A blast from my sewing past

Tomorrow marks the first of my markets in November - I have five of them in the next three weeks!

I have new doorstops ready to go, I've whipped up new pencil rolls, new Hoots abound, I've made new cushions - and just as well, because I have to leave the house RIGHT NOW to go out, and I won't be back until late tonight, so that is all the sewing I can do!

My favourite items today are the lovely cushions here, which I've made out of a fantastic fabric I first found when I was in Year 7 at high school. For those of you who are wondering how long ago, let me just say that it's a looooooong time ago. Long time. Very long time. Over 20 years.

So this is pretty special to me. It's the first fabric I ever made something out of. I remember going to the Lincraft with my mum to buy the material I needed for my first Year 7 Home Economics project, which was an apron - and we found this, which we both thought would be perfect.

I took it into school with me and I was so proud of it. I knew I had something really cool, and all the other girls were envious (and this made me feel pretty good, as the girls at school were not often envious of me, let me tell you).

I laid it out on the pattern. I followed the instructions and I cut it out carefully. I held it up to the light .... and realised I'd cut out the pattern upside down.

I was devastated. I'd ruined my beautiful material and I'd stuffed up my present for mum, even before I'd really started it. And of course we had only bought enough fabric to make the one apron, so I had to keep going. The girls didn't envy me any more after I wrecked it, that's for sure.

I just couldn't believe I'd done something so stupid. And I think it was probably part of the reason I didn't take Home Ec as an elective after that first compulsory term, because I was absolutely humiliated and it was my own stupid fault. Of course, now I wish I'd kept on with it, because no doubt I'd be a far better seamstress than I am today if I'd had 20 years more practice. To this day I still freak out about cutting out fabric, and I still make the same silly error - last year I cut a blouse out of fabric with text printed on it - and did exactly the same thing.

Back in Year 7 though, I finished the apron and duly gave it to my mother. To her credit she continues to use it to this day.

I never saw the fabric again - until a month ago, when I spotted some and snapped up the lot of it. Because twenty years may have passed, but I still love it. It's vintage now of course, and rare as hen's teeth. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw it!

And of course I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I'm going to make another apron - right side up this time - and give it to my mum as the present she should have had twenty years ago.