When two of my mama friends asked if I would teach their eight year old daughters to sew, I jumped at the chance. I distinctly remember learning to knit in an after-school class taught by my 4th grade English teacher, Mrs. Broughton. I remember how weirdly special it felt to be at school after hours— to be learning something other than English from my teacher. It felt… mystical—as if we were somehow conspiring. As if she was teaching me what I really needed to know in life.
Teaching young girls old crafts feels more like a rite of passage than an art class. There is a thrill and a rush that comes from the power of learning how to make a simple, useful thing with one’s own hands. I remember my first knitted object—a lumpy, dark purple, acrylic pot holder. I remember marveling at it and feeling so proud of what my two hands had made.
The girls might be having that same feeling tonight. On their second-ever day of sewing class each girl made a patchwork pillow for her own room. They learned about seam allowances, pressing, turning corners, and the importance of precise measurements. It was awesome. (I did also tell them that the machine could sew through their fingers if they put them near the needle while it was moving…too much? Perhaps, but I kinda wanted them to be aware of the machine’s power.)
My mama friends insist that I am doing them a favor, but I keep telling them that I am the beneficiary of this arrangement. I get to be the one the girls will remember when they are thirty-nine years old and have children of their own and they think about the first thing they ever sewed. I hope they remember me as fondly as I remember Edith Broughton. And if they are anything like me, what they will mainly remember is the magic of witnessing their hands make something they can use for the very first time—something that they can hold on to. And the magic of learning an old art from an older woman.
How lovely! I would have put my 8 year old in with these two if I had known about the class! <3
Oh good heavens! What an awesome post to read at the end of a long day. I often day dream about teaching Eleanor to sew (or any little girl for that matter). I think I’ve told you this before, but your writing has great ‘voice.’
And, yes, I am 100% certain they will remember you when they are 39!