It Works !

Yes, the message went across !

Keshia once jokingly told me this :

" Aunty, I know why you blog. You want to get messages across to your children!"

Yes and no but in this case it surprisingly worked. Just when I lamented on the helpless state of girls these days in dressmaking ventures, I least expected No. 2 to try it out on her own.

Yesterday I received a mesage which said " Ma, faster come home!"

Mothers don't like to receive such messages because they associate it with danger, illness and discomfort.

"Why? " I asked.

"I am trying to thread the machine and sew straight lines. Please ma, come home."

I was not in agreement. Why bother la. She will be leaving home in a couple of weeks' time and can anything work now? I laughed to myself. As usual ... new brooms sweep clean. Thinking it to be a novelty she suddenly wants to sew !

Reaching home, I saw a sample of a piece of shorts on the machine. So, she was trying to sew a pair of shorts when she could not even thread properly. On top of that, she was only trying to get used to the mechanics of the machine and already has decided to embark on a major project. It would take a large part of me to believe she could do it. Rome was not built in one day.

I don't know about others but I am very particular about my own machine. I don't quite like others to meddle with it as it may lead to problems related to its mechanism. Do you realise that sewing machines in schools are the first to go because everyone has a hand in them? It's either the bobbin was rudely pulled out of its case or the tension is all out because of the lack of knowledge about the machine. So she quickly asked me why the tension of her threads looked wrong but that was quickly solved with her intelligence.

She asked me the logistics of the shorts to which I said I am not too sure how to do it. But if she were refering to a pair of pyjamas trousers I would be able to do as that does not need a specific cut. So I casually suggested ; " You look into the internet...you learn from it" The internet service has now become a need; not a luxury. You can get anything out of it and since she is so computer savvy, it would be peanuts for her.

Googgling for the right information, she very quickly got it.

The picture came into view so I left her to fumble around. Inside me I really doubted anything could come out of it. Ha...no lessons and she wanted to do something so ambitious. Sara chipped in and said " Ma, remember how you scorned at me when I told you I wanted to bake? How sure are you that she can't do it? " Yea, not sure.

But I did wonder if interest and determination in one's life could achieve the desired. So, she plotted as shown on paper and still I did not agree on it. She argued that it was done according to instructions and I left her at that. She was on the machine the whole day and night and just as I was dozing off she came into the room with this :

"Ha! ma there it is !" Surprise ! Surprise! Really, not too bad. I started to turn the shorts upside down to examine the sewing and commented it here and there. It looks good from the outside but she did admit she has some parts to alter and fix up.

The next day at the insistence of Sara she came up with a second piece. It looked good.

The gutters were placed correctly but I told her to insert another line of sewing on the upper fold to place the gutters in a stronger hold.

I noticed her sewing was neat and that she knew how to end the seams neatly. Really it was commendable especially the neatness of the sewing. And I had absolutely no part in it.

Now I also know she can sew buttons and the fixture on the shorts was well done. She told me that she altered the pattern on the cut of her previously sewn shorts and this time it looked better.

Looks like I am wrong again. My present conclusion :

• She is intelligent ; and if she can be the architect of a building ; she can read instructions and follow them too for sewing purposes
• She has the interest and if this sudden surge is nurtured she will be able to sew simple articles. Told her I am now ready to teach her to sew a simple skirt this weekend.
• She has the determination and I sincerely hope this determination will flow strongly in the next venture she will be embarking upon in Melbourne for the next 2 years.

And finally, sister Ling...she may just be able to sew your pyjamas after all ; sure liow.

Your wish come true.