D is for D.I.Y.

Back to my favorite Do It Yourself creative center of the moment, Workshop on McAllister (www.workshopsf.org) for Sewing 102, Alterations and Reconstruction. I have to admit, I went into this experience with a slight, if not severe sense of superiority (I can wind a bobbin in my sleep! Janome sewing machines!  I could almost hear Sue Nickels cringe!)  But as I looked down at my band-aid from Friday night screen printing (second degree burn, I might add), I remembered my humility.  Sure, I can make handbags and frilly fabric flowers.  I might be able to machine applique a sun onto a baby blanket (What’s up Olivia!?).  But... can I do anything useful for society?  Can I hem jeans for my short friends?  Can I finally fix that jacket for poor Chris that is gathering dust at the back of my closet?  The answer is, now I can!  DIY, baby!

Tonight, I learned the utmost important lesson in how to use my talents and give back to society: I can turn a pair of $8 wide-leg pants from the thrift store into skinny-leg pants.  And use the excess materials for a matching hipster headband.  Look out Valencia street!  All I need now is a pair of those pointy-toed tap shoes and big, ugly plastic framed glasses and I’m finally ready to fit in here.

It was a liberating experience.  We used chalk to mark lines, we guesstimated straight lines, and (Sue*, cover your ears!) we sewed over pins!  Turns out I’m not as Type A as I thought about sewing.  Thanks, Workshop!

Check out the DIY drama.

*If by some off-chance you’re reading this and you aren’t a friend or family (highly unlikely), yes, Sue Nickels is the world-famous quilter/ my mother.