Stitch by Stitch and Word by Word

By Carolyn Roy-Bornstein

When my foster daughter recently got a job as an assistant veterinary technician at a local animal hospital, she bought a brand-new pair of scrubs. Because she is petite, they needed to be shortened. Janine climbed onto a stool at our kitchen counter and turned in a slow circle while I measured and basted, some of the common pins in my mouth rusty from lack of use.

After everyone had left for work, I sat down on the couch to hem. I hadn’t done any hand-sewing in...