(Learning to) Sew With Local Organic Cotton

My mom never taught me to sew, she barely could sew a button on a shirt after popping off, she was more of the "let's go to the mall and get something new instead" type. When I was 10 she tried putting me in sewing classes for a week but I puked at class (had some flu) and missed the important lessons - my only memory besides the toilet in the ClothWorld was that I had coaxed the sewing instructor's son to actually finish my project for me. (Super fulgy shorts and top.) When I was in college I finally got my first sewing machine, which I mainly used on mixed media art projects that were not at all meant to push through the thing, and I nearly killed my sewing machine 100 times. To my surprise the only person I met who knew how to sew at the time was yet another boy- Rodney Tassistro. He taught me how to load the bobbin and push fabric through and even got me to try out a actual pattern. I stuck mostly to sewing art though, since I could not be tamed by the rules of sewing clothes.
I have been making frankenstein-ish outfits on occasion ever since, but recently i am determined to really learn to sew. Here is a picture of what I threw together yesterday morning, made with locally grown, milled, woven organic cotton I bought at Spiritex. It was actually a ball of scraps with a rubber band around it for like $2, and I barely put thought or work into it - but best believe I am going to sport this thing. The belt is something my neighbor Heather picked up for me at a flea market :) ... I love when hippies get sick of their cool beaded shit!