After a little over a year of work, I’ve written a new collection of essays
called “Donna Won’t Read This.” All my insecurities and worries about the
writing process have now been fit into an easy-to-carry format.
The first book in the Harvard Classics series is a treat, one that I had been hoping to get around to reading someday: Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. I knew Ben was a smart person before reading the book, but now I’m pretty sure in the hypothetical ‘if you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?’ Benjamin Franklin would be in the shortlist.
He started out a simple printing apprentice, but managed to read and think his way into an amazing life.
For my first sewing project using a pattern, I’ve decided to go with a Jalie underwear pattern. My thinking was along these lines:
If I screw up, it’s not a huge waste of time, thread, or fabric, I’d recently salvaged a bunch of material from some t-shirts, and If I don’t like the result, but want to test the construction quality with actual wear, no one has to see it.
I don’t want to spend a lot of money while I learn the sewing basics, so I’m starting by salvaging old clothing that has holes, etc. It’s probably not the best way to learn, but thread is way cheaper than fabric, and it’s a fun way to repurpose stuff that’s not even fit for Goodwill anymore.
First up is an old $10 hoodie I bought from Old Navy years ago. The blue jersey knit is super stretchy, but soft and fun to work with.
It’s been a really long time since I did anything with a sewing machine - I did a little bit in home economics when I was in junior high, but otherwise haven’t touched one since then. Fortunately, I found out that Rick Rack Textiles (a new sewing place in Calgary) is doing ‘intro to sewing’ lessons.
The teacher, Cindy, was really good at getting us sorted out with the machines, and starting off with pre-cut linen helped keep the focus on getting comfortable with the process of pressing, pinning, and running the fabric through the machine.
Being tall, I’ve found very few bath tubs that have been large enough for me
(the best one up to this point was in Japan, interestingly enough). I also have
a body composition that sinks in water like a lead weight. So when I got a pass
to FloatLife for Christmas, I was definitely intrigued.