Day Nineteen

Today I am celebrating:

Sewing clothing

"In one of his essay-like chapters of Love is a Mix Tape (Crown), Rob Sheffield reflects on how Renee, his curvy wife, began to make her own clothes, leading her to a real empowerment. “The more she sewed, the easier it got for her to move and breathe, since she now had clothes she could move and breathe in, and feel totally hot while she did so. It was really intense to see how much control over her body she could have by taking control over her clothes. It took a lot of time to make them all, but she could sew for hours. While she worked she would lose all her nervous energy and glow like a conquering goddess… Renee’s sewing was a way for her to follow the changes in her body. She felt her hips growing more and more Appalachian, marking her as one of her people… There was a lot of history in the hips, and Renee was learning her history. With that sewing machine, she was making history of her own (pg. 114-115).”

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://hijasamericanas.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/jcrew-dress.jpg&imgrefurl=http://hijasamericanas.wordpress.com/2007/05/20/why-learning-to-sew-can-help-you-love-your-body/&h=305&w=305&sz=19&tbnid=mtApfFMye32a4M:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhow%2Bto%2Bsew%2Ba%2Bdress&hl=en&usg=__Yc_bT4JjMvgcpyy5RHB5u-Dxezc=&sa=X&ei=TEIdTPaVHpGyNqG2tOoM&ved=0CC4Q9QEwBQ



MY body has curves. That means very few things fit properly. Add to that two pregnant sister-in-laws, and an assumption that our last names means pregnant, and I'm pretty willing to cover up and hide whatever curves and belly I may have. I am a woman. My body was designed to carry children (and although I've gotten lots of practise babysitting and with my two nephews, it still retains a pre-child shape), and my hips are definately made for baby hips.

Although my husband tells me he loves my body just the way it is, I can't helping thinking just a few inches off here, a couple pounds there. So I've started to sew, in the hopes of creating something flattering, something pretty that makes me feel beautiful, something that fits, something that hugs my curves without showing them off too much. I just want to be comfortable in my own skin again.