I used to be a beautiful seamstress. I've been doing alterations for the neighbors for years. A few weeks ago one of the girls asked me to do a simple hem for a dress. They are picking it up today and I did such an awful job I'm embarrassed to show it to them. I know I'm a perfectionist and they will probably feel it is just fine, but I hate it. I couldn't hold the material and couldn't hold the needle hardly at all. I couldn't hem a straight line without a guide and I just finally gave up on the built-in slip and slip-stitched it in a really uneven line.
I hate this. I'm in tears. Yes, I could probably still do machine stitching and my quilting but it just breaks my heart that I've lost this skill.
The words I have for Lupus today would get me kicked off this board.
It is a grieving process when we lose the abilities we once had. I feel badly for you. I too am a former seamstress so I know exactly what you are feeling. Don't put undo pressure on yourself to do what causes you pain and I'm speaking of emotional pain too. Your inability to do what you used to do well... does not define you. You are a special lady! I've had to admit that my hands don't work the same and my coordination is definitely strange... I truly would like to cry with you as I think about my unfinished projects and my unused sewing machine. I love creating garments and helping people.
It is OK to set things aside with the hope that one day we may have that special gift back. Stay strong. I have a dear friend who is a seamstress and she has lost her eye sight. I have to remind myself...I still have much.
My heart aches for you. I never had the ability to sew, and my mom's sewing machine hated me : p, and it was reciprocated. I used to be a bowler, and last year I had to give it up after a few months, I just didn't get the strength back in my hand after my CT surgery. I had just bought a new ball the year before, and I couldn't use it, it was too heavy for me. Then I started having issues with my feet and that was it. My team was looking for a 4th person again, and I told them I gave it up due to my health. I do love animals, and I enjoy my new puppy, she brings me alot of joy. I pray that you can find something that brings you joy to replace what you've lost.
I am so sorry you have lost something you love. I think we have all in a way alter our lives to accommodate this *#)@@!~ disease. I use to do my housework while dancing and I never went anywhere I wasnt bopping along. My family use to say the person who came up with the energizer bunny must know someone like me. Now sometimes just getting out of bed is the best I can do. I walk like I am 80 and my days of dancing are over. However all is not lost I still manage to get things done I just go about it in a different way. It might take me much longer and involve a chair or breaks but I do eventually get there. Dont give up. There maybe another way for you to sew that will allow you to get there too. And if sewing is lost to you as Trisha said "I pray that you can find something that brings you joy to replace what you've lost."
Julie brings up a good point - there may be another way for you to sew, the thought popped into my head that you should check out the arthritis foundation, they have gadgets and things to help arthritic people. I've seen things on QVC with the arthritis foundation's approval that I've thought about getting. A utensil to hold a potato so you can peel it and other things, do you know how many times I've gotten to the end of a potato and dropped it in the trash? At least I've gotten smart enough to peel in the sink and clean up the peelings, but always before I would just bypass that step because I hate to clean it out of the sink : p