...something that I'm learning to do

Sew.

When I was younger, the only pieces of store bought clothes that I owned were socks, underwear, and winter gear.  Literally everything else was handmade.  My grandmother sewed everything that I wore from the time I was a baby...pants, shirts, dresses, shorts, sweatshirts, the whole nine.  In fact, it was really weird for me to start trying on clothes in stores, because I wasn't used to things not fitting "just right".  I thought that once you found your size, it would fit you perfectly everywhere.  Ha.

Then at some point in elementary school, handmade clothes weren't cool anymore - no matter how nicely they fit - and I started shopping for my clothes and my grandma moved on to sewing aprons (like....amazing aprons, full of little details and ribbons and lace and specially sized pockets).

When my grandmother went into a personal care home a few years ago, she owned three sewing machines - a very old one that weighed a ton, her favorite one that had broke five years earlier, and a newer model that she never quite got used to.  I took the newer model home, along with a bunch of accessories for it that I had no idea how to use, and it proceeded to sit in the box for almost a year.

Last fall, the ridiculously talented Leigh-Ann at Freckled Nest offered an online sewing course (which I think she's offering again in the future).  I immediately signed up, thinking I was finally going to put this machine to use.  But life and work got in the way, and after buying a bunch of fabric, I still didn't know how to even thread the machine.

Thankfully, the lessons are online until this coming summer, and a few weeks ago, I spent the afternoon just learning how to load the machine with thread and sew a simple straight line.  I literally remembered nothing from sewing class in grade 7....but I still have the boxer shorts that prove I could do this once.

Anyways, today I worked on making two double-sided napkins. They aren't perfect, but they work.  And I'm getting better with each one.  There's such a sense of accomplishment when you finish making something, even when it's as simple as a napkin.  And I cannot wait to show them to my grandma this week :)