I've been sewing for over 30 years and blogging about it since 2008. I say thirty years but I set my machine aside in my mid twenties and other than making white slipcovers for my sofas (clearly, before I had kids and dogs) I didn't sew much. Then I had two boy babies back to back and on a whim decided to make a baby-wearing friend a Mai Tei. I was hooked again.
I've run the gamut of my sewing projects. I've been enthralled with quilting cottons and all things Heather Ross. I've tried my hand at Japanese sewing books before they were translated to English. I even made and sold children's clothes on Etsy before realizing I hate making the same thing over and over.
Then in August of 2011 our world came crashing down. My husband died suddenly at the age of 41. I had a three year old and five year old. I had (still have) a wonderful career I love. I had to pick up the pieces of our lives and help us all start over, be healthy, be happy. It seemed like such insurmountable task.
We moved. I dismantled my sewing room and carted all my tools and fabric and patterns to a new home in a new suburb. But for three long years I just didn't sew. I could handle working and raising my kids and that's about it.
Then, in the summer of 2014 the feeling that I wanted to make something came back. Slowly. So slowly I thought I wouldn't get it done.
So here I am, creeping towards a new normal. In the three years since I left sewing and the sewing blogosphere so much has changed. New blogs have cropped up that offer so much valuable information about pattern-making (thinking about Madalynne).
Time is a very precious commodity for me. If I'm going to sew, what will I focus on? I go shopping and look at the thousands of items in a store and become overwhelmed. "Why am I trying to sew when so much is already out there?" Ready-to-wear fits me ok. I can afford it.
I just like to sew.
My goal is to share what I figure out with any readers so they can go out and improve upon it. That may mean posting up hand-drawn patterns I draft. Or tutorials of how to make something I've seen in a retail store.
- I don't wear couture, I won't try to make it. When I find a shortcut that works, I use it.
- I do wear knits. I will be sewing a lot with them.
- I rarely wear dresses so you won't see many of them here.
- I wear pants 98% of the time so I'm hoping you'll see something with two legs every once in a while.
- I hope you enjoy sharing my journey back to a new normal.
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