When I picked up DS from track practice last night, he was grinning from ear to ear and for once wearing enough clothes for the weather. His long-awaited letter jacket had arrived. I had a museum meeting to rush off to, but I promised him that after dinner I would sew on all the patches he had been awarded so far. Five hours later I sat down at the sewing machine and proceeded to make good on my promise.
Attention all well-meaning mothers of kids with letter jackets: First, notice the zipper hiding in the bottom of the back lining. It's there for a reason. I didn't notice this wonderful convenience until I had already sewn five patches on through the lining and made a bit of a mess of them. I had to remove two of them so that I could re-sew them through the outer fabric only. A letter jacket is big and bulky (especially the leather sleeves) and hard to turn in the sewing machine, but with perseverance it is possible to avoid sewing these things all on by hand.
Here's the result of my evening's labors. Someday I might go back and pull off the other three, but they're all right for now. The boy was still beaming from ear to ear as he left the house this morning, and all is right with the world.
