A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s Comment Section.
NEEDLES AND THUMBS
I referred to it as home wreckanomics with good reason. I hated cleaning and I was a disaster in the kitchen. At twelve, I’d already set my sights on, one day, becoming a professional artist. I’d never be Suzie Homemaker.
I only took the class because seventh graders were offered two of three “electives”—music, homemaking for girls and shop for boys. No art class until eighth grade. Boo. Hiss.
I still have nightmares of trying to make baked Alaska for a class presentation. What? You don’t dump sugar into the egg whites all at once?
Then came sewing. We were to make simple shifts. I chose a white cotton duck fabric with a red, white and blue nautical theme. I actually wore it once or twice before it mysteriously disappeared.
Beautiful. Apart from all talents you have, sticking also you are good at? Salute to you.
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Dear Indira,
I’ve gotten better at sewing over the years actually. I’m decent at embroidery or was. Haven’t done any for a while. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Shalom, dear.
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Dear Rochelle,
I wish they had had home economics at my school. I actually believe they should have classes on basic skills just so folks can get by yanno?
That said, this was a hoot and a half and I never learned how to use a sewing machine so for me, you are way ahead of the curve!
Shalom and lotsa stitched-together love,
Dale
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Dear Dale,
Eventually I learned those things…even learned the right way to make Baked Alaska. 😉 Still, I think 7th graders should’ve been allowed to take art, at least in place of music (which was really a misplacement for me). Thank you.
Shalom and lotsa sewn up hugs,
Rochelle
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Yes, there should always be art and/or music but there still should be those basics… 😉
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Actually by the time my sons went to the same school, boys could take home economics and girls could take shop which is also as it should be. 😉 AND they could take art in 7th grade. 😀
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I agree wholeheartedly!
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Yeah, I’d probably just pick up a needle and thread and got at that hem with a hidden stitch and be done with it … 😉 But I’m the impatient type when it comes to these things … threading machines (or filling bobbins, or adjusting tensions, or what not … oy vey!). But, yeah, I remember middle-school sewing classes – made an apron, and a skirt, I think. Still have the apron. The skirt might’ve gone the way of your shift … 😉
To be fair, while I don’t ‘sew’ per se, I am pretty handy with the needle for repairs and with crochet and knitting for stuff as need be. Even enjoy embroidery and such crafts, some years more than others – but I would hate to be TOLD to do it, or HAVE to do it or be MADE to do it or HAVE to do it.
Then it loses all the fun-factor.
Jury’s still out on the cloth-masks I’m making. No one is forcing me to do them (which helps) and there’s immediate gratification in knowing they find good noses to and ears to ride on. … So far, so good.
Now, about those jeans … If we lived nearby, I’d say say, ‘bring them over’
🙂
hugs
Na’ama
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Na’ama Y’karah,
I’ve actually had those thoughts about just picking up the jeans and hemming them by hand. Then I get sidetracked. Yet they are a favorite pair, but for years I’ve been just rolling them up. That’s how lazy I am. I’ve not done much with the sewing machine as it was given to me a few years back and has been taking up space in a closet.
Knitting? Crocheting? Oy. Fuhget about it. I tried them…the results weren’t pretty…barely recognizable, in fact. Good on you with the face masks. I’ve made my one from a t-shirt sleeve 😉
I agree about the fun factor. Years ago I did a lot of embroidery…with my own designs. Someone gave me a kit. I used the thread but not the pattern. Again blessings to you for those face masks.
Since we don’t live close 😦 I’ll get around to hemming those jeans…one of these days. 😉 Thank you.
Hugs back atcha,
Rochelle
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Ah, well, rolled up pants work (almost) just as well as hemmed ones, and they offer a bit of ‘leaf storage’ in the folds besides! 😉 As for the face-masks — we need them here in NYC, and the medical ones are in short supply and ought to be left for the health-workers and other front-liner personage. So it is the homemade route for most of us, and if we can make’em pretty and a tad bit comfier, why not? Especially as we’re gonna be stuck with them a while. Wanna guess what color I made mine? 😉 (
Hugs
Na’ama
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Nice blog
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Thank you, Saania. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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My pleasure, followed you ☺️
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Thank you very much.
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I followed you back. 😉
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Do what I do, m’lady, and get a woman…
Oh wait, hmm…
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Dear CE,
Not every woman sews well. Perhaps I need to get a man who does. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Whatever they made you do at school, you ended up doing your own thing and very successfully too! I really must make a baked aklaska!
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Dear Keith,
I think it was a matter of timing and maturity. The time wasn’t right and I was quite immature. I made Baked Alaska once after I was married. It turned out well, but I found that I much preferred meringue on top of a lemon pie. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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She’s as cute as those jeans on the sewing machine.
My grandmother had one of those, my sis has it and we are giving it to our cousin who collects antiques. I doubt if it came across the prairie in a covered wagon, but my great-great grandparents did.
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p.s. I remember that Home Ec and Shop. I was as big a disaster in Shop as you were in Home Ec. But eventually you learned to ice a cake and I built houses. Funny. Now you are a full time artist.
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Dear Ted,
I think our schools meant well and thought they were preparing us for life ‘roles’ we were expected to fill. Miraculous I ended up in food service, but to be fair, I always saw cake decorating as another art form. 😉 Because it is. At any rate, I feel privileged to be doing what I’ve always wanted to do. Thank you for coming by and leaving your thoughtful (as always) comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I had band and debate/forensics, so shop and auto repair was out. We DID, however, have a filmmaking class and TV class taught by a lady who was actually in “the biz” and whose husband was a photog at channel 9. She recommended (and very strongly, no joke) that I attend UCLA film school. Mom and Dad were delighted to hear that from a teacher, but they were afraid of losing me in all that show business and they didn’t have the money. But, I ended up doing what I wanted to do, too.
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