intrepid

Upon moving to Alexandria in the middle of a pandemic I took up an old hobby to while away the hours that I could not spend making new friends ~ sewing. I have a long history with sewing. My mother taught me to sew when I was in my first decade and sewing was a mandatory class in junior high school. I also took lessons from a neighbor when my mother's patience wore thin. I made lots of clothes for myself and as gifts when I was a teenager and a young adult. I made my Featherette dress for spirit Fridays when I was in high school and my wedding dress from my first wedding when I was twenty-five. I turned my jeans into bell bottoms in 1970 by opening the leg seams and sewing in a paisley fabric. I sewed Barbie clothes, made my dad a tie with peace sign fabric to wear at the Viet Nam moratoriums and crafted a down jacket for my boyfriend when I was eighteen.

I followed the family tradition and taught my daughter to sew. She is crafty and she took to it like a fish to water. When she was in the third grade her alternative school had a project fair. Most students did a science experiment, but Hilary created a tri-fold board on how to make a quilt. When she was in middle school she took a class on making her own patterns and asked for a dress form for her birthday. When she turned eighteen she was living in New York in her freshman year of college. She got a tattoo in New York City by a tattoo artist named Skull. When I expressed my concern, she told me that the tattoo was a spool of thread because I taught her to love sewing. That quieted me down.

When we first moved here Hilary told me she wanted to take me to this beautiful fabric store she found. As if Old Town Alexandria isn't charming enough, this fabric store just adds to the allure. It is indeed the most exquisitely curated fabric store I have ever been to. No Simplicity or McCall's patterns, no bins of remnants, just beautiful fabrics and small designer patterns in a space that invites possibility. On our first trip I bought linen for summer pants and Hilary bought a pattern for a complicated outfit. We both went home. I pre-washed my linen and Hilary whipped up that outfit as a gift for her friend. Since then we have been to the store three or four more times. I made pajama bottoms for my granddaughter, her cousin and Hilary's friend who is expecting a baby in June. Hilary designed shorts and made a complicated wrap dress. For Mother's Day she took Thomas to the store and they purchased beautiful linen and a pattern for a dress that she called my "stretch pattern". When I opened it I said "Oh no, it has buttonholes". She said "You can do it. I'll show you". This week when we went back to the store I looked for a simple skirt pattern. She purchased tracing paper to create her own patterns. When I couldn't find a pattern I liked she said she would make me one.

All this to say that when it comes to sewing I am cautious and my daughter is intrepid. I don't want to get into anything that will be complicated. She doesn't even think about complication stopping her. This is true in other areas as well. I cook from a recipe. My daughter just makes things up. Both meals are delicious but one of them even tastes adventuresome. When I thought of how to raise my daughter I really wanted her to feel unbound in possibility. I grew up in a time and in a home when typing was an elective in high school so I would have something to fall back on. I went to college in the seventies at the height of the feminist movement (second wave apparently according to my daughter). Growing up at that time allowed me to dip my toe in the water, something my mother could not even do. Now my daughter dives in with complete confidence that she will do well or not, but either way she will be fine. I feel awestruck thinking about what my granddaughter is learning about the possibilities of her capacity in life. Perhaps she will allow her aunt to teach her to sew and cook and swim.