I need to force my sewing mojo out of its deep sleep. When I started this blog a couple of years ago, I named it Sew Transformed. After reading blogs like Carolyn’s, Adrienne’s & Erica’s, I was inspired and wanted to dust my sewing machine off and tell y’all about it. That’s the “Sew” part. The “Transformed” part was to focus on what I was reading, because books can transform our lives. As you can see, there has been way more transforming than sewing happening around here.
One of the reasons has been my fit issues. I’ve said here before that I have gained weight in my adult years and I don’t have the sewing skills or the patience to alter patterns to fit this new body. I’m working on it though. Another, and possibly more important, reason is that the stuff I want to make doesn’t fit into my current lifestyle. A lifestyle that entails going to work and then coming home. At work I have a dress code, which is basically the uniform of a barista at a popular coffee house:
This is what I wear to work every day! I work in a bookstore that has a cafe in it, and while I am not a barista, as a supervisor I have to be prepared to work over there if needed. Yes, I can make you a mean latte, but my cappuccinos suck! I hate wearing the same thing everyday and sometimes I sneak in an orange or turquoise polo just to shake things up and to get compliments. On the non-work front – nothing. I rarely have money to go out and when I do it is to the grocery store or the movies by myself. Those are t-shirt and jeans times. Not much need to sew nice things.
Recently, the crashing economy has made me realize that I need to start working on Plans B, C, D. Retail has been hard by the recession and we aren’t bouncing back at all yet. Those plans require a more versatile wardrobe than I currently have. I have a whole library of fashion and style books and they all have the “must have” lists in them. Reading over them just reminds me that I have nothing on those lists in my closet! I don’t have a little black dress, or a pair of black pants or a trenchcoat. If, God willing, I got a call for a job interview tomorrow, I don’t have one thing in my closet that I could wear! I don’t have an updated resume either, but that’s another story.
So, I need to get moving and make some basic pieces and will start work on them this week. I also need to free some money up to buy some fabric because the fabric on these shelves are good for accent pieces, not the foundation for a wardrobe.
I collected most of that fabric (and the many boxes you don’t see) when I didn’t have a dress code and I did have more of a social life. So wish me luck as I pull the rug from under my sewing mojo and force her to get to work!