I needed to do something with my hands.
My father passed away in a rather expectedly unexpected way in November of 2021. Just 4 days after his passing, I completed my divorce and was to be moving and living by myself for the first time in my life. I had one window in my studio apartment and now I was in a very dark place physically and emotionally. I spent a lot of time ruminating over thoughts that circled the drain and I needed to spend less time mincing my brain cells and more time creating something.
I watched THIS Video by Climate Town and felt fully engaged in giving up fast fashion. Other than an emergency pair of pants from Target, I have not purchased any new garments since October 2022.
I started feeling the urge to take action.
I had a sewing machine I purchased in 2009 when I briefly started sewing my own raver girl attire immediately after high school. I ended up doing more hand sewing than anything and boxed the machine up, never to be seen again. Amidst all my remaining belongings from the divorce that were crammed in my closet, there was a machine patiently waiting to be seen. Although I had a lot of travel planned for the end of that year, I decided to scratch the itch by doing some research.
What did I want to sew? What was my style? How much material would I need? What new-fangled tools do the kids use these days?
I got started answering my questions by throwing in words like "Vintage" or "Easy Summer Dress" into Pinterest and got to pinning! I made two boards. One would be my "Sewspiration" and the other had easier tasks that I could actually accomplish. The idea was to start small and build up.
I watched hundreds of hours of youtube videos and loved learning individual objectives from Anastasia Chatzka that I could piece together and make my garment.
I wrote in my journal about my fears with sewing and tried to come up with answers to those fears so that I had actionable items when problems manifested.
What if I didn't cut enough? Gussets
What if I messed up the stitch? Seam ripper
What if I had fit issues? Make a dress form that fit me perfectly.
I came home from my winter travels and in Januray of 2023, I started my first task of sewing a dressform based on my measurements from BootstrapFashion.com
My Goal became to sew at least one thing a month. Although that didn't quite happen for 2023, It will be my returning goal for 2024.
I'm thrilled you stopped by and I'm happy to continue sharing my sewing adventures along with you!
All my love,
Blyth