Now that you all know a little more about me ... and my loathing of household chores, I thought I'd share with you my attempt at being like my mom, my aunt, and grandmother - and learn a skill that is supposedly fun and could save me money.

All the women in my mother's family are "crafty" ... they cook well, they sew, they paint ... nothing crafty is beyond them.  So, when my aunt decided to upgrade and purchase a new, top of the line sewing machine, she decided that I should have her old one.  She even paid to have the thing shipped across the country to me.  I had used one in home ec - in middle school and successfully made a stuffed soccer ball and the ugliest pink flamingo you've ever seen.  And, my grandmother had spent time with me, helping me make my own shirt ... it turned out okay except the cloth was maroon with a pattern of white birds flying across it ... when the shirt was done I began to celebrate my accomplishment ... well, until I noticed the birds were all flying upside down!

So anyway, when I received my aunt's sewing machine I decided that as cool as it would be to make some dresses for my kids, I'd leave that to my mom and keep it simple ... I'd put the sewing machine to use hemming my pants rather than bringing things to a tailor.  You know, save a little money?

So, one evening I set up the card table and decided to get to work.  Luckily the bobbin and the needle were already threaded with the right color ... this was going to be a piece of cake I said to myself.  As I put my pantleg under - yes I'd actually measured and used pins - I was feeling confident until - "thump" - the damned needle broke!  Well I had no idea how to handle that, so I called my mom in hysterics and somehow, she patiently walked me through how to replace it then thread the needle properly.  I was ready to go again.

So there I was, pant leg under the needle foot pressing the accelerator or whatever the thing is ... slowly, so slowly so I wouldn't mess up.  This was a piece of cake!  I got confident - no, I got cocky.  I pressed harder, speeding up the process before I got bored.  The needle went up and down faster and faster as I turned my pant around and around slowly.  Finally, I was done.  I reversed over the stitches a couple of times, then cut the thread and took my pant leg off to check out my masterpiece.

Well, it was quite the masterpiece.  I had sewn my pantleg completely together!!!!!