Lets Sew Together A Mother and Daughters Experience

Hello my lovely sew’ist friends and a blessed and happy Easter Sunday to you and your family.

The following story I am going to share with you is a beautiful one – and I send a HUGE warm hug to our Dora S for allowing me to share this with you. This was quite an unexpected but fabulous outcome of Dora’s experience sewing the Lily Wrap Skirt with her daughter.

The Lily Wrap Skirt was actually a pattern I made for my students approx 9 years ago.
One of  my students explained to me a skirt she had seen her friend wearing and I drafted the pattern for her to sew in class – since then many of my students have shared in the pattern. And it is an fun ideal pattern to launch the “Lets Sew Together” pattern series that will be developed here at Designer Stitch headquarters.

Dora S and her daughter were part of my pattern tester team and her following story is one of trust and sharing with a great outcome.  Dora has allowed me to share her story below but please go over and show Dora some LOVE at https://sew4five.wordpress.com/2019/04/17/lets-sew-together.

Dora writes :
When I first started to write this post, I didn’t know exactly where or how to start… Emotions and thoughts were all scrambled and it wasn’t easy to line them up. Eventually I just started to write and let ideas flow, so this will be a post about sewing, yes… a pattern release, yes… but with a specific thought in mind: healing and getting your attention to our kids daily problems/situations!  Keep on Reading and you’ll see what I mean…

Some time ago I wrote a blog post about how sewing was more than just that
(check it here https://sew4five.wordpress.com/2018/06/25/why-do-we-sew/).
To me sewing has always been something emotional. Whether it is because you’re sad or angry or you need to focus on something to let it all out… sewing is emotional!
There were times on which my husband said he’d only come near when the pedal is less noisy… it means I’ve calmed down… lol

I mean… I remember my mother copying Burda patterns in our living room table while I was playing underneath. I remember when I started to pick up the small pieces of fabric that fell from the table and hand sewing them around my dolls waist. I have some pretty special memories sewing related…

So when Ann (from Designer Stitch) came up with the idea of us sewing together with our daughters, I jumped right in! The possibility of sewing with my daughter and building memories with her… Yes!!…

We were then introduced to Lily Wrap Skirt – a reversible skirt with a twist that both me and my girl loved…

It was perfect to sew with my daughter.

 

We taped and copied the pattern, cut it in paper, chose fabric (she likes dark fabrics while I love colourful and bright ones) and cut again… We had fun sewing. It was the first time I let her use my beloved Bernina.

I found out that she’s quite good sewing: straight lines, curves, top stitching, adding velcro… and she’s fast, too. She really surprised me!

It was a very fun process and we were really bonding as you can see through the photos… until she mentioned bullying. I don’t remember how or why it was brought up, but that was a wake up call… my daughter was trying to tell me something!!!
“I had tried to tell you before…” – she said…

In my head there were so many thoughts: She’s my daughter… we have a good mother/daughter relationship… how’s it possible? How could I have missed this???…
so many red flags all over…

In tears, she finally told me everything: the bullies were from her own class which hurt her even more because all the kids know each other since they were 5 years old. She was overwhelmed by how they were able to do this to her. In her mind they were supposed to be her friends. After talking to her, she agreed to report the situation to the school’s board (which we did as a family, she was not alone in this and it was important that she felt it).

My daughter is a beautiful girl with good marks at school and a family that loves her and gives her stability. She knows bullies are only jealous people, sad in their own lives.
The situation had an happy ending because it was solved with the help of the school’s board and the kids talked among themselves in front of their families… letting it all out!

All this made me think about how much we should be aware of our kids’ daily lives.
Mothers… parents in general… if you took a moment to read my post and think about your kids… my goal was achieved! Keep your eyes wide open… Talk to your kids every day… Don’t just ask “How was your day?” – Be specific. Things like “what did you have for lunch today?” or “who sits by your side in Math?” will make your kid stay away of yes or no answers and eventually you’ll get to know more of your kid’s daily routine.

Find a Project that you can make together! The “Let’s Sew Together” sewing project was perfect for us!
Maybe it’s good for you too…

You see, I found out that my girl had been bullied when we were sewing together… These kind of projects bring us closer and gives them the chance to talk more about themselves… and to improve a skill that sometimes is forgotten: sewing!

Here are some more photos of our sewing moments!

When we got the skirts done, my girl asked me:
“Mom, say thanks to Ann for me. She helped me more than she will ever know!… (she smiled)… When’s her next sewing together project?”

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