Sewing as a job

When I took a leave from teaching, sewing for public consumption wasn’t really on my radar. It took the first year for it to slowly rise to the top of the idea pile after I made quite a few quilts for family members. I knew I had to find an outlet for the finished products and future ideas that were piling up. When I started selling my sewn items, I generally got one of two responses. One was, “Lucky! I wish I could stay home and play all day, too.” The other was, “There’s no way I’d be able to sew that much. Too boring.” Well, both comments are right on the mark. Some days I love it, and some days I don’t. When I’m working on items, I can easily spend 8 hours ironing, cutting, or sewing. Time flies and nothing else gets done. On the days I’m not sewing, I’m looking for ideas for the next project, or for new color combinations to try, or tidying up my sewing room (though not often enough!). I know I’m lucky to be able to work on my passion project this early in life. I don’t take that for granted. It’s fun to make things people want or need. It’s rewarding to make quilts or pillows to honor and remember loved ones or special memories. It’s great to have repeat customers who send me ideas of things they want made, and I love the confidence they have that I can make it. My sewing job doesn’t pay the bills, but it does earn enough to keep buying fabric. It’s easy to fit into my part-time job schedule, and it’s flexible enough to take trips to see our grandkids. And, it keeps me out of trouble!