Sycamore Creek Interiors

     I started sewing when I was about 12 years old.  My first creation was a skirt.  I remember spending lots of time trying to get that darn zipper in just right.  Next, I entered a 4-H (does that even still exist?) contest where I tried a skirt with a matching vest.  It was pink - kind of a Pepto Bismol color.  Man, was I proud of that creation!  I took it to the Madison County Fair, and won a ribbon, if I remember correctly.  Okay, it was honorable mention, but I was proud of it none-the-less.   I wish I still had the picture of myself wearing that crazy outfit with my buck teeth and shag haircut.
    When I was a teenager, my favorite store to go to was Faye's Fabrics in Richmond Ky.  I loved looking at all the fabrics, patterns, and especially the buttons. I loved pouring over  the new pattern books that came out seasonally, and picking out just the right fabric for the pattern.  Occasionally, Faye would give me her outdated pattern book to take home and look through.  That was more fun for me than any Seventeen Magizine ever could be.  Hours and hours of my growing-up years were spent on the floor of my mother's dining room cutting out a new pattern, and seaming it together using her sewing machine.   When I was first learning to sew, I would seam two pieces together, then take it to her for inspection.  She was usually in the family room in her favorite chair grading papers.  (She was a teacher)  Many is the time that I had to take out a row of stitching, and redo it so that it was up to her standards. 
     In college, I made several dresses for myself and for friends.  That was my first taste of being paid for what I love to do.  My graduation present from college was my own sewing machine!  What a different time we live in now.....
     My business that I love so much, Sycamore Creek Interiors, was born out of those early years of sewing.  So much of what I learned back then, I use every time I have a sewing project.  Things like pressing open a seam to make it lay better, and adding an inch to the finished size of a pillow to account for the seam allowance.
     I've been thinking for a while that it is such a shame that the art of sewing for your family has all but died out.  Not many people know how to make a skirt for themselves anymore, much less anything pretty for their home.  It's so easy to buy the clothing we need from our favorite online sight or store.  But a hand-made gift for a new baby, or a special Easter dress for a child, or some new pillows for your living room that just match your window treatments is a special thing, and something I wish I could pass down to the next generation.