My mum could sew anything I asked her to. She sewed my Halloween costumes out of old drapes (a lovely 70s brocade), made all my dolls dresses, all the drapes and pillow cases in our home, and for a long time both her own and our clothes. When I started falling in love with vintage clothing, my mum offered to make me dresses using vintage patterns. She even made me my Wedding Dress based on my hand drawn design. I had no need to learn how to sew for myself. I had an expert right there! She taught me the basics (under duress of a feminist period I was going through at the time), but I never got the bug.
It was a few years after my sweet mum passed away that I decided it was time. I had got to a point where vintage clothing was either not fitting me or was disintegrating when worn. I thought about all those vintage patterns and figured maybe that was the way to go. I had worried at the time that without her there, what was I going to do if I got stuck? – would it be a painful reminder of her not being with me? In the end, I figured that like my art, it would be something that would make me feel closer to her while I was doing it and that it could be a joyous memory of her, rather than feeling sad. I picked a basic pattern for a simple top and the fabric and just got stuck in. I took a few classes and eventually I was addicted. All the fabric options were soooo much better than what I remembered growing up. I loved the designs and the variety of colours. I loved all the patterns coming out of Independent Designers for modern clothes and the huge selection of vintage patterns. I could make bags, pillows, dresses, gifts. The options were limitless. I wondered what I had done before this? It became, and is a HUGE part of my creative life. It is a different creative process then drawing or painting and I actually feel like I can make a lot more mistakes and am more gentle with myself with my learning process and the process in general than I am with my art. It feels so good making things. I always knew this, but it was sewing that really reminded me of how much I need a creative outlet to feel balanced in my life. I can see my mum (where ever she is) looking down on me and laughing at me, but in a good way. In a way that makes me feel how proud she would be that I am doing what I love and that it is something that we can share even when she isn’t physically here to share it.
Art & Sew 