Spring Creek Atelier
I have heard it said many times that sewing (or quilting) and fabric collecting are two different hobbies. I am afraid I have both hobbies and that sometimes the collecting hobby overpowers the sewing/quilting hobby. By the way, all the above can be said for knitting/crochet and yarn collecting. But today, I want to talk about sewing and fabric.
Another potential separate hobby to those mentioned above is pattern collecting. This is really easy to do these days because of the internet and downloadable patterns. I was talking to another sewing/collecting friend the other day, and we were talking about how much we used to love going to the fabric store, sitting at the pattern book tables and leafing through those gigantic catalogs. Now I can download patterns and print them here at home—the only problem is taping all those sheets of paper together. But the good news is that if you need a different size or messed up the pattern somehow (I had a piglet chew one up), you can print another!
I have managed to push through some major quilting half-finished-projects in the past few months, so I have been working to clear the sewing decks and transition to regular sewing. What I mean by regular sewing is making garments and accessories along with repairing, altering, or modifying existing garments. In the past couple of weeks I have finished the most complicated skirt pattern of my life (it was worth it) and made a few tops.
My memory for fabric and crafty things is pretty incredible. I wish it was that way for more things! I may forget that I have a piece of fabric, but once I rediscover it, I can remember everything about the circumstances surrounding its acquisition. I think this may be one of reasons I have been hesitant to transform fabric into finished objects—it would be like tearing pages out of your favorite books to make collages!
But I am determined to turn my fabric and pattern collections into wearable or useable things. All of those fabric souvenirs I have collected from my travels are going to become wearable reminders. Those Japanese fabrics I bought when my friend was closing her shop are going to become dresses and skirts. Those short bits of silk that were expensive even on sale will become sleeveless tops. And all the linen fabrics I have collected are going to be transformed into a very comfortable, rumpled wardrobe. I am hoping I can keep this going for several months so the tweeds I brought home from Scotland can become warm fall and winter garments.
I have one other friend here in the county who is a former garment maker who turned into a quilter and is now trying to go back toward garments again. Any other garment sewists out there? I would love to hear from you!