One day back in the early 1970’s my mom taught me to sew. I’m not sure if it was because I was always watching while she sewed clothes for my three sisters and I, or if it was because I was driving her crazy. For whatever reason, it started a lifelong love of creating- clothes, quilts, pillows- if it could be sewn, I did it.
As a middle school teacher in a small rural school, I taught sewing to the most creative and passionate age group of students. I can’t imagine working any other students. Granted there were a fair amount of shenanigans that happened in the classroom, but there is nothing better than watching the proud face of a child who finished a project of their choosing.
Over the years I have had the pleasure of teaching sewing and quilting classes to children and adults as, what my 22 year old son calls, my “side hustle”. Still, there is nothing better than watching people create something unique and beautiful.
My career has taken me away from teaching students to working in education in a more administrative role. If you were to ask me what I was 10 years ago, I would have answered “a teacher”. My identifier has changed over the years. I still consider myself a teacher, but now I would answer that question with “a passionate sewist”.
