Monkey Business

My mother is an amazing seamstress. I cannot imagine how many Halloween costumes she sewed over years of raising four children. Needless to say, she made it look very easy.

Her effortlessness made me think that I could sew a homemade costume for my little boy this year. Oh, I thought this would be a fabulous project. I'd have a chance to learn to sew (yes, learn -- I really have sewed very little in my life beyond reattaching an occasional button) and Evan would have a lovingly made and adorable get-up to don come Halloween.

I started early. I picked out the pattern back in August. Right away, I should have known this whole thing was going to be trouble. I pulled the pattern out of it's paper envelope and realized that I had no idea how to read it. Who knew that sewing patterns don't come with instructions? There is no forgiveness for beginnerhood in the sewing world; a level of skill and knowledge is preassumed.

I called my mom in a panic. And, she talked me through what to do first. Several days later, she talked me through what to do next. And so on...

I had envisioned myself cozily sewing away on crisp fall evenings after Evan was tucked away in bed. Instead, most often, I was staying up way too late trying to decipher how to set my sewing machine to make a zigzag stich, or how to thread elastic properly through a seam. My fingers were riddled with pin pricks, my poor sewing machine suffered several broken needles and mis-threaded bobbins. My husband steered very clear of the dining room, where I had my little sewing factory set up, for fear that he might be the brunt of my ongoing frustration.

And October 31st loomed ever closer. I was beginning to fear that at the last minute, we might be headed for the costume aisle at Target after all. I worked frantically, fabric scraps falling everywhere, my mother on permanent speed dial. And, two nights ago, I finished the last stitch.

My husband hopefully asked, "So, I guess you won't be trying this again next year?" And I -- with all the satisfaction and good will of a finished project -- said, "Oh, I definitely will. It was fun."

On close inspection, this costume is pretty poorly constructed. Any veteran seamstress (anyone who buys a pattern apparently!) would look at it and see multiple errors and short cuts. But, to me, it is a major accomplishment. I tried it on Evan for the first time last evening. He seemed unimpressed and looked at me as if to say, "Mom, I am not your show monkey!"

Ah, but for tonight, just for tonight, he is.