The Importance Of Hemming

In my recent sewing endeavours, I have learnt the importance of hemming. 

 

In order to prevent fabric fraying and carefully stitched seams peeling away from each other, it is essential to ensure that the fabric is first hemmed. 

 

I have learnt this the hard way.

 

I have been thinking a lot about Psalm 139 today and one of my favourite verses in it which describes God is this -

 

"You hem me in—behind and before."

[Psalm 139:5 NIV]

 

I love the idea of God being both behind me and in front of me.  I am covered on all sides.  He is literally guarding my back and protecting me out front.  He is in my past and in my future.

 

Inescapable.

 

Rather than making me feel claustrophobic and trapped by this idea that God surrounds me, it makes me feel safe and secure.  I am surrounded on all sides by a God who loves me, protects me, defends me, cares for me, fights for me, is passionate about me, is kind and gentle towards me and who delights in me.

 

And so, like my now-hemmed sewing, I will not fray.  I won't come apart at the seams, because God surrounds me.

H

God hems me in.  Behind and before.

 

Handmade Tales

More sewing tales today.

I have put the cushion cover on hold until I have figured quite what I am doing with it, but I have spent the evening instead making a beautiful roll-up craft case for knitting needles, pens/pencils, sewing equipment etc.

Again, I wasn't following a pattern, so I just sort of made it up as I went along.

However, I am so proud of the finished product and so pleased.  It looks really good, as if I have bought it, rather than sewing it myself.
 

There are wonky stitches and a few bits which frayed and so I had to sew over them a few times.  There are a few bits where I could perhaps have used a different colour thread so the stitching isn’t so obvious.  But in the main, I am really proud of my creation.

 

It is not perfect, but I made it and I’m delighted with it.

 

I have been reflecting on the delight (and, if I’m honest, amazement as I never really believed I could learn to use a sewing machine and actually make things halfway decent), that I feel and thinking about it illustrates God’s delight in us – His creations.

 

We are not perfect in and of ourselves – we are ‘frayed round the edges’ – but in His sight and through His purifying love, we become perfect.

 

I love that no one else has sewn what I’ve made either: it is completely unique.  One of a kind.

 

I love this verse in Ephesians,

 

“For we are God’s masterpiece.”

 

[Ephesians 2:10 NLT]

 

Not, we are God’s first draft, or God’s quick sketch, or God’s doodle.   We are His carefully constructed, well-thought-out, planned, perfected, delightful hand-made masterpieces.

 

I am so proud of my sewing, I can’t stop looking at it and marvelling and smiling and feeling so proud that I made it.

And that’s just how God feels every time He looks at us.

 

Make Your Own Pattern

Thanks to the very kind donation of a large amount of Cath Kidston fabric from a lovely lady at church this morning, I have spent the afternoon attempting to make a cushion cover.

 

I have a vague idea of what I am doing, although I managed to cut the pieces too small to begin with.  I have cut and hemmed most of the pieces of fabric and have pinned most of the big bits together.  However, I haven't made an easy job for myself as I am making the pattern up and have included a contrasting fabric (which I have trimmed with lace), along the sides.

 

I have been staring at the different pieces for a good half hour wondering how best to proceed with the actual arranging and assembling of the finished piece.  The easiest option would simply to be to stitch everything to the cushion inner, but it would hardly be a cushion 'cover'.

 

It feels a bit like trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle with no box to copy the picture from, and no idea if you have all of the right pieces.

 

Still, I have been enjoying myself.

 

Sometimes my life can feel a bit like this, too.  I have lots of different pieces and sections and I'm not sure which is the front or the back, or which bits should be joined to others.  My life often feels fragmented and disjointed and I wish there was an easy pattern to follow.

 

But the lovely thing about not really following a pattern is that I am making a cushion cover that no one else has made before.  It will be completely unique.  And in the same way, I am living a life that no one else has lived before.

 

I am making my own pattern.

 

Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans,

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

 

[Romans 12:2 NIV] 

 

When we try and follow the pattern of the world, or the pattern that someone else is following, we lose ourselves - our originality and uniqueness.

Make your own pattern. 

 

 

 

Hand-made

Today, I finished a patchwork cushion cover that I have been working on for at least a year.

 

There was a real sense of pride in my work as I finished and I am really pleased with it and with my achievement, as I wouldn't normally class myself as one of those people who's good at sewing. 

 

When I had finished, I couldn't wait to try it out and see what it looked like: on my bed, on my spare bed, on the sofa etc.  I was excited and I wanted to use it and I wanted to tell other people about it.

 

It's not perfect: some of my stitching isn't quite straight and some of the squares are different sizes or overlap slightly, but it is a labour of love. It is unique and individual and personal and it is something in which I have invested a lot of time and energy.

 

It is hand-made and it is something to be proud of.

 

And as I finished, it made me think (in a very small way), of how God must have felt after He had created each one of us. 

 

The Bible describes us as being designed and personally hand-crafted by God, stitched together by Him:

 

          "For you created my inmost being;
          you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
          I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
          your works are wonderful."

[Psalm 139:13-14 NIV]

 

And at the end of the creation story, the Bible says,

"God looked over everything he had made;

it was so good, so very good!"

[Genesis 1:31 MSG]

 

God looks at you and me and sees us as being so very good.  Not because we behave well, or do as we are told; not because we are without fault or flaw; not because we never make mistakes or because we are perfect.  But because He made us. 

 

We are hand-made by the hands that hold the world.

 

 

Sewing

I have surprised myself recently with a new-found talent for sewing.  I have been hand-stitching cushion covers, bunting and fabric gifts, and have been thoroughly enjoying myself.

The project that I have been working on for the longest is a large patchwork cushion cover.  I have only got two rows left to go and I am excited about seeing what it will look like when it is all finished.  It is not the neatest thing ever (especially if you take a look at the back), but I am proud of it, especially as I never thought that I would be very good at anything involving a needle.  It is a jumble of odds and ends of different fabrics: some 'vintage' fabrics from Mum's old sewing basket, some off-cuts from previous sewing endeavours and some beautiful Cath Kidston squares.  They have different patterns and colours, but they all work together to create an overall cushion cover.

In the same way, the Bible describes us (as a church, both locally and globally) being sewn together in a tapestry that reflects God and His love:

"I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God.  Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery."

[Colossians 2:2 MSG]

My patchwork cushion would be rather dull if it was all made from the same fabric.  It is the different patterns and colours of each of the pieces which make it beautiful.  Individually, they are pretty fabrics but, together, they look even prettier; each square draws out the different colours of the surrounding squares.  Similarly, the church would look rather dull if we were all identical.  It is our differences which best reflect the different aspects of our diverse God.

Rather than feeling that we all ought to be the same, we should embrace and celebrate our differences.  One of my favourite verses expresses this beautifully -

"Since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvellously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't."

[Romans 12:6 MSG]

Whilst I continue to sew, I hope that this verse weaves its way into my heart, so that I can celebrate my own gifts and those of others.  So that I can 'draw out' the aspects of God that I see in those around me and so that, together, we can weave a tapestry of love that reflects who God is.