I was taught to sew by my mom when I was very young. I remember making pillows with her at around 9 or so. In the 80's we would make our own seemingly fashionable tunic tops in colors like purple and magenta, fantastically simple creations which were like giant tubes with shoulders. What a feeling, indeed.
My stepmom nurtured the skill as I got older...and bought me my very own sewing machine when I was 19. It was the only gift I ever remember receiving from her and biodad, and it was during the era that I thought she was on my side. That Singer worked its ass off, I costumed show after show after show on it. I supported myself using that machine after college, when, upon the advice of a boyfriend, I decided to become a costume designer, based upon the desire to keep working in theater. Being an actress seemed impractical, and so, like usual, I put aside what I loved to do to be realistic. To make ends meet while being a mediocre freelance costumer, I worked at a great costume shop, where I often pretended to know way more about what I was doing than I actually did. I learned a lot about costumes, but even more about sewing...and thankfully my bosses loved me and were relatively happy to point me in the right direction when necessary.
When you are starting out, and working on your own, you do whatever is necessary to make it. Well, I did, anyway. I made umpteen Renaissance Faire costumes with it, for myself and to sell...I made wedding dresses, and bridesmaids dresses, and Rocky Horror costumes, and WeHo Costumes, and did alterations for everything from my grandma's slacks to the Red Shoe Diaries (yes, they wore *some* clothes). I took on sewing gigs, costume design gigs, dresser gigs, wardrobe supervision gigs, anything with regard to fabric or costumes, and I would do it. Eventually, I burnt out. Well, more like exploded. But regardless, the time came for me to be done and like the impatient girl that I am, I changed my profession almost overnight and started on the teacher track, leaving all my seamstressing behind.
Within a year I was engaged, and my future mother in law, an amazing quilter, inspired me to make a quilt for Michael as a wedding gift. She gave me some direction, the best being introducing me to an amazing quilt shop whose owner was a parent of a Y person. We got along swimmingly, and she helped me figure out what on earth I was going to do. I started quilting in April of 1997, and I never looked back. Clothes? Costumes? What were those? My rayons and velvets and corduroys and gauzes were all put away in bins to make room for my calicos and cottons and batting. The specificity and patterns and colors and art of it was just what I wanted...I was never good at the other stuff. I was good at this.
The next 11 years passed, I quilted, I made baby stuff, but I never went back to clothes the way I did before. I made some stuff for my kids, some pj's for friends and family, only things I felt like making. There have been custom quilt projects which drive me up a wall, but generally speaking, I feel pretty lucky to be able to invent and create the things that pop into my head.
For various reasons I have been taking on sewing gigs for things in the last few weeks which I haven't made for years. Belly dance costumes, kitchen curtains, Rennaissance Faire costumes...things keep falling into my lap and I've been making them. Sometimes I grumble a bit, but mainly that has to do with procrastination on my part, and overall I appreciate the work. Last night, I was working on some alterations, and I was actually proud of what I had made. It came out well, and I knew it would make my client happy. It inspired me this morning to get up and actually attack my own alterations, which so often just sit in a pile and get looked at, but never fixed. I actually made my happy pants into a happy skirt...something I have needed to do for months. And I feel like something changed, I can sew clothes again. It has changed from chore to creation. No, I am not giving up quilting...I am just excited to find joy in what was for so long a bore. Hopefully the laundry epiphany arrives tomorrow.
My stepmom nurtured the skill as I got older...and bought me my very own sewing machine when I was 19. It was the only gift I ever remember receiving from her and biodad, and it was during the era that I thought she was on my side. That Singer worked its ass off, I costumed show after show after show on it. I supported myself using that machine after college, when, upon the advice of a boyfriend, I decided to become a costume designer, based upon the desire to keep working in theater. Being an actress seemed impractical, and so, like usual, I put aside what I loved to do to be realistic. To make ends meet while being a mediocre freelance costumer, I worked at a great costume shop, where I often pretended to know way more about what I was doing than I actually did. I learned a lot about costumes, but even more about sewing...and thankfully my bosses loved me and were relatively happy to point me in the right direction when necessary.
When you are starting out, and working on your own, you do whatever is necessary to make it. Well, I did, anyway. I made umpteen Renaissance Faire costumes with it, for myself and to sell...I made wedding dresses, and bridesmaids dresses, and Rocky Horror costumes, and WeHo Costumes, and did alterations for everything from my grandma's slacks to the Red Shoe Diaries (yes, they wore *some* clothes). I took on sewing gigs, costume design gigs, dresser gigs, wardrobe supervision gigs, anything with regard to fabric or costumes, and I would do it. Eventually, I burnt out. Well, more like exploded. But regardless, the time came for me to be done and like the impatient girl that I am, I changed my profession almost overnight and started on the teacher track, leaving all my seamstressing behind.
Within a year I was engaged, and my future mother in law, an amazing quilter, inspired me to make a quilt for Michael as a wedding gift. She gave me some direction, the best being introducing me to an amazing quilt shop whose owner was a parent of a Y person. We got along swimmingly, and she helped me figure out what on earth I was going to do. I started quilting in April of 1997, and I never looked back. Clothes? Costumes? What were those? My rayons and velvets and corduroys and gauzes were all put away in bins to make room for my calicos and cottons and batting. The specificity and patterns and colors and art of it was just what I wanted...I was never good at the other stuff. I was good at this.
The next 11 years passed, I quilted, I made baby stuff, but I never went back to clothes the way I did before. I made some stuff for my kids, some pj's for friends and family, only things I felt like making. There have been custom quilt projects which drive me up a wall, but generally speaking, I feel pretty lucky to be able to invent and create the things that pop into my head.
For various reasons I have been taking on sewing gigs for things in the last few weeks which I haven't made for years. Belly dance costumes, kitchen curtains, Rennaissance Faire costumes...things keep falling into my lap and I've been making them. Sometimes I grumble a bit, but mainly that has to do with procrastination on my part, and overall I appreciate the work. Last night, I was working on some alterations, and I was actually proud of what I had made. It came out well, and I knew it would make my client happy. It inspired me this morning to get up and actually attack my own alterations, which so often just sit in a pile and get looked at, but never fixed. I actually made my happy pants into a happy skirt...something I have needed to do for months. And I feel like something changed, I can sew clothes again. It has changed from chore to creation. No, I am not giving up quilting...I am just excited to find joy in what was for so long a bore. Hopefully the laundry epiphany arrives tomorrow.
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