“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” George Bernard ShawTwo years ago, when I first started sewing, I really looked forward to a time when I would not only use patterns, but also eventually be able to move outside of the world of patterns and create from just my fanciful imaginings. I was especially inspired with all of your wonderful examples out there in blog land. (Oh, what are we going to do with all of you who learned to sew at age 5?!).
Initially, the idea of sewing without any patterns seemed a bit scary. Like recipes, they are my road map to a (hopefully) successful outcome. I know that I will always love using patterns, either exactly as written or as a jumping off point. But, what if, I could also have the ability to break free from patterns? Wouldn't that be a liberating experience? Perhaps, I would be able to sew more intuitively?
I can now see that I am taking baby steps toward this goal of more intuitive sewing. I'm slowly moving towards being able to take full advantage of the limitless creative possibilities with sewing.
This past December, my daughter had indicated that she really wanted to have something red to wear on Christmas day. I did my best to find something ready-to-wear, but as my fellow sewists know, once you start sewing, it's hard for ready-to-wear to meet your standards for fibre type, colour, design, etc.
So, on Christmas Eve, I spent just a little bit of time making the above skirt for my daughter. It was made from a thrifted red sheet (I used the entire width of the sheet - likely a twin size?). I simply sewed one centre back seam and made a waistband casing for elastic. Since I had used the top end of the sheet that had the deeper hem, I simply applied some ribbon to the cover the edge of the existing hem. No hemming required! Yay!
And just like that, it was done. My daughter was happy to have a red skirt to wear on Christmas day and I was so happy to have moved just a tiny step closer to sewing more intuitively.
namaste,
sony
