I admire and envy skilled people. I have always secretly dreamed, among others things, to be a good cook, a pattern maker, an illustrator, a modiste, a web designer, a milliner, and heaven forbid, even a locksmith. In my maternal side of the family, my aunts have provided us a good training ground for creating things when we were much younger--sewing, knitting, cross stitch, crochet, fabric art and other crafts. But the one skill that stuck with me was hand sewing. I can pretty much darn anything, baste anything, hem anything. And although I don't have the same deft fingers nor the sharpest eyes like I used to, sewing has unquestionably grown on me. Many Christmases ago, I bought this tiny thing out of my gift card---and I never once regretted it. I have sewn many things with it, and nothing comes more handy than when I suddenly find myself unable to mend something by hand. Sewing is one my great joys, and I am simply grateful for this.
