Sewing Stories

NOTE: To access Susan’s Restoration Stories, click here. For her Essays, click here. For her Childhood Story, click here.

Golly

I have been making sock dolls for many years.  But the first sock doll I ever made was the result of a request coming from my therapist saying to me, “I want you to go home and make yourself a sock doll.”

I found the beginnings of Golly by opening my sock drawer and pulling out an old pair of felted wool socks – of the undyed oatmeal variety.  She began to take shape as I stuffed her with whatever was readily available, forming her head, torso, and legs in short order only beginning to struggle as I attached her arms and became engrossed in giving her a thumb and four fingers and perhaps even a lifeline in the palm of her hands.

To make her something to wear, I found a knitting sample I had made from yarn scraps – folding it in half I cut a hole big enough to squeeze her head through.  It turned out to be a little short, bordering on the edge of unrespectability, which has been unsettling for me all of these years.  Her hat came from the toe of the other sock, decorated with a little embroidery and a tassel.  Her hair and face were not very well executed, and myself being a novice at sock doll making.

When she was finished and I looked at her, I felt an immediate bond with her.  I recognized who she was and what she carried inside.

Over the years, she has acquired two friends, Molly and Pauly.  Molly is a happy country girl with bangs and pigtails.  She comes from a more gentrified stock (sock) and wears a pretty dress with puffy sleeves, a gathered skirt, and an apron.  Pauly is a cute little guy with dark skin and a bowler-felt hat with an oversized bow tie that matches his hat band.  He is wearing a fully tailored white linen shirt with tiny red buttons and some old blue jeans with an oversized buckle on his belt.  He is dapper and very sweet.  The three of them spend their days together (except when my grandchildren are visiting) in a small 1940s wicker rocker that I have also not resisted in my temptation to embellish.

It was at the most recent visit of my grandchildren, when Golly, Molly, and Pauly were out and about, that Nina, my middle grandchild – now seven, said to me in earnest, “Golly needs a new outfit.” There it was plucked out of all possible word utterances.  How could anything be so true and simple?  After I took off her old outfit, I studied her carefully to see what was there.  I had to ask myself who she was and what suited her – nothing fancy or frivolous.  She looked at me seriously, wanting to let me know she had integrity and was not to be taken lightly.

After having worked tirelessly on her new outfit, I can now admire Golly seated in the chair next to me.  Her hands are reaching out in a welcoming gesture, and on her feet, she has a cute little pair of shoes made of navy blue felt with a band across the ankle fastened with a tiny red button. She wears a calf-length dark blue knitted skirt and a white linen blouse with a colorful silk tie.  She also has a very classy-looking shoulder bag that fastens with a vintage button.

All that remains is a bit more hair styling and her new knitted cap with tassel.  When her new outfit is finished, I will still see the original Golly looking at me with the same face I have always known and the same hands ready to go to work.  But very importantly, I find she is to be regarded for her many worthwhile contributions

Cross-Stitch Labyrinth 

The best way for me to bring myself together in a meaningful way is to make something with my hands.  Since I am in love with silk, color, and geometry, there is nothing more I could want than some fabric, thread, and a hand-sewing needle.          

I've been working on my craft for years and have many textile creations.  But my inventory of hand-printed and dyed fabrics has become depleted so that as I sat down to work, I found the remnants I had never chosen were still there waiting for their turn.  I recognized each one, big or small, as I had considered their potential over and over again, always putting them aside. 

Nonetheless, I could not turn away from what lay before me, and I began picking up small pieces of fabric and putting colors, designs, and shapes together to begin a collage composition.  I pinned many pieces onto a foundation of plain white cotton and hung it up so I could study what I had made.  Feeling trepidation that my work would not be good enough, I prepared myself for possible disappointment. 

Holding my little spotlight so that the silk and color could shine back to me, I looked with anticipation to see what I had made. What I felt was sadness, a silent call for help coming from the visual story I had made.  It made me want to keep working on my small piece much as you would want to care for your garden if it needed watering. 

This new gesture represents something significant to me: my priority to care for what is needed rather than what is appealing.  Having come this far in my exploration I will keep going until I've finished the cress-stitch labyrinth so that when I shine the light on the color and silk, I will see what my passed-over pieces want to tell me.

Mercury in Retrograde

Do the planets of our solar system have an influence on our lives? For those of you who are unaware, uninterested, or think it’s a crackpot notion, I would like to raise an inquiry as to whether or not this may be true. Read more…

Natalie

As my business grew, I began to consider finding someone to help me. I had moved my sewing space around inside our house on Twenty-First Avenue to accommodate my business until I’d transformed the living room into my shop, with the dining room becoming the dining/living room.  Sarah and Paul each had a bedroom, the breakfast nook was the massage therapy room, and the basement was rented to a painting contractor for storage. I slept on a day bed in the living/sewing room, which was filled with a large work table, an industrial Bernina, an overlock and a Viking sewing machine. Read more …

Cotton and Silk

I am working on the last panel of a pair of drapes for my client, Kelley, a young, talented designer. She and her husband bought a house designed by Julia Morgan, the break-through woman architect who gave us Hearst Castle at the beginning of the 20th century.  They have been restoring and remodeling the house for over a year. Read more …