What Sewing Taught Me about the Gospel

By Karen A. Wilson

The author lives in Missouri, USA.

Seeing the gospel mirrored in simple sewing techniques helped me learn how to better follow Jesus Christ.

I learned the basics of sewing as a young girl and expanded my knowledge through junior high and high school. But I never sewed much more than a few pillows and some pajamas. Then later, as a mother and wife, I realized I could save a bit of money by refreshing my sewing skills and also doing my own alterations on my husband’s uniforms.

I enlisted the help of a good friend who sewed; she refreshed my stored-away knowledge, let me use her sewing machine, and helped me through my first project, taking me to pick out fabric and helping me through the completed outfit.

I’ve now been sewing for over 30 years and have learned a lot of lessons about sewing. More importantly, I have learned lessons that have deepened my understanding of the gospel. As we learn in Moses 6:63, “All things are created and made to bear record of [God], both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.”

When we look around us, we can find evidence of gospel principles everywhere. Here are a few principles that sewing has helped me understand better.

Obey Exactly

The first lesson I learned was the importance of following directions. Patterns are very important in sewing; they show you how to lay out the fabric for cutting and give you step-by-step instructions to put the clothing together. I found that when I followed those steps carefully, I was pleased with the results, but when I chose to skip steps, I ended up with an unsatisfactory result.

This basic application helped me see how simple and straightforward the law of obedience is. The Lord gives us commandments to follow as a pattern to help us return to live with Him and Heavenly Father again. When we obey the commandments, we receive blessings (see Doctrine and Covenants 82:10; 130:21–22), and our journey along the covenant path is smoother and more satisfactory. But when we ignore those commandments, we suffer ill consequences. As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, “Obedience brings success; exact obedience brings miracles.”¹

Discern Right from Wrong

I also learned the significance of knowing the right side and the wrong side of a fabric. All fabric is printed with a “right side” and a “wrong side.” Sometimes it’s easy to tell the two sides apart when a print is on just one side of the fabric. But for other fabrics, some of the sides are nearly identical and very difficult to discern. Those fabrics were the ones I had the most trouble with because I couldn’t always tell which sides needed to attach to each other, and I sometimes made mistakes. I became even more grateful that, at least spiritually, we always have a way to discern the right and wrong sides. As we learn in Moroni 7:16, “The Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil.”

Knowing right from wrong is one of the reasons we need the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. We can trust in the promise of 2 Nephi 32:5: “For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

It’s also important to understand how the Holy Ghost speaks to us individually so we can respond to that “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). The Holy Ghost will prompt us to choose the right when we are worthy and listening. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the Spirit of God can be learned and that “by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.”²

Life will always be easier in the end when we correctly discern good from evil and choose the good.

Correct Ourselves Early and Often

Along with knowing which side is right, I also learned that if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. As a novice seamstress, I would occasionally feel a lump or bump or notice something pulling in the wrong direction. Many times, instead of stopping to correct it, I would rationalize that it was probably nothing or that it would be hidden in the seam allowance; sometimes in my inexperience, I didn’t even notice that there was a problem!

This is another instance where the companionship of the Holy Ghost is vital in our lives! He can warn us of danger and prompt us toward the good. To have His constant guidance, we should “stand … in holy places, and be not moved” (Doctrine and Covenants 87:8) and keep the commandments so we can be worthy of His help.

I soon discovered that I needed to check, double-check, and triple-check my work before I went on to the next step! When I failed to do this, I ended up with a flaw that was much more difficult to repair than it would have been if I had checked it—and fixed it—as soon as I had made the seam. I learned that it was a blessing, not a punishment, to fix my work early and often.

As President Nelson has taught:

“Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ [see 2 Nephi 9:23].

“… Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance—of doing and being a little better each day.

“When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy—the joy of redemption in Him. When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ!”³

This process also taught me a lot about the importance of preparing to partake of the sacrament each Sabbath. My experience with the sacrament is much more spiritual and meaningful when I take time throughout the week to check myself and honestly evaluate where I need to do better. When I fail to do this, I am less in tune with the Spirit and unprepared to receive His promptings.

As Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

“The ordinance of the sacrament is a holy and repeated invitation to repent sincerely and to be renewed spiritually. The act of partaking of the sacrament, in and of itself, does not remit sins. But as we prepare conscientiously and participate in this holy ordinance with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then the promise is that we may always have the Spirit of the Lord to be with us. And by the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, we can always retain a remission of our sins.

“We truly are blessed each week by the opportunity to evaluate our lives through the ordinance of the sacrament, to renew our covenants, and to receive this covenant promise.”⁴

Learn from Our Mistakes

I’ve made innumerable errors in my sewing projects. Those mistakes caused me to get angry and frustrated and consider giving up sewing altogether! My sewing-instructor friend taught me a great lesson one day as I was furiously ripping out a seam for the umpteenth time; she told me that ripping out a seam is like learning as we repent.

I pondered on that statement time and time again, and I realized that she was right. Every time I ripped out a seam, I learned what I had done wrong and how I could prevent it the next time. Sometimes I had to rip out the same seam numerous times, but each time found me a little better at it than the time before. And if I used that same pattern for another project, I generally avoided my earlier mistakes because I had learned from my previous experiences!

I also discovered that no mistake is irreparable, no matter how bad it may seem at the time! That lesson has brought me so much hope when it comes to learning from my mistakes of a spiritual nature. Thanks to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement, our mistakes are repairable. We will have to work through our repentance, and it may take time, but as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has promised: “You have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”⁵

Slow Down and Be Still

I figured out the hard way that I needed to slow down when I was sewing. I’ve always been a competitive person, and I like to finish quickly whatever task I’m doing. That caused me many frustrations in my early days of sewing! I would race along, determined to beat my own best time, only to find that it took me considerably longer to fix my many mistakes than it would have to just take a little bit of careful time.

As Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reminds us: “Our journey of discipleship is not a dash around the track, nor is it fully comparable to a lengthy marathon. In truth, it is a lifelong migration toward a more celestial world.”⁶

We too can take time to slow down, to focus on the most important daily religious practices of discipleship, and to let God guide us. Doing so will always lead to our best final result.

I have seen that power in this counsel from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “We would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most. Let us be mindful of the foundational precepts our Heavenly Father has given to His children that will establish the basis of a rich and fruitful mortal life with promises of eternal happiness. They will teach us to do ‘all these things … in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that [we] should run faster than [we have] strength. [But] it is expedient that [we] should be diligent, [and] thereby … win the prize’ [Mosiah 4:27].”⁷

Keep an Eternal Perspective

Finally, I learned that I am a work in progress and that I shouldn’t denigrate myself for the progress I haven’t yet made. I can remember times when I’ve looked at an unfinished sewing project and been totally unable to visualize what it would look like when complete. But then I would be stunned by how beautiful it was when I finished! Our lives are much the same; we cannot visualize what glorious blessings Heavenly Father has in store in the eternal world for those who live faithfully. And we may not be able to truly see whom we can become, but He can.

As Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won’t, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming.”⁸ Similarly, Elder Uchtdorf has helped us see our potential: “If we look at ourselves only through our mortal eyes, we may not see ourselves as good enough. But our Heavenly Father sees us as who we truly are and who we can become. He sees us as His sons and daughters, as beings of eternal light with everlasting potential and with a divine destiny [see 1 John 3:1–3].”⁹

We just need to keep on moving along the covenant path and taking every opportunity to become more like Jesus Christ. And as we do so, we can find joy in the process, just as I learned to love sewing. And just like I was guided by my sewing friend, we have been given the gift of a Savior who “marked the path and led the way.”¹⁰