Sewing Skills

​

If anyone ever asks if I sew, I will immediately refer them back to this beautiful skirt I made in Home Economics in 1983, proving that yes, I can sew!

I had it in my mind that I was going to make a pleated, 100% wool skirt in a classic red-and-green tartan pattern, a kilt-style skirt that was incredibly popular in the early ’80s. What I didn’t realize was just how tricky it would be to create all those pleats while keeping the tartan pattern perfectly lined up. But I spent months working my way through this project, finally completing it and receiving an A for my efforts. Take that!

So yes, I can sew…although this is also my one and only sewing project in the entire history of my life. Apparently, my sewing skills peaked in 1983.

I wasn’t even sure I had kept the skirt, but of course I did. Why wouldn’t I? So while cleaning out my clothes yesterday and filling countless bags for Goodwill, I came across this amazing creation and immediately smiled with pride at my teenage sewing skills.

And the crazy part? It’s back in style! So you may just see me wearing this skirt again this winter. Thank goodness it’s a wrap skirt, because apparently, after forty-three years, I still have a chance of getting it on!

This discovery also reminded me why I’m on this whole cleaning mission in the first place. The bedroom is done, the second upstairs room is looking pretty darn good, and I only have two more upstairs rooms to tackle. Of course, those rooms are now filled with anything and everything I wasn’t quite sure what to do with while cleaning the others. Out of sight, out of mind…at least temporarily!

I’ve already bagged up garbage, Goodwill donations, and miscellaneous things that need to find new homes, but there still seems to be enough work ahead of me to keep this cleaning project going well through the month of September.

People always say, “If you haven’t worn it in a year, get rid of it.”

I beg to differ.

I haven’t worn this wool skirt in over forty years, and I am absolutely tickled that I still have it!

I am, admittedly, a maximalist. Hey, if people can proudly call themselves minimalists, why can’t we maximalists embrace our ways too? I happen to love everything, bags, shoes, dresses, jackets, jewelry…give me all of it! I love having cool or beautiful things around me, especially things with a story.

And every now and then, I reach into a box in the back of my closet and pull out something I haven’t seen in years, something I forgot I even had, and suddenly, there it is: a little piece of my past that makes my heart sing.

So maybe the lesson isn’t always “If you haven’t used it, get rid of it.” Maybe sometimes it’s “If it makes you smile, keep it.” Because you just never know when something you’ve held onto for decades will come back around and remind you exactly why you kept it in the first place.

And yes, that tartan skirt will be making a comeback. Forty-three years later, I’m finally back in style!

“Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days.” ~ Doug Larson