The mid-life lesson I'm learning from a winter's worth of frantic quilt completion is not about skill. As you can see, I have little. My stitches are free range and low on the count-per-inch chart. My seams rarely line up in proper fashion. No, the message in all those bits of fabric -- coming together… Continue reading A Life In Pieces
Tag: sewing
A stitch in time
1780s anyone? Lots and lots of layers, but so pretty. "Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery." Jane Austen If you're a fan of Downtown Abbey or anything Jane Austen, you'll probably like my recent newspaper piece about a young historian who is such a skilled seamstress she can whip up a dress from… Continue reading A stitch in time
Can you sew? Go, go, go!
If I can do this, anyone who has ever sewn can, too! Seriously. I'm a hand crafter. This was the FIRST time I successfully sewed by machine. I am so low tech, I sew by hand even though I do a fair bit of it. But, given the current world situation and a need for… Continue reading Can you sew? Go, go, go!
Respecting the dress
“Recognizing the need is the primary condition for design.” Charles Eames, industrial designer In its first life, the dress went to a summer dance on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1963. Not long after, it traveled with the teen girl who delighted in it to Appalachia -- to a small city hugged by low,… Continue reading Respecting the dress
Coming apart at the seams
"Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon." St. Francis of Assisi The first time I saw an article of clothing rise from the dead, I was a college student. It was a biking sweater owned by my roommate's European boyfriend. "I know you can fix it," he pleaded in… Continue reading Coming apart at the seams
Nora Edinger -- JOY Journal 