A cut above the rest...

When I was little, my mom was an expert seamstress. She made beautiful dresses and outfits for me and my sisters. We loved to match and, of course, we always looked adorable.
What this really meant though, is that we spent a lot of time in fabric stores...and THAT, I really liked. I loved wandering through the stores, looking at the endless bolts of colored and patterned fabrics. I immersed myself in the 'pattern books', enjoying page after page while helping my mom pick out the outfits I wanted her to make for us! (Some had matching head scarfs--Hello! STYLE!!) But what I loved the most was watching the ladies who worked at the stores as they cut the material.
After running the beautiful, fresh-smelling fabric through the little machine to be accurately measured, they would take what seemed like 'magic scissors', gliding them through the material to cut the fabric with perfection.
...I freaking LOVED watching that! Wish I'd had a camera back then--you know I would have blogged about it.
But I did something even better. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said that I wanted to be "a lady who cuts material." Yep. Big dreams for a little kid. For years I watched and took mental notes on how I would someday hold those magical scissors in my own hands.
And, at 14, my dream became reality! Taking a job at the local five and dime (that's a line that doesn't get written too often anymore) I was first a stock girl, then a cashier and then...a lady who cuts material.
It was everything I dreamed of. It really was! I helped people choose patterns, I assisted them in finding appropriate fabric and then...I cut their material! Seriously, I freaking loved it.
Funny thing is, I took sewing for one semester in high school and got a C in the class. I only made one thing that was wearable and never could quite figure out sleeves or zippers or button holes.
But damn, could I CUT that material.