Becoming the Ghanaian Martha Stewart

With a tad bit of time on my hands, I've decided that until I find something more constant to fill my time with, like maybe volunteering with and NGO, I will become the queen of all things crafty and hobby-like. I already have a few under my belt like baking and knitting and so in addition to bringing these up a notch, I've decided to take on a few more. I should preface this review of my new hobbies with an explanation of exactly how much time how I have on my hands. It's more than I can ever imagine having again in my life so I'm making the most of it...or trying to. Without children to care for or even a house to clean or a car to drive around in, it's a ridiculous amount of free time that is quite difficult to fill with just day to day operations of grocery shopping, daily hygiene tasks, exercise at the gym/swimming laps, cooking dinner, pool lounging time, writing in my blog, and...yes, that's all folks. I wrote previously about my search for household goods which we desperately needed when I first got here, but we've decided without our furniture (it hasn't come yet and apparently might be another week or two!), it really doesn't make much sense to buy anymore goods for the house until it arrives. So no more shopping for lamps, curtains, etc. to fill my time. So my quest for new hobbies has officially begun.

I started filling the hours with knitting, which I already knew how to do and enjoy, but knitting is not something I can be entertained with for too long and I certainly don't want to get arthritis prematurely. So after finishing a complicated argyle sweater and starting a few more cute baby outfits, I decided I'd have to find more crafty projects. In my search for fabric for curtains, I became enthralled with the gorgeous batik fabrics in Ghana and I kept envisioning all the beautiful clothing and pillows that could be made with them but without a sewing machine and knowing how to sew, this would be difficult. After a few weeks of pondering whether I really wanted to invest in learning how to sew, I decided it was worth it. So I had seen some inexpensive sewing machines at this store called Melcom, which is like a Kmart of sorts and decided I'd head there one day to pick a machine out (after consulting my mother about what to look for in a machine). However, when I told Frank, our driver, what my intentions were, he said "No! Melcom is too cost (this is how he says too expensive which took me some time to get) for sewing machine!" And he immediately got on the phone to his "brother" who I later found out was his uncle who happens to be a tailor. His uncle, Yao (he was born on a Thursday...), suggested we go to the market in Accra Central. This is where we also went to get my handmade baking pans a few weeks ago. So I'm now realizing that everything is less expensive at the market but not too many white folks appear to go to the market and instead head to Kmart like shopping centers, I suppose because of the comfort, ease, and set prices. But, certainly I'm always up for a good deal and as long as Frank is willing to accompany me, at least in the beginning, I was happy to go! So we got to the market and of course it took about 30 minutes to park the car because there is a parking lot but the way it works is, the attendant lets cars in but there are no spaces available so the cars wait in a line of sorts until a space opens up. We were lucky to finally get a spot. We head into the market which is crowded and hot and eventually found our way to the sewing machine shop that only sells refurbished used sewing machines. I start looking and ask the shop owner questions but really have no idea what I'm looking for. All of a sudden Frank comes to me and says his "brother" Yao is down the street and is coming to help us find one. I can't believe it and am thrilled because Yao will certainly be able to help me figure out which machine to get. So Yao arrives and tells me he goes by Newman and he's the sweetest gentlest man and spends about 30 minutes with me testing machines, asking prices until we finally find the perfect one. It's a 1960's Singer (all metal parts...no plastic, as Newman told me the new machines always have plastic and plastic always breaks).



So then Newman had to run to get some fabric for something he was working on and so Frank took me to a cafe to sit down for a while as maybe he thought I was going to pass out from the heat. It was ridiculously hot that day and the sun was bearing down so I was happy to take a break. Frank has turned out to be quite a great driver. He may not know where everything is in town, and sometimes I might have difficult understanding what he says, but he is always looking out for me and helping me find the best deal in town (even getting out of the car one time to help me bargain for woven baskets on the side of the road!). Anyway, when Newman came back we drove to his shop to drop him off and on the way I negotiated some sewing classes from him. He then joked that when I return to the US from Ghana I can leave him my new sewing machine...guess I got a good one! So Newman came to our apartment on Saturday and gave me my first lesson. We had bought some cheap batik fabric and thread already so I had done a little practicing on my own but had already messed up the bobbin and couldn't figure out how to get it back in so Newman came to the rescue. We practiced threading the machine, learning the different controls and then got our hands dirty so to speak and actually made a pillow case!






I was quite proud and my homework is to make another like it. I took detailed notes so hopefully I'll get it right. He's coming next saturday for lesson two. As he was leaving and saying goodbye, he offered to make Alan some work shirts so he took his measurements and we'll see what he comes up with. I sent him with a cupcake and about $10 for his time and about $20 to pick up some sewing supplies for me.

So I now have officially begun my next hobby. But, I won't stop there...I've started taking tennis lessons from Festus (our local Ghanaian tennis coach) at the complex, have learned how to make sugar flowers at the bakery I spent time at last week, joined a book club, and who knows what is next!


All I know is that I am slowly filling my hours and that's quite an accomplishment I think. Just so Alan doesn't feel left out...he's working on his hobbies too and is currently engrossed in a 5000 piece puzzle which we had a table made for!