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Ashley Hunter is a mom, teacher, and community supporter who loves who she is and where she lives.
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I admire people who can create things using fabrics, needles, yarn and hooks. I think it takes an incredible amount of patience and skill to be able to make stuffed animals, clothes, and crafts; virtues that I have a difficult time acquiring.
When I first got married, my mother-in-law bought me a sewing machine and some crocheting hooks. I was floored, both with gratitude and overwhelm. How on earth was I going to use these things since I don’t have a crafty bone in my body?
I kindly listened and paid attention while she explained how to sew a simple seam and yarn over my hook, but I lacked the patience to continue. My thread would bunch up and get stuck, so I declared myself done with that. The squares I would make with my hooks and yarn would gradually narrow into some sort of parallelogram, so I declared myself done with that. Once I started having kids, however, sewing slowly became a skill that I could see would come in handy, and I really did want to make my own beanie hats and stuffed animals.
Just recently, I started watching a show on the internet that had to do with people competing for money to build up their clothing brands. The competition involved them making clothes for specific challenges, such as beachwear, evening wear and dramatic couture.
Some of the clothes were well-made, beautiful attire that I could envision myself wearing. Others were so exotic that it seemed as if they did nothing but randomly sew pieces of cloth together and call it a masterpiece. These pieces also received praise for creativity and vision.
Now, I’m not belittling their hard work at all, as I am sure the technique required to make all of those clothes were acquired by hard work, diligence, and experience. However, it got me thinking about all of the times I declared myself “done” with my attempts. If one contestant could almost win a competition to be the next global fashion brand by literally flipping a pair of jeans upside down and turning it into a top, then I was most certainly not done.
I got out my dusty fabric bin and decided to experiment. I started to eye some of my kids’ clothing for seams, and began to look at clothing in terms of pieces put together, like a puzzle. To avoid being naïve, I decided to look for some help.
On an ad, I saw that craftsy.com was having a promotion in which you pay about $3 and get a year of their premium membership. This included being able to watch all of their instructional videos and access to their class materials. The classes also include, cooking, interior design, woodworking, and crafts for kids to create, just to name a few. To keep it simple, I began some classes on crocheting stuffed animals and basics of sewing.
Since then, I have created a simple bird, and have made alterations on several outfits for myself and my kids. I am now brave enough to pull back some stitches, and rip some seams.
This is just the beginning. Although I am not planning to enter any competitions anytime soon, I now know that I won’t ever be done developing the skills needed to create truly fun and beautiful things.
Ashley Hunter is a mom, teacher, and community supporter who loves who she is and where she lives. If you have ideas that you would like to share with Hunter, you may email suggestions to hunter.ashleyk@gmail.com.
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Jim was my roommate at U of K and then through his service in the Navy. He was one of the most thoughtful, intelligent persons ever. Dr. Robert Gerner
Dr. Roger C. Schustereit said:
May God offer comfort at this time.
My sincere condoles for the lost of your love one; may he rest in peace.
Mary was such a sweet lady always smiling and giggling
My deepest condolences to her family
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