Sew Unlike Nursing...

In High school we had the best Sewing/Textiles teacher in the world.

I learned more in that class than any other class I took - ever.

Some of my high school friends with our Sewing Teacher circa 1973

By the end of Grade 12, we could design and sew any outfit we wanted - without a pattern.  We also learned invisible mending, alterations, replacing zippers in pants and other garments, general mending and creating new projects from old clothing.

In Grade 12 my final two projects were a reversible winter coat for my mother and my own Graduation dress....all done without a purchased pattern.

If you are interested in how it's done, you can get an idea from this website.

It wasn't surprising to anyone that the first thing I bought when I graduated from high school wasn't a car.....it was my own sewing machine: A Bernina 830!  It is presently 39 years old and still runs as perfectly as the day I bought it!

Here is the exact same one I have, also purchased in 1973, for sale on Craigslist
Can you believe the asking price is $700 firm? I bought mine in 1973 brand new for $350

I really enjoyed sewing and had I thought of it as an option at the time, I should have gone into fashion design.

In the years after high school I designed and sewed two wedding dresses - one for my sister and one for my best friend.  I  created nursing uniforms for my co-workers that were different than what was available back then 30 years ago.  Designing hats, drapes, stuffed toys - you name it - I made it!

Whatever you wished, I could sew.  Pattern or not.  Anything.

Several of my later projects were new outfits made from reclaimed leather coats from the thrift store.  My girlfriend brought me a red leather jacket that I made into a vest for her motorcycle ride with her husband to Sturgis.  

My brother's wife who was a BC Lions Cheerleader needed an outfit for travelling with the team to Edmonton - so I took an old leather trench coat and made her a leather dress - using the different bits and pieces on different areas of the garment. 

I had to laugh because all her cheerleading friends were asking her where she got it.  It was a running joke about my "NU2U Designs".....

Here is my sister in law with the dress made
from the leather trench coat

The only "money" I made from all that sewing was a little design that made it to a CeBIT technology convention in Hanover, Germany - the world's largest and international computer exhibition:

Here is the little guy, now hanging in my closet

One of the instruction manuals to explain how it works

Here is the CeBIT newspaper that was given out at the exhibition in the year 2000

Here we are featured on the 2nd page of the CeBIT news!
The writeup explains how the puppy would work

I designed the little guy not ever seeing "Blues Clues"....but I can see how they are fairly similar.
Unfortunately, their child-phone/GPS business stalled due to infighting in the company, and then, of course the technology boom at that time left them in the dust.....and it became obsolete as other companies came up with similar inventions.

Notice the number of phones sold....very small numbers back then....!!!

It was a great run though and I got to tour Switzerland, France and Italy from a Jaguar Convertible.

Nowadays, I hardly ever take out my sewing machine.   Both my serger and my Bernina are stored under the stairs....mostly forgotten.

I truly believe that Nursing killed Creativity for me.

Originally, I considered my Nursing career to be "temporary" and a way to make a living on my journey to something else....art, music, creating fashion..... 

Somehow, without me realizing, it instead became my journey.

For some people, their dream is Nursing.  For me, it was anything but Nursing.