Saturday, May 28, 2005

Be Impressed, Be Very, Very Impressed

I'm not much for trumpeting my accomplishments. I don't know why. Family influences, perhaps, or the fact that in elementary school I was teased for being a good student. Maybe it's a gender thing. Who knows. But the major things I accomplish, the professional successes and the things at the heart of who I think I am, you will not hear about them from me, unless you share my DNA or my bed, or are K.

The minor things are another story. Actually, I shouldn't call them minor, because some of them are fairly major. What I mean are the things that I amaze myself for doing, that I have no natural aptitude or inclination for, that I struggle to accomplish, and that I don't do particularly well, but that I manage to do. In this category I would put my two marathons (and yes, I'll even tell you how fast: 4:17 for the one I ran when I was 30 and 4:03 for the one just before I turned 40), the ponchos I knit for the girls, and my superior parallel parking skills. No, actually, the parallel parking is in another category: things I am innately good at that are, in fact, minor in the scheme of things, and thus that I have no problem telling you about.

At any rate, this is all prelude for boasting that last night I made M a jeans skirt! You remember the ones from the 70s where you (or they--certainly not me) cut the inside seams of your jeans and sewed them to a triangle of cloth in the middle to make a skirt? Well, M had this great pair of velveteen jeans that were navy on top and then faded down to a kind of sky blue, a sort of Prada effect (sorry, can't find a good link--Mom, it's a designer who did a lot of tie-dye last year). Then she stepped on the hem and ripped the bottom of one leg. I sewed up the rip, but they ripped again and she refused to wear them.

So I decided to make a skirt. I cut the legs off at the knee, cut the inside seams, and used the sky blue bottoms of the legs for the triangle. Lots of pinning and repinning. Lots of tiny stitches (no sewing machine, they scare me). Up very late. And, finally, skirt!!

Aren't you impressed?

Now E wants one...

3 comments:

Libby said...

Yes, I'm impressed! And I'm sending the link to Mariah, since my daughter can actually sew (not me...)

Anonymous said...

I am impressed! But that's not why I'm here! I'm here to cancel for tomomrrow but I don't have your email because it's on my dead computer and I'm at the library. Not only is my computer dead but Noah has a raging fever and is lying in bed and that's the real reason I have to cancel. Brett is a lovely man but useless with sick children. Call me -- I'll be w/out email 'til Tuesday.

jackie said...

I want a jeans skirt like that! jealous! possibly also inspired!