@janbb, I don’t smoke, honest!
I started sewing in secret to make a birthday gift for my husband, who liked to wear caftans. But what really got me going was when I was expecting my first child. For some reason that year all the maternity clothes looked as if they were designed to make you feel depressed about being pregnant. So I started sewing in earnest, everything from cheery print tops to a full-length banquet gown with lace bodice and covered buttons. I also made several cloth purses of my own design, with zippered pockets, little loops for my endless pens, and woven straps that went all the way around, under the body of the purse for support, instead of just being anchored at the top.
I loved sewing because it was completely absorbing and mostly right-brained, a true vacation from the mind I usually lived in. I especially enjoyed modifying patterns to suit me: zipper back instead of button front, inset panels, different sleeves, etc. And pockets! Everything gets pockets. When you’ve had allergies all your life, you always want a tissue close by.
What ended my sewing career was carpal tunnel syndrome. Sewing time is mostly pinning time. Once the cutting is done, most of the careful, beautiful craftsmanship takes place during or depends on pinning: pin for 3 hours, stitch for a few minutes, and then unpin. And I could not pin for more than 5 minutes at a stretch without my fingers’ going numb.
Since the surgeries on both hands, I haven’t tried it again, but one of these days I will.