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Friday, June 02, 2006A Stitch In TimeI am, unabashedly, a Ballet Mom. What I am not is a seamstress. Yes, I can sew. I've whipped up dolly dresses and the odd Pilgrim gown for a Thanksgiving party. But it's not my "thing." Especially when an old-fashioned "needle-n-thread" is called for. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when daughter Maggie announced, several days ago, that her ballet instructor had requested that all the moms come to the dress rehearsal after warm-up time in order to do some "stitching" on the costumes. And you can imagine how much more thrilled I was, upon entering the dressing room yesterday, to discover that I was the only mom to show up. Little old me, with my needle and a spool of purple thread. It was truly ridiculous. I mean, I've always been uber-involved with the girls' ballet activities over the years, but I'm not one of those sew-the-costumes moms. I had an absolute hissy fit a couple of years ago when Rachel came home with a costume, some plastic flowers, and a page-long sheet of instructions on exactly how and where to sew the flowers onto the costume. I grumbled and cussed my way through the entire process. Naturally, I couldn't grumble and cuss in front of a ballet instructor and five underage ballerinas, so I smiled, pulled out my needle, and acted like I knew what I was doing. "Do you think this looks good?" the ballet instructor asked, holding up the long, deep violet chiffon thingie over the shoulder of the nearest dancer. "Oh, yes. That will look good on stage." As if I know anything about what makes ballerinas look good on stage. In the end, the teacher went with a suggestion given by my own Maggie, with a slight modification. Figuring that my daughter had made me look somewhat better, I confidently began to stitch the chiffon in the proper places. I pulled it off! I tacked and stitched the costumes of four pubescent dancers -- while they were wearing them. I even had to pull out my seam ripper and remove all the stiches that one over-zealous mom had made prior to the dress rehearsal. And I didn't prick anybody. I did whack one girl in the jaw with my hand, but she handled it well. Of course, the next little ballerina flinched a bit while I was stitching her costume. Poor thing. Eric found the entire thing beyond hysterical. Perhaps he, more than anyone else, understands the hilarity of his wife entering a room with the intention to sew costumes. He lamented the fact that no one captured it on film. That's a good thing. If someone's costume falls apart on stage tonight, nobody will be able to prove that I was the one who made the faulty stitches. Stay tuned for Recital Photographs, sure to be posted some time next week. Unless of course something dreadful happens to Maggie's purple chiffon thing (do they have names for these weird costume parts?). And rest easy. I've put away my needle and thread. Writing is a much safer way to pass my time. |
About Me
I am: Mother to five stunningly individualistic children... Writer of young adult fantasy... Passionate advocate for Women At Home... Madly in love with my husband... In need of Organic Gourmet Chocolate on a regular basis. I've got a Paypal account if you'd like to contribute to the cause....
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8of my readers are feeling chatty:
Hahaha! I'm sure they will remember this forever Jill!
I have memories of my mom making dresses to be worn on whatever occasion. I remember being sewn INTO a dress before. More than once!
I'm sure the costumes will be great tonight! :)
OMgosh, that is worse than my having to sew on scout badges. :p
what's the recital, end of year kinda thing?
Go Jill!!!!!
Ach this is SO me, I am a ballet mum too but if they ever asked me to sew anything I would be running screaming for the hills.
I still can't believe you actually did it. ;)
The only thing I ever sewed was a pillow in home economics. God help me if I ever have a daughter! :)
lol, Jill! It sounds like you fooled em all! ;o)
I used to do ballet, too but (thankfully!) my Mum never had to sew my costumes...
Good for you Jill!!
I've discovered this wonderful tape stuff that only requires a hot iron to use....voila...I've got curtains that don't drag on the floor. Amazing.
I commented to my mom once that I couldn't find the bobbins that you put in your sewing machine with thread on them.
The expensive sewing machine my loving husband bought me now stays at my mom's house, where all the 'projects' go to. Except of course my new curtains...I didn't want to overdo it, she does help out alot. And I'm pretty handy with an iron!
:-)
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