Long Time, No Sew

Well, not really -- I have been sewing, just slowly, for myself, and I haven't been documenting things. But all of that is changing now! Well, some of that is changing now. The documenting part.

A little personal back story on where I've been in my life: back in 2010, with the big 3-0 looming closer on the horizon than I would have liked, I decided to grab the reins on my life and pull it in line with my artist's spirit. So I quit a very cushy job just before there were no jobs to be had, with the intention of finding my creative niche and establishing myself in it. I settled on fashion design just after I ran out of savings, and thus began some very Hard Times.

But happily, through sheer will power and just the right lucky breaks, I actually found a job in my preferred industry, using the skills which I spent two intense years teaching myself! The reality is definitely quite different from the dream, but that's probably the nature of things when you actually get what you wish for. The best part is that I can finally ease up off myself, creatively speaking.

Doing so has been a hard decision for me; I definitely don't come from an environment which supports 'play' or 'recreation', much  less having hobbies for the sake of it. But I feel that it's best for me now to simply play at sewing and making, instead of forcing myself to build my fashion empire Right Now. In this case, there really is tomorrow. So I'm officially taking a break from being a fashion designer, in order to enjoy being a home sewer who makes her own clothes.

Stick around and talk sewing with me, or ogle my fancy new clothes -- whatever floats your train! I would love the company, and who knows what will come of our time together.

--Ebi P.

Be a Satisfactionist

Sue Kim made up the term ‘satisfactionist’ to recommend those of us who sew be more focused on satisfying sewing, than perfect sewing. It does not mean we set out to sew crooked seams or bumpy hems! Being a satisfactionist means accepting the little ‘oopsies’ that occur during sewing, without letting those ‘oopsies’ jade our view of our handiwork. It is important to enjoy sewing, and it is gratifying to be fully proud of our efforts.

When we begin sewing, we hold ourselves to the standards of items we bring home from the store – items sewn on specialized, powerful machines by people who use them eight or more hours a day, five or more days a week. Or we want our projects to look exactly the projects of our grandma, who has been sewing for longer than we’ve been alive. Or exactly like our favorite sewing blogger (who, let’s face it, probably does not share her duds!). So time and again, we come up short.

But that isn’t very satisfying, is it?

It is satisfying to credit ourselves when we finish our projects, when we tackle new techniques, and when we fudge things that turn out to be awesome. And it is very satisfying to graciously accept compliments on our work! We don’t have to mention that the interior stitching was done in two colors because we ran out of thread, or that our hem is slightly uneven, or that our buttons don’t quiiite line up with our buttonholes.

Sew for satisfaction, and be satisfied with what you sew.

Circle and Twirl

I absolutely love this skirt! I think it is one of the most darling things I’ve made so far, and I’m looking forward to giving it a good home, courtesy of my new Etsy store, The Be Market! (More on that in a future post.)

Circle skirts are pretty straight forward to make, though their simplicity means that you can get very creative with them. For this skirt, I love the free-floating hem embellishment I made (above), as well as the ribbons I inserted in the side seam (below).

If you’d like to make your own circle skirt, here’s a a great tutorial to get you started!