Serving And Sewing

It's interview time again and I decided to bring along my sewing machine and take care of some needed repairs as President held personal interviews with each missionary. Looking back at all the interviews we have participated in since we arrived two years ago, this has been my favorite! As I would sew, the missionaries would sit down and chat with me. We had some great discussions around the ironing board! The repairs I did were hems, easy alterations, and patching rips or tears. I worked on waistbands, ties, polo's (shirts), dresses, and more than a few ripped out crotch seams. Plus I repaired one umbrella. 

 

 The zig-zag on my machine is broken so I had to release the feed, and fix this tear by moving the material back and forth as I sewed. It looks messy to me and I hope it holds. If the machine was fixed, it would have looked better. My mother would always say, "It will never be seen on a galloping horse." Meaning that as busy as the sister missionaries are, running from one appointment to another, the fix-up job will never be seen.

 

 This elder's pockets were so bad that I could not fix them. He brought me 3 shirts to be repaired, but one of them had torn sleeves too. I used the bad shirt to cut out new pockets. Now the elder has 2 fixed shirts.

 

Many of the local missionaries were very interested in my sewing machine and the iron. Very few people here have a sewing machine or iron of their own. It is a luxury that I often take for granted. On the last day of interviews, we had some children in the church building who kept peeking into the room to see what I was doing. Slowly they got the courage to come in and watch. When I was finished, I let those who wanted to sew with my machine have a try. They giggled and loved pushing their foot on the pedal to see the straight stitches the machine made. After that, I showed them how the iron works. I filled up the iron with water and sprayed the children, and then we pretended to iron. (the iron was unplugged) 

I loved every minute of this months interviews!

 

Thank you to the elder's who took these pictures.