Threading The Needle

My Mom used to do embroidery and loved to knit.  She would knit baby blankets for each of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  As soon as she heard a new baby was on the way the knitting needles came out and she would sit and knit.  I loved hearing the soft "click" of the knitting needles as she did each stitch.  

 

Mom taught me how to do both.  The knitting didn't stick with me very well, but I loved to embroider and while I haven't done it in years now, it is something I could easily pick up. When visiting my parents when I had a family of my own my Mom would be working on a dish towel, a table runner, or pillow cases and when she needed to change thread I remember her struggling to get the needle threaded.  There was something about getting older that made it difficult for her to get that thread into the eye of the needle.  We would laugh about it and I would say, "Mom, do you want me to do that for you?"  She always took me up on the offer and within a few seconds I had it threaded for her and she was good to go again.

 

I never grasped the concept of sewing.  In junior high I think I may have had our home economics teacher, Mrs. Champine, close to retiring.  We made wrap-around skirts (all the rage in the '70s) for our 9-week sewing class.  That was honestly the LONGEST 9 weeks of my life.  I just barely got my skirt done in time.  The whole sewing concept had me confused but what really did it was  putting the pocket on inside out. It was at that moment I realized sewing and I would be parting ways as soon as the class ended.  

 

That is probably why I hardly ever pick up a needle and thread.  I feel very inept when it comes to sewing.   If you lose a button on a shirt at our home, it is best if you just consider it a loss and go shopping.  I have had things I needed to just put a button on sit around for months,  some have come close to going out of style by the time I attempt putting the button back on.  I'm not proud of that, but it is what it is. 

 

About the only time I am forced to get out a needle and thread is when one of Willow's toys needs repaired.  It didn't dawn on me until I typed this, that I am willing to repair dog toys (when the choices get low enough), but not our clothing.  I'll have to give that reasoning some thought.  Fortunately, Willow has been very easy on her toys.  Abby and Belle were a different story.  I was always "doing surgery" on their stuffed toys.  Talk about pressure.  I would gather the sewing basket and the patient and repair the lacerations with them sitting and staring at me... just waiting...like worried parents.  To make it worse,  Abby would sit, watch the process, and cry the whole time. She must have taken the term "surgery" literally.

 

This week I discovered two of Willow's toys were in need of repair.

 

 

So I dug out my needle and thread and prepared for surgery.   I never understood the difficulty my Mom had threading the needle.

 

Until now.

 

As hard as I tried that thread would just not go through the eye of the needle. I found myself turning it at different angles, adjusting the light.... and muttering.  In my defense I was using a small needle so the eye was smaller.  I didn't want to take the time to hunt up a larger needle because A)  I had no clue where a larger needle might be; and B)  I knew the results would be the same. 

 

I looked at Willow and said, "I'm sorry Willow" and tossed her unmended toys in the garbage.....

 

....and went shopping.

 

 

Meet Lamb Chop, the new addition to our family.

 

I bought Lamb Chop yesterday.  Today I noticed a tear that needs to be mended.... already.


Yes, I will attempt to thread the needle once again and I will likely be muttering.


I'm pretty sure my Mom is getting a chuckle out of this.