Do What You Do

My sewing circle is meeting at my house next week. I decided I must finish my fox. Now really, this is a self-imposed deadline because I don't think any of the ladies have seen a finished fox. They've heard me talk about them. I took my fox to sewing circle last week, but I got annoyed because I missed a stitch and had to rip out stitches. The ladies will probably be impressed with the 2 foxes hanging over the window. But I think I need my fox done. So I took my fox with me to the doctor. Waiting rooms are great places to sew because the lighting is perfect, not too dim, not too bright, and never glaring.

I sew in public a lot. I always get one of these questions/comments:
1. I don't have the patience for that.
2. What are you making?
3. Isn't it time consuming?
4. You sew? That's cute.
5. What are you (insert wrong craft here. I.e. calling needlework crochet or calling quilting embroidery)

I guess I have a much different idea of how the world works. I think everyone does some kind of craft. I read a meme not long ago about getting into the car then some asshole honking for the driver to hurry up and get out of the parking space so thank god they keep their knitting in the car. I can relate. Being a mom I spend way too much time in the car. Often I am just waiting for time to pass so I can wait somewhere else for an office to open, to return an item, to pick up a part, dog, or person. I don't want want to be bothered by anyone too lazy to walk from one end of the parking lot to the door.

I see DIY projects all over Pinterest and Facebook. I think everyone in America can sew, cook, paint, and monogram. But what never happens is another fiber artist saying, I do this work too, but I prefer French knots. I don't meet knitters with a bag full of yarn. No one ever tugs at their clothing bragging that they did the embroidery.
I think this is sad. We really should know how to do things. We should have skills.  At the very least,  we should appreciate art. We should value hand work.

People are genuinely baffled when they see me sewing. And I won't leave the house without a sewing project because I want people to ask. I want them to remember the time they met an artist. I want them to change their perception of arts and crafts.  I don't think I am converting people into crafters, but if sewing became a common thing, if it were not unusual to see people working with their hands, we might start considering how things are made. And then we might be a little more discerning about what we live with.