A Stitch in Time...

By Aimee

I learned to sew at an early age. I made all my homecoming/prom dresses and even my own wedding dress. So when Josh's school needed people to sew a simple straight seem for a project, I knew I could get in some easy volunteer hours. The 6th grade is learning the recorder in music and with each level they pass they get a different colored belt, like in Karate. I was given the task of cutting out and putting together the yellow and orange belts. On Tuesday morning I got out my cutting mat, straight edge and rotary cutter hoping to get lots done. After an hour or so I noticed the blade on my cutter was pretty dull. I hadn't changed it in a while. The thought came to me, "I should probably go get a new blade for this before I have a mishap." But I was on a roll. I was about half way through all the cutting and I just wanted to get it done. I didn't listen to that voice. So, just as feared, the blade was too dull to stay on the fabric and ended up making it's way up the straight edge and across my finger. I immediately dropped the cutter and grabbed my poor little finger, putting pressure on it so I wouldn't bleed all over the kitchen. I wasn't sure how bad it really was, I just knew it needed more than a band-aid. I somehow opened the front door and walked across the street to get help from my friend, Becky. She helped me dial the doctor's office to let them know I was coming and then Jim to let him know how he would be spending his lunch hour! We got all checked in and back to the suture room. I knew I needed stitches but didn't know haw badly until the nurse looked at it and made a face! She told us she hadn't seen a cut like that in a while. She got the doctor and they got to work. 5 shots (one of them tetanus) and 8 stitches later I was bandaged up and sent home with the instructions to keep it dry for at least 48 hours and to take it easy. Needless to say, the easy project I thought I would have done in two days is still sitting in the state I left it in on that fateful Tuesday afternoon. The only consolation I have is that the Mom in charge of the project knows exactly how I feel. She almost cut the end of her thumb off a few months ago with the same type of cutting tool!