How Etsy is Saving My Life part IV

The next day my girlfriend and I went to Sears and purchased the cheapest sewing machine that they offered and took it home. We tried to get that thing to work all night as well. Having 2 non working sewing machines was not an option. It just meant that we were idiots. But we did call it a night around 3 am. The next morning we "youtubed" setting up a sewing machine an were walked through the process step by step. Turns out that the source of all of our angst was the fact that we did not thread the bobbin, Hell, I thought that you put the thread on the top and away you go:). Well now I know.

It still took us about another week to get the bobbin threading and inserting perfect, but dammit we got it. That was the first time in a long time I had felt any sense of worth. WHODATHUNK it ?

I practiced for a while just stitching pieces together. And once again got frustrated things were not moving quicker and put the machine in the corner. I thought I couldn't do it, but on the daily basis, I was purchasing new purses (because I am a purse whore)...analysing others bag...I was truly looking at the construction of bags. I had decided that it was waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy. Too much work. More than I felt like doing.

Christmas was coming, and I was still on medical leave from work. Turned 18 and got my first job I had been the Christmas shopper ( because my mom buys crap that no one wants.) This year I couldn't do it. I slipped deeper. I needed something to aid with the idle time. Once again I saw the sewing machine ...I decided I am going to make my 15 y/o sister a bag for Christmas in lieu of buying her thousand of dollars worth of clothes which I normally do. ( PS...I did end up buying her lots of clothes b/c my girlfriend loves me and she paid for them:) Nonetheless I went to the garment district in NYC, lucky for me I live very close, and found this amazing silk skull print. She loves skull...the result was an amazing skull messenger. She loves it and it was better than anything that I could have purchased.

After I finished that bag , my seizures and my depression were getting worse. I couldn't go back to work and i was inundated with time. I was surfing the web for handmade handbags and came across etsy and all these amazing handmade bags. They were amazing. For the first time, I thought I could do this all the time. So I started researching etsy, etsy buyers,sellers, all things indie and handmade...it became and obsession. It helped with my depression . I began making bags daily. When I got good at it , I decided to open my etsy shop. I listed on Jan 5th, my first item sold on Jan 7th.

Although, I still get seizures, they still don't know why, and I still struggle with the depression associated with the fact that I am a medical misfit of some sort, I now have an outlet. I have to make things. Had I not found etsy, my world would be a bit different now. Etsy has save my life. I am very blessed.