The View From My Window

The colors of autumn won't last long but I just had to share this. This is what I see when I look directly to the right of my computer and sewing machine. It's both inspiring and distracting.

Why Do I Sew?

This question was posed to readers of Threads Magazine and it struck me as a question that could be incredibly mundane as well as incredibly profound. Why does one really do anything? We eat, drink, sleep and mate out of a desire for survival. Everything we do beyond that is for reasons that are far more complex, though most of them boil down to a survival as a creature that is more complex than a simple beast.

I first became aware of sewing as something beyond a way to make clothes when my mom started making a quilt for me. She pulled scraps of fabric that looked familiar out of boxes with no labels on them that had sat in the back of closets at 2 houses. These were leftovers from the clothes my mother had been making for me since I could walk.

Making a quilt takes time and I was fascinated by the process. I sat with her while she cut out and pinned together the pieces. She told me stories about making my dresses and making her dresses when she was younger. Winning awards in 4-H and designing aprons from scratch without a pattern were magic to a very young me.

As I got older, I wanted to make magic myself. I made pillows. Lots and lots of pillows. Then I made a stuffed unicorn. It was difficult but I did it, and I loved it. When it came time to try and make my own clothes, I insisted on doing them all by myself. I grew out of the first few outfits before I finished them but my mom saved them. They're in her attic still and may some day fit my daughter.

I designed the dress I wore to my senior prom because nothing in the stores that year looked good on me. This was to become a theme. Once I discovered what shapes looked good on me, I began to lament the lack of age appropriate clothing for girls my size. Fashion has come a long way since then but I got a lot of practice making clothes that looked good on me.

I can now find clothes off the rack that look good but costumes? Forget it. While my obsession with costumes, particularly period costumes, is another story, my closet full of them, most of them ones I designed myself, is a very clear indication of the direction my journey has taken. The books on corsets and the making of undergarments that I have give a good indication of where it's going but the why of the journey goes all the way back to the beginning.

I sew because it's magic.

Weekend Sexiness

I submit for your approval some truly inspiring images.

Ryan Kelly of Celtic Thunder

Paul Byrom of Celtic Thunder

Vin Diesel


And something for the guys . . .



Enjoy and have a fantastic weekend!!

The Knave Abides

There has been a trend recently of re-examining literature and changing it. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is one of the better known examples of doing this. Honestly, I'm pretty meh about the whole thing. I liked the original books and I'm not a big fan of zombies. Changing classic literature into something better is difficult, particularly because what would be better is completely subjective.

However, there is a twist on this trend that I have to support. Adam Bertocci took the cult film The Big Lebowski and re-wrote it in the style of Shakespeare. At first glance, The Two Gentlemen of Lebowski seems like a terrible idea. Most people these days just don't get Shakespeare, mostly because at least half of what Shakespeare wrote was popular culture references for his time. However, Bertocci shows a great understanding of not only The Big Lebowski but also of Shakespeare.

I submit this video for those people who aren't into the whole reading plays thing:



Also, if anybody in Denver decides to actually perform this as a play, I will buy front row tickets for every showing.

Creativity in our Daily Lives

Many people, in their daily lives, do not consider themselves to be creative. They consider creative people to be artists of various flavors and, while they may admire these creative people, they don't believe that creative pursuits have a place in their lives. Writing that memo, negotiating with a difficult customer or scheduling multiple errands around school and activities are not considered creative pursuits though they may require as much creative energy as painting a mural, writing a story or designing a quilt.

The reason we don't recognize creativity in our daily lives is that we don't always 'feel' creative when we're going about them. Many people treat their creative selves like the good china; they only consciously bring it out for special occasions. Eventually, no occasion is good enough and what once was a creative pursuit becomes boring and routine. People become stagnant, doing the same thing over and over. Stagnation isn't healthy for any living thing and mental stagnation often signals the beginnings of a decline in physical health.

How, then, can we ward off stagnation? I would suggest, and there are multiple authors who agree, that a person can deliberately court the muse. Doing something occasionally that inspires you to be creative, no matter what form that creativity takes, keeps your mind limber. There is a growing body of research on the way music and painting affect people who are suffering from Alzheimer's. People who participated actively in these forms of creativity did not decline as rapidly as those who did not.

So, find something that inspires you to be creative and go do it. Sing because you want to. Paint because you feel like it. Do it alone, for yourself, if you don't want anybody to see. Don't make an excuse. If you don't think you're any good, remember that you can only get better through practice.

Political Junkie

I fully intended to post something on creativity in our daily lives. However, as I'm a political junkie, I spent the evening watching the news and swearing at various commentators. I promise, though, that my swearing was very creative.

Watch this space for thoughts on Artist's Date's and courting the muse to come as soon as I wake up.

Do You Actually Enjoy What You Eat?

As I write this, I have what is quickly becoming one of my favorite television shows playing; Good Eats, where Alton Brown plays with the chemistry set he calls a kitchen. With my non-diet, new, temporary food restrictions and my favorite holiday coming up, food is definitely weighing on my mind. For much of America, it also weighs on our waistlines and for creative people, it can weigh on our drive to create.

(shirts swiped from Jeph Jacques at Questionable Content)

I can't remember where I heard the advice I used to stop over eating. It was originally in reference to somebody quitting smoking. The advice was to make a ritual of it, to really enjoy smoking; make a point of noticing the fire from the lighter, the taste of the smoke, the way it fills your lungs. By taking the time to enjoy smoking, you start to need less of a cigarette to get your fix.

The same advice works for food. Take your time to enjoy it. Eat something that you really like and take the time to really taste it. It's hard to do at first. So much of what we eat is designed to be eaten quickly and we eat it so fast, we don't realize we're full. Also, taking the time to enjoy your food means you may realize that you don't really like something that you've been eating every day for years.

I started taking my time over food more than a year ago. With a recent pregnancy, I came to discover that if I didn't eat slowly, I wouldn't keep it down at all. Once I started actually tasting what I ate, I started to realize that I really, really didn't like much of what I'd eaten every day for several years. For instance, I really detest most types of french fries. I also really hate instant oatmeal. In fact, I stopped liking so many foods that I had to discover new things to eat. A mostly dairy free diet these days has also sent me searching for alternatives.

Not surprisingly, I've discovered that fresh foods taste better. Removing Ranch dressing and cheese from my sauce options, I've become much more open to fruits, vegetables and vinaigrettes. I've found myself opting for a salad instead of a cheeseburger and not regretting it. Good pasta and good sauces have to be able to stand on their own and not be masked by cheese. I'll admit, I've found myself becoming something of a food snob. But that's ok, I'm slowly becoming a slender food snob.