Sewing is a lot like life...sure, there are patterns for just about everything, but in order to love what you do, or love what you make, you have to change the pattern to make it your own regardless if the change is a fraction of an inch or the length of a yard. And more often that not, those choices you make to change the pattern do not work out exactly the way you hope. It can be frustrating and challenging, and sometimes you have have to rip it all apart at the seams and start completely over. Which requires patience. A lot of patience. But in doing so, you create something that is far more rewarding, and far more beautiful, then what you started with.

Monday, August 9, 2010

The Whole Point

I am the kinda girl who's mind is always racing, who's always looking forward to the next "thing" or the next "event". I lay in bed at night tossing and turning for hours because my mind will not slow down. I am a multi tasker. I am a planner. I am not comfortable unless I am juggling 52 million things at once or have the next several months planned out ahead of time. And when you are the mother of a newborn or a toddler, that's perfectly fine because planning a routine is something most new moms strive for. And boy did I have the daily routine down. So for the first two years of my little man's life, I was content with "living" his routine each day because, well, that was my job as his mother, or at least that is how I felt about it.

But when my little man turned 2 this time last year and started to become more independant and he didn't "need" his momma as much all of the time, I started to feel, well, useless really and my mind started to race into overdrive. What's next? What can I plan?

My husband, bless his heart, is not a planner. He is the most chill person when it comes to having, or not having, plans. He prefers it actually. How the two of us got married I am not quite sure actually. Opposites attract maybe? Must be. But one day, as I was in planning overdrive my husband casually mentioned under his breath that I should get a hobby. And he was right. But I had never had a hobby before, besides reading (which I love), so I decided to try my hand at a few different crafting type things. But like I have mentioned in a previous post, I am not a crafty kinda girl. And then I thought about my Stepmom who has sewn almost her entire life and I was struck by how much she truly enjoys it. So I decided to give it a try. I bought a $100 sewing maching at Wal Mart and got started.

Sewing, for me, has really been a life saver. And I am not trying to be dramatic, I am not really a dramatic kinda girl. Planner? Yes. Dramatic? No. But when I say it was a life saver, I mean it. It gave me back a life of my own. My own. And I love it. I love coordinating fabrics, I love reading patterns (I don't really love cutting fabric, but there's always something right?), I love piecing the pieces together and seeing something wonderful come to life that I've created from scratch. And what I love the most is that is slows me down, it keeps it from racing 100 miles a minute. It forces me to slow down, to take my time, to do it right without focusing on what comes next. And I love that. And I needed it.

As a result of my new found love for sewing, a whole stock pile of items that I loved were accumulating in my sewing room (which is really my formal dining room at the moment, but minor details). And unfortunately, one person can only have so many baby blankets (especially for an almost 3 year old boy that doesn't care for cute girl stuff!) and I only have so many friends having babies, which is why I created my etsy store. I honestly, and please know that I mean this, do not care about selling a single thing, I just can't keep it all and I want to share it because I am proud of it.

Which actually brings me to the whole point of my story.

Something else I hope to do with my life, besides be the best wife and mother I can be, is to contribute. Contribute to my family, contribute to my community, and contribute to this world. And I am hoping one way I can do that is by donating some of the items that I make. This time I am contributing the below butterfly blanket / crayon roll combo and the below Amy Frenchy style Hand bag to a friend's silent auction that is raisining money to assist a memeber of their church in the adoption process. I am so humbled to be able to contribute to the silent auction and I thank my friends for the opportunity. Because it definitely wasn't without all the usual doubts and fears of self-consciousness...."What if my items were not good enough? What if no one wanted them? What if they didn't bring any bids?" Well, guess what? If no one bid on them, I bet they would make some one happy for free at the end of the night. And that's perfectly fine by me as well. :)


I have another project in the works that is aimed at contributing to the community, I hope to share after a quick trip to Baltimore!
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2 comments:

  1. jmtAugust 9, 2010 at 1:32 PM

    That's very cool that you have the auction to donate to! And I LOVE that butterfly pattern, by the way. People would be crazy to pass it up. :) Next time you're vacationing this way, I'd like to see one of these Frenchy bags in person if you have one handy. They intrigue me.

    Happy Monday!

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  2. LisaAugust 21, 2010 at 7:50 AM

    What a great post to read! Most of that sounded exactly like me so it hit home. I've been struggling with being super stressed, anxious, mind always going, multi-tasking, and routines. Crafts are one of the only ways for me to relax. I still multi-task by watching tv while I work or checking up on email, but it's a time for me to do something for ME. I'm so glad to hear how it's made your life better too. : )

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