Growing up, my mom was always crafting. An art she learned from her mother, and grandmas, that she made every effort to pass down to me. For my mom, it was somewhere between a hobby and a business. She made her own wedding dress. She hemmed any prom dress that was presented to her and absolutely adored crocheting things when anyone she knew was having a child. When I was really little, there was a slew of dresses that my mom had impeccably sewn. Mostly two of a kind – one for my sister and me. As a kid, she made every effort to get me to inherit this gene. She tried so hard to teach me to crochet-something my sister excelled in and that I truly had no interest in. Sewing was the same way-not something I had the patience or time for.
Heading into my sophomore year of college, my life had changed a lot and I desperately needed some kind of hobby I could do by myself. I started crocheting tote bags. As you can imagine-once I made one, they then multiplied in just about any color you could imagine. At this point, my life was slow, isolated, and rather mundane. Thus, my hobby reflected that as well. Eventually, tote bags became hats, then cute tank tops, and eventually some cardigans and sweater vests. With each new thing, I found myself learning patience I did not know I had, as well as persistence. Sometimes, projects took astronomically longer than expected, or I found that I had severely overestimated my skill level.
Along with this, I developed a serious passion for sewing. Specifically, I became very interested in completely altering my entire wardrobe. Whether it be altering my jeans so they did not drag on the ground. Taking in something so it fits me better. Completely altering something to attempt to make it into something I would actually wear, or even just repairing a hole or a tear. The most common of which was definitely to try to revamp an article of clothing so it did not sit untouched for eternity. This was a serious passion for me which promoted a waste-not approach to clothing. However, rarely did anything I create become something I would want to wear. Oftentimes, careful examination of the final product left me wishing I had never attempted to edit it in the first place. However, I always valued the creative process that was required in order to create the final product.
Crafting is one of the best passions that I have ever gotten myself into. On one hand, it requires me to think in ways that I do not usually. It also presents some nostalgia for my childhood and allows me to further an art that my mom painstakingly taught me as a child that I have never truly appreciated until now. Through this, I have also found many opportunities to bond with my mom whether it be through endlessly asking questions or by just talking about or showing off whatever project I was creating. Most of all, this passion always created a deep sense of accomplishment.
Can’t get enough of HC UMass Amherst? Be sure to follow us on Instagram, listen to us on Spotify, like us on Facebook, and read our latest Tweets!