Gigi's Blog » Tales of the Mortician's Wife

So I finally did it. 

 

I braved the unknown territory of bobbins, thread, fabric and seams. I cracked open the sewing machine. 

 

Yes, today … the girls and I (okay, well, *I*) decided to make our Monday craft with the lovely, shiny new sewing machine, so lovingly gifted to me by my MIL this Christmas. 

 

The plan: sew Valentine felt heart candy pouches. 

The goal: finish it in an afternoon and have fun doing it

The reality:  I had no clue what the heck I was doing. 

 

I popped open the case and set up the fresh machine on my table, plugged in the electric pedal and flipped through the manual. I have to say though –  I’m not a manual reader. I like to learn by doing. Throw me a manual and I will yawn, roll over and go to sleep. Show me with your hands and I will learn as fast as I can.
One thing I learned very quickly, however, is you cannot sew without thread. 

Hmmmm….

Go figure. 
So who do you call at 1:30 on a snowy Monday afternoon, when you have three little girls staring up at you, waiting to see Mommy work magic on her bright new sewing machine?  Um. 
Gramma. Yup, my gramma. (Have I mentioned that she moved to my town a few months ago – after living in British Columbia for years? It was a big move for her but I am SO grateful to have her in the same town as me!!).

 

Bless her dear soul. She threw on her winter boots and raced over to rescue me from the dreaded unknown. Sewing basket in hand and a smile on her face, my gramma, Gerr, slipped easily into position on the sewing stool and started to work her magic.

 

 

The girls watched in awe as Gramma showed us how to thread the needle, fill the bobbin and get it ready for our sewing project before you could say BibbityBobbityBoo.

 

 

Now, my Gramma is very humble and will not accept praise but she’s a wonderful, talented woman – and she sure knew how fill a bobbin and get that machine whirring  sixtythousand times faster than I could learn by fumbling through the ridiculous manual. 

 

Did I mention she spent quite a few years of her life sewing for a living? Yes, we love you, Gramma. 

 

 

 

 

Once we figured out how to thread the machine, we were ready to go – or so we thought ….

Four hours, two mangled felt hearts, one attempt at ripping out failed stitches and a floor littered with string and felt scraps later … we finally finished our project. I must say, it was not as easy as I thought … no one told me turning rounded corners on a sewing machine would be so challenging. Or is it just me? (Please, don’t answer that.)

 

This shot, as lovely as it looks, was totally set up.  I really had no clue what I was doing. 
“Lacey, come sit with me and we’ll pretend we’re sewing something amazing!…” 

 

 

Can I admit something terrible? 

That’s why you do crafts/sewing projects with your kids. If it stinks and looks ridiculous like a three year old sewing the stitching, well, just blame it on your three year old. That’s the truth. Sort of. 

 

I can say that I learned a lot today – and while many times we lamented and wished my Seamstress-Smooth-Sewing-Sister was here to help us, we persevered and finished our project. 

 

 

They are really cute, aren’t they? We made six and one was a total flop so we only have five to give away. We still have to decide who the lucky recipient will be! 😀

 

 

 

 

 

The cutest thing from this afternoon’s sewing craft adventures was little Miss Lacey. She picked up a needle, some scraps of felt and before Gramma and I knew it, she was off in a corner sewing clothes and items for new birthday Webkinz, Daisy Jr.  

 

She sewed her a hat. 

And then took her picture. 

 

 

 

Here, she’s sewing a pillow … she also made a few crowns for her dogs (and one for Daisy – gotta get a picture of that!) …

 

 

At the dinner table, she prayed and thanked God for Gramma teaching her how to sew. 

We are so blessed. 

 

From showing me how to knead bread to giving me lessons in how to set up my sewing machine and keep the needle down when I’m turning a corner 🙂 (oops – forgot that one a lot), my Gramma is priceless to me. I am SO, SO, SO blessed to have her in my life, not only when I was younger … but even now as a mom & a grown up (how did that ever happen anyway?!).

 

And how ridiculously blessed are my girls to have their great grandma creating such wonderful memories together? 

 

 

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. 

~Author Unknown

 

Since Tuesday, when news of a 7.0 earthquake devastated the poor country of Haiti, my heart has been heavy. So very heavy. 

 

Over 100,000 people have died. 

Hospitals have been torn apart. 

Orphanages collapsed. 

Corpses of little children lay alongside the roads.

Families killed.

Children left without their parents. 

Adults left searching for their child … 

And for  a country that is already stricken with poverty  .. this is a blow that will set Haiti back hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

(Warning – some graphic images. Images from online new sources)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see these images and I cry. I feel so helpless. But I want to help and I want o do something! I’m sure you feel the same way – how can anyone know what is happening out in this world and not want to do something?!?!?!

Last spring, Tamara Perreira and I travelled to the Dominican to work on a photography project for La Tienda, a community, a village that takes Haitian woman off the streets off Haiti and develops working skills to change their lives. Instead of living out of dumps and using prostitution to make money to feed their children, Rachel Sticklee, La Tienda’s founder, teaches each woman how to bead, knit, sew and create beautiful jewelry and items that can be sold here in North America. The money goes straight to helping the Haitian woman live a changed life. 

As you can imagine, Rachel, a Canadian in her 20s, cannot just sit by after such a magnitude of disaster has struck Haiti. My heart just goes out to Rachel because here she is – single, alone, raising two Haitian children, she choose to give her easy life in Canada and move to life as a missionary in the Dominican in order to help the Haitians. 

Rachel will be traveling into Haiti over the next few days to start helping out and caring for the survivors. She NEEDS your help! If you haven’t helped out with the Salvation Army, World Vision or Red Cross yet – or even if you have – here is another way you can help the Haitian people …. 

Rachel needs to buy supplies to take into Haiti this weekend. YOu can help by sending a paypal donation to the La Tienda account. 

 

Go to paypal, send your donation to La Tienda (look for the paypal button on the bottom left hand side of the page) but make sure to write HAITI in the details or note about your donation. 

All supplies will be bought this week and taken straight over to Haiti…

 

 

And please, pray for Rachel’s safety, for travelling mercies and for wisdom and emotional strength. She is a saint in a world of despair.

 

 

 

 

 

Quick facts about Haiti:

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere 95% of aid to Haiti has been reduced since the early 1990s 70% of Haitian people live in poverty-annual income of $400 per year 15% of all children in Haiti are orphaned or abandoned 200,000 orphaned Haitian children live in institutions (the rest are fostered, live with relatives, or are street children) 40% of the population is under the age of 15 A history of an extremely high maternal mortality rate contributes to the number of orphans Child-headed households are becoming more common as potential guardians succumb to AIDS or other causes of death