There's a Jedi in my garden

I can't resist a moment of glory. Here is my eldest, dressed as a Jedi for today's hero day at school.

When I told him I'd make his costume, his words were "Mummy, that'll be rubbish. Can't you just go and buy one instead!"

For a moment I wobbled.

After all I hadn't used a sewing machine in 26 years since my unfinished A-Line navy skirt project at secondary school. My penchant for needlework has remained trapped for many a year and when I inherited my late mother-in-law's sewing machine, I kept in in the loft untouched for two years.

So what I'm saying is that I've got no particular interest in sewing and it's not a skill in which I feel confident. So maybe my little one was just picking up on my vibes.

But suddenly my determination got the better of me and after an unsuccessful trawl around the charity shops for some suitable fabric, I ended up at the Haberdashery spending about £15 on some material for a cloak and a tunic.

Then I got busy, busy, busy, sewing by hand.

If I carried on like that it would have taken me until Christmas, so I decided that I should rescue the sewing machine from the loft and have a go!

Poised in front of the machine I felt like a novice driver, seeing something so familiar but not having a clue about the knobs, buttons and switches.

All I can say is thank goodness for the Internet, where I could find an online manual and work out how to thread the needle, wind the bobbin and determine the right stitch for the job. Apparently there's much more to it than that with things such as tension, backwards sewing and the like.

But phew, after three hours of working it out and with the added help of iron-on wonder web for the trickier situations, I managed to get by. I even coped with making a hood!

Much of it was guesswork, trying to use a dose of common sense, but with a growing sense of awe for the talents of both designers and machinists.

I am dead chuffed with the results.

AND SEW IS HE! (chuckle, please do excuse the pun, I just couldn't resist)

Indeed, if he could have eaten his words, he would have!

So as I sign off...all that's left to say is

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, MY FRIENDS!

After all, it must have been the force that helped me...or was it just sheer luck!