Why I Sew {3 reasons}

I spent more time this week working on my girls’ Easter dresses this week, yay! I picked a fairly time consuming pattern this year, but I am truly enjoying every minute of it. This project is not one of my ‘have to do’ tasks, so I fit in a couple hours a week working on it, and it brings me so much joy: seeing the pieces come together, knowing that no one else will have the same dress (although it’s not impossible now since I shared my pattern and fabric choices with the whole world, lol) the anticipation of seeing Cadie and Chloe wearing the dresses for the first time and letting them wear them to church… I love it all!

So while I am thinking about it I thought I’d share my reasons for sewing. Then I hope you will jot down (or type in) your reasons too at the comments for post. Let’s all share!

1. I love it. I love sewing. I enjoy the process. I love fabric. I love cutting it into pieces and seeing those pieces become something else, something beautiful and (hopefully) useful. It’s my sanity (read why).

My friends call what I do a talent and say they never could sew like I do, but I see them play instruments, garden, or even play sports (ugh!)… things I never hope to do very well because I have no intention of putting in the same amount of time that I do sewing!

2. You can sew cooler stuff than you can buy. Really. And it’s not ‘made in China.’

I have my kids convinced of this too and I love to hear them say ‘handmade is better than store bought.’ I’ll do my best to ensure they never stop believing it. 🙂

3. I save money by sewing. Really. I think.

I must admit that to save money by sewing you have to think about it differently than ‘I could have paid $10 for this at Walmart.’ Be fair to your unique, high quality, hand sewn items and compare them to other high quality products. Those are worth more, just like your work.

And I have a huge fabric, pattern, and notion stash. Plus I subscribe to 2 pattern magazines that I love to read. So when I decide to make something I rarely have to go out for very much besides an odd supply or a new color of thread. Should I count the cost of ‘stash’ items? Probably. But I’m an addict and I buy fabric instead of buying myself new shoes or other (more dangerous) substances. So I’m counting the cost of those Easter dresses at about $20 so far. And that Tinker Tote above? It was practically free… made with scraps!

What do you think… am I right or wrong? Why do you love to sew? Weigh in below.

xoxo,