Sewing My Way to Health

 When I was diagnosed with cancer this past fall one of the things that I wanted to do was to get back to making things.  The reasons are two fold.  I like to make things because it feels like a part of me.  When I give something I made to someone I am giving them something that reflects my own sensibilities.  I was just too sick while I was getting large amounts of chemotherapy to really do much, it turns out, but now that I am on a more manageable schedule, I have taken a couple of classes.

One was to make market bags out of oil cloth.  I bought some when I was in Oaxaca last year, and I hadn't really done anything with it.  I thought I might use them as tablecloths for outdoor eating, but hadn't done so.  I took a class at Home Ec in Iowa City, and discovered just how fun and easy it is to make these bags--and how good it feels to be back in front of a sewing machine!