Wednesday 4 June 2008

A short tale

Once upon a time in a great big city there was a lady, and she had an unused sewing machine. It sat in a dark cupboard for five years, because it did not have a pedal, and without its pedal the lady could not use it. She sewed clothes by hand, but it took a very long time, and she did not make many. The sewing machine was very sad. It wanted to help the lady but it couldn't.

Then one day the lady went to a magical sewing machine shop in Camden. The man in the shop was very helpful, and kept the shop open for her because she couldn't get there until the evening. She bought a small black pedal and some scissors, and when she got home, she took out her sewing machine.



Her sewing machine was very happy with its new pedal, and its light glowed happily. It whirred and clicked, and its metal parts didn't even need oiling.

The lady took out all of her bobbins and threads and beads and sequins and needles and pins and tape measures and ribbons . . .





. . . and made a proper sewing box.



And then she settled down to work, and made a skirt. When she sewed clothes by hand, it would have taken her a week. The lady made a skirt in one evening.



It was made of beautiful pea-green tweed and it fit her perfectly.



The lady was very happy and the sewing machine was very proud.

The lady couldn't believe she had wasted bloody YEARS bloody well hand-sewing, and was secretly VERY cheesed off, but didn't say so to the sewing machine, because she didn't want to remind it of all the years it had sat in its cupboard in the dark, all alone with the dust and bookboxes and old shoes and occasional spiders. Instead, she patted her sewing machine kindly, and went off to bed.

The sewing machine wondered what it would make next.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

No way. You made that skirt?! That is HOT! It's perfectly crafted. (Just found you through Fashion Verbatim) :)

Make Do Style said...

Brilliant. What a clever little sewing machine. Maybe it should make a dress next?

Anonymous said...

that skirt is amazing! wow! where did you get the pattern?
x
wishwishwish.net

Sister Wolf said...

Wow, what tailoring! This is an amazing development! If you can sew like this, the world is your oyster.

Elizabeth said...

DANG. DAMN. That skirt is an absolutely PERFECT fit.

Gen Williams said...

It was kind of beginners luck really! The skirt was originally a huge, flapping-in-the-wind behemoth so I unpicked everything and sewed it back together to fit me.. So not made from a pattern, more a case of strategic pinning and sewing...

Patterns scare me. I know that at some point I will have to use them, but they bejesus me into tomorrow. I would like to think I could construct a whole wardrobe [minus..er..rails and doors] with a dress form and a box of pins.

S. said...

Hahahaha.. love how the sewing maschine is left wondering what it will do next!! =D

Great skirt... I wish I could sew.. my mother used to hem all my jeans growing up.. and she still occassionally do when I go back..but I never learnt how to do it.

Great great skir it really fits you to a T! I can't wait to see what will be next!
x

Gen Williams said...

A pair of trousers, I think. I have some great skinny black trousers in a thin kind of ski-fabric with zips at the bottoms, but the ends are a bit flared. I might try to find the same material and make some more with very narrow ankles. Practice with zips and tailoring . . .

Baby steps . . . :)

Luxe. said...

This is so cute!!

Luxe. said...

oh and the skirt is really well made too!

Gen Williams said...

Thank you! My dressmaker form still hasn't arrived yet [John Lewis, I bite my thumb at you] so I had to get a bit of help with strategically pinning it around myself, and I don't want to attempt anything else til it arrives . . . but I can't wait to get started on making other things.