for it.  This summer has been a hard one for me, and I find myself home alone with nothing to do but mentally abuse myself for doing nothing more than existing. Not exactly the way I'd planned to spend my summer.  

I started thinking more about that earlier conversation about hobbies and wondering what I could do that would make me feel more whole again.  I thought through all my old hobbies and got kind of down on my inability to do them still, but then I started considering the possibility of finding something new.  I thought about a lot of different things and sewing crossed my mind.  

Initially I dismissed the thought because I've never considered myself crafty in any way--besides how can someone who can't even draw a straight line learn how to sew?! A week passed and hobbies had been nothing more than something floating around in the background of my mind.  I was looking around on Pinterest last Thursday and saw some cute little girl princess dresses.  I started thinking in my mind how fun that would be to sew those for my nieces, and how happy I would feel to know the joy I brought them in making a fairy tale come true.  

That's the seed that started my desire to learn how to sew.  I spent 6 hours that day researching different sewing machines, watching tutorials on how to do basic sewing. I called my boyfriend Brooks and told him that I was thinking of buying a sewing machine and he should stop me before I did anything rash--he didn't stop me! I bought my first sewing machine after plenty of research.

I bought the Brother XL2600I, it says it is one of the best "bang for your buck" sewing machines.  It's rated pretty well and is sturdy, but at $82 is not so expensive that as someone who vaguely remembers sewing pajama bottoms when she was 12 would feel like it would be a huge waste of money if she didn't catch the sewing bug.


Waiting for this baby to arrive was probably the longest time I've ever had in my life. I was so excited to be able to start doing something that I paid extra to have it delivered in 2 days.  There was really only one day of waiting while I looked up basically every sewing project Pinterest has ever posted--I added around 200 pins in one day!

The happy couple

When the doorbell rang early in the morning I was skeptical that it was my sewing machine, I was expecting it close to when the normal mail arrives.  So happy! I sat in the room with the unopened box for awhile, fully aware that I had insanely high expectations for what this could mean for my life. Unwrapping it was like the magic of Christmas you haven't experience since you were 8 and still believed in the magic of the world--bottom line I was super, super happy!

(Not too shabby if I say so myself!)

I started out with something really easy to  get used to my new machine, some straight lines. I had read that you should start small so I was patient, read the whole manual, threaded the machine, filled the bobbin, and began my spiral into sewing.

I started with a plan piece of lined paper and attempted to follow the lines--I wasn't worried about spacing so it's really uneven.  I made quite a few mistakes specifically when it comes to corners but I felt pretty satisfied in my straight line abilities.

My next project was to try to connect two pieces of fabric together. It was a success!



So now I guess I have a hobby--something I'm really passionate about even though I've just started. I'm sure a lot of people have children who are just as experienced as I am at this point so this isn't really a blog to show off my awesome sewing skills or teach those who already sew how to do difficult things. This is just my celebration of finding something inside myself and hoping that maybe there is someone else out there who needs this too. Someone out there who when people ask about them say things as I did; in the past tense "I'm Nicole and I used to dance." Such as sad sentence, like the only thing interesting thing about me is already gone. 

So now I'm Nicole who sews... not well by any stretch of the imagination yet--but it's something, and it's mine.