I was 19 when I got married and so all my girlfriends were busy living their single lives. Combine this with the fact that Eric worked nights and I worked mornings and you had one lonely and depressed Julie Comstock!
For my 20th birthday, my mom bought me a Bernina 730 at a tag sale for $20. Although my mom sews like a pro, I had never had much interest equating it with dowdy, old women that had nothing more important to do. Well, that sewing machine became my best friend (and maybe I became that dowdy old lady!).
My first project was to make throw pillows for our apartment. I went to the local thrift store and bought some really ugly pink and green fabric that I tried to convince myself would be beautiful after I got done with it. Then I dropped by the fabric store and bought some batting... at this point in my crafting career, I didn't know the difference between batting and stuffing. I would learn the difference later that day when my pillows turned out really lumpy after being stuffed with the batting I had pulled apart into bits!
When Eric got home, he made me promise never to sew anything for him because he didn't want to hurt my feelings if he didn't like it.
18 years later, I can draft my own patterns and sew most things... except beautiful button holes! It has been a long work in progress that is best summed up by Albert Einstein who said, "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."
For every successful project, there have been dozens of throw aways. For every perfect seam, there were hundreds of un-picked stitches. I am not a natural!!! But I am Perseverant! And, maybe because it hasn't been easy, I really appreciate everytime something turns out well.
So, here's to not giving up. If I had, this little mermaid doll would never have been born!
