Cutting Out Bags

Sometimes I cut several bags out at one time. I just get rolling, or cutting, and get two or three done. There are 12 or 13 pieces to every bag, with the linings and pockets. People don't realize the work that goes into them, as most people don't sew these days. When I was 10 or 11, my mother decided I should learn how to sew and would tell me to make this or that for her. I just figured out how to do it. Her mother, my Oma, was a top notch seamstress. Packages would arrive every once in a while with several hand made dresses for me. I remember the white string tied around the packages, and the black crayon writing. All Southern women learned to sew - it was a cultural prerequisite. Women sewed and that was that. My mother could sew but didn't want to, so she decided I would do it. The first assignment was a kitchen curtain made out of fabric that matched the wallpaper. I know it was very expensive and she order ONE YARD. How was I supposed to make curtains out of one yard? I think that was the beginning of my "fabric junkie" habit. I always bought half a dozen yards of any fabric, maybe more. The second assignment was to replace the lower half of a cocktail dress she had spilled a drink on. It had a chiffon skirt over a taffeta one. I had to remove the bodice, make a new taffeta bottom, and sew the chiffon back over it and put the bodice back on. What a job that was. It was turquoise blue and I will never forget it. Then she wanted a shift dress to wear to visit her folks in Georgia. It had a great big print (this was the 60's) and I learned to match prints, front to back, and put a zipper in. She bragged to her friends, "Can you imagine? She doesn't even know what on the bias means!" My mother had a very sarcastic sense of humor. I called her the "Put Down Queen." But I will always be grateful she made me sew. When I was teaching quilting and knitting at a fancy summer school in Morristown, they were throwing all the sewing machines into a dumpster and replacing them with computers. Too bad. Kids need both. I'm glad I have hoarded nice fabric over the years, as I make these Bundaflicka Bags now and I have sold quite a few. Matt says the bag, basket and bowl festish I have is the urge to fill the uterus I can't put babies in any more. Dr. Matt, huh? Who cares, people still buy my bags, and sometimes they come back for more bags the next year. As long as it feeds my critters, I will keep sewing.