One starts with drawers, so prototype #1 is/are done, the pattern tweaked and #2 cut out, the machine work started.
Let me tell you, my grandma's great grandma would have used the electric sewing machine if she could have, and modern cutters and rulers to make quick work of cutting out some of those large pieces.
As I sit here, in my house built in 1900, I am certain the first people to live in this house would appreciate the electric lights and the central air and heat. I am sure they would have liked the hot and cold running water, the shower, washer and dryer and indoor toilet.
Metal roofs were around then so my new metal roof probably would not have seemed so wonderful to them as it does to me. But I lived with a badly leaking roof for over 3 years and every time it rains, I appreciate this metal roof and a dry home.
I have a lot to learn yet about this area, central Illinois and when white settlers first came and started building homes, clearing for farms, draining swamps and bogs. But this is my home now, and I am becoming a part of the community.
I now have 11 years at this plant and 9 years of living in this house. I am working on the house and grounds/yard this year, the survey is done so I can now fence the east/back area so the dog has more freedom, once the fencing is done. The contract is signed for the concrete work for the kitchen patio so I hope/expect to see that done before the end of this month and the money for that is set aside.
I have landscaping work to do, plants to move, areas to add a bit of great Beardstown sand and fill the low spots some, a bit of grass to try and get established and plenty of grass to get out of planting beds and weeds to fight.
And I will find time for sewing, doll things, a quilt or two, and clothes for wearing at Clayville, so I am correctly dressed when I am there, guiding tours or showing how to do something, from caning a chair to spinning and knitting to quilting.
I am very blessed in my life here. It is not perfect, work at Cargill is very hard but I keep working and keep paying my bills and fixing on my old house. I have some solid friends, and Jake is doing good. I am reasonably healthy and the dog often thinks I am great.
Things are not perfect, but some things will change with time, for the better, some things I can live with and some things are just not my problem. I might have to remind myself of that now and then, but I am getting much better at knowing when to step back, keep my mouth shut, tell myself it is not my job to fix, and a long list of things I used to let stress me.
Both at work and in my personal life, I did not break it, I do not have to fix it. I work at doing my job to the best of my ability, how other people work is not my problem, unless it directly impacts me and then I do what I can to reduce that impact.
In my personal life, all my children are adults, they make their own choices and live their lives, I do not clean up after them, do not fix the mess they make or pay their bills and I work hard to not give advice unless asked.
And I am not anyone's entertainment committee nor am I responsible for their happiness or their problems. That is a big step for me, not feeling I should do what pleases someone else before what pleases or suits me. But, I am single, owe no one any duty or obligations and I plan to keep it that way, and I do not need or want anyone to take care of me, live for me, build a life around what suits me.
So, the prototype underpinnings will be orchid and lavender, because it is fabric I already own and cotton sheeting which is correct for underpinnings, I will buy white cotton some time in the future, and by then I will have the patterns tweaked to my liking and own several changes of drawers and chemise, quite wealthy, in fact for that time period and being among the early settlers. It is a very good life for this old woman.
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