100 Posts & Moving On!

Today's posting is the 100th since moving the blog to this new location and switching focus. My earlier blog was a marketing tool for my textile art business. It was about making money. This one started out that way and then - in July 2009 when I decided to close my business - I deleted anything marketing related and started re-posting with talk about my life and creativity.

That decision to delete was done to satisfy my insurance company that my writing was now personal which then allowed me to continue writing daily. After that, the blog became about connecting with others who do what I do - people who are creative with fabric and in particular in textile art and fashions - and about encouraging, supporting, and inspiring others to their best which I feel is my purpose.

Back then, I wasn't sure how long posting would last. Even though I love to write, it had been a really rough year in all kinds of ways and I was feeling quite beaten down by stuff beyond my control. Now - even though the situation with my son's diabetes will be ongoing for a few years still - it feels like I've shifted to a better space. Life is starting to find a new routine. Knowing that today would be the 100th post, I've been thinking a lot about the blog, about how I want to continue on with it, and about my point. I thought I'd share SOME of my perspective.

From September 2004 to September 2005, I took a Year of Play - a full year off from producing products for resale to come into the studio, be creative purely for self, and to see where that led me. It was both the best and the worse year of my life. By the end of it, my work focus had firmly shifted away from traditional quilting to textile art and my teaching from pattern based to self directed learning.

After that year off, I taught classes like Studio Makeover, Creative Wearables, Self Expressions, and Design Basics that were geared toward helping my students live out their personal expression of self in their textile art. Basically to identify and create in their own style. I'd become more of a creativity coach than a teacher. That's the perspective I take with writing the blog. I'm now in the process of finding my fashion voice just as I was once in the process of finding my artistic voice.

Through my journey with creativity, I want to encourage my readers to their best and I want to connect with other women who create fashions. Where I live is not a small town and yet there is not an active fashion sewing community. It's difficult to find anyone who sews clothing never mind anyone who sews at the level that I'm at which - blowing my own horn - is fairly advanced. I'm not into tailoring but I am in to fine details and well developed technical skills and individuality. I love talking sewing with someone else who gets "it".

Twenty years ago when I first started writing books, developing patterns, and teaching classes, I was a product person. The focus was on creating precisely and accurately and on finishing and having that specific item whether it was a quilt or a garment. I don't recognize that way of being much anymore. I've become a process person where the journey is more interesting than the end result. It's not that I don't enjoy the finished product or want it - I do want clothes to wear - but it's more of a bonus since I REALLY enjoy all the twisting and turning and learning in the journey.




Often on the blog, I share the projects that didn't work out exactly as I'd anticipated. I talk about why and how things happened the way they did and what I learned. For example, last week, I showed two black blouses. The one above, wasn't the right style for me. Instead of listening to my inner artist - the one who says "this is me" or "this isn't me" - I had been pulled off track by a romantic vision of this pattern. That happens to all of us. When it happens to me, I share the perspective to be encouraging.




The second black shirt was too big through the shoulders and armholes. I tested various alterations to the pattern and made the green blouse above. It's perfect except for being a bit too tight through the hips because I zigged when I should have zagged with one of the alterations. THAT'S FINE. These things happen. I shared how to raise the armhole, adjust the shoulder width, and make a high hip adjustment and then what I should have done differently all to share and encourage. I'm very much about sharing and encouraging. I use those words all the time.

While both black blouses and the green blouse were not absolutely perfect fit wise, they were wonderfully sewn and darn near perfect technically. I enjoyed every minute of stitching and pressing and forming their three dimensional shape. I love to sew. I'm VERY good at it. AND.. I absolutely adore learning. I get a question in my mind and I need to know the answer. With garment sewing, that might mean making numerous repetitions of a design until I figure it out. If you're watching me do that, it can get a bit mind numbing so I don't share every garment I make. I'd like to keep you as readers.

Here's what I mean by that. About ten years ago, I bought Pattern Master Boutique software and about 18 months ago I finally figured out how to make it work for me. During that time - in between my textile work - I probably made a hundred muslins. Many images of Myrna in broadcloth with lines drawn on her bust and butt appeared on the blog. That's boring after a while.

It wasn't that I'm slow, rather the process was flawed IMHO because it is really difficult to learn how to use a program while you're also learning which alterations to make to correct a fitting issue while you're also getting the varied input of a lot of different sewers at different skill levels via the chat group. Talk about an EXTREMELY frustrating journey.

Now, many years and many muslins later, instead of thinking Pattern Master Boutique is a waste of time and money (which is exactly what I was thinking) I am able to share how to make the software work for you - buy a Vogue fitting shell, fit it expertly with or without help, measure the flat dimensional pattern, transfer that exact shape to the software learning how to manipulate the program in the process, print out basic patterns with the correct ease amount for the garment you're making, and then either sew that garment or using the information in Lynda Maynard's book De-Mystifying Fit use that basic pattern to adjust commercial patterns to fit your proportions. Print a different basic pattern whenever your size or the ease requirements or garment style changes. This answer really works. It took me almost ten years to arrive at it. I hope my journey will save someone else countless hours and many tears because it is truly wonderful HOWEVER...

... from there you'll still have to learn about fine tuning fit adjustments. That's where I am now. My technical skills are well developed however, in the twenty years that I didn't do much fashion sewing, my body has changed significantly. Three kids and fifty pounds later, I'm learning about ways to alter for high hips, sway backs, and full bust adjustments. Through this process, I'm coming to know and understand and appreciate my body more. Our bodies are an amazing and wonderful thing no matter what their shape. Look at all they do for us.

My learning is somewhat complicated by the fact that I'm also losing weight due to food allergies discovered earlier this year. Since January, I've lost twenty-five pounds and two and a half sizes. I'm not trying to lose weight. It is simply coming off now that I'm avoiding these foods which means I have no idea what the end result will be in terms of weight and size.

It's been intriguing to see how the weight comes off and where. Recently, it's been coming off my hips and in particular my back hip. On Saturday, I realized that I am mostly in one pattern size as opposed to stretching over several. VERY strange. Even so, I'm still making the adjustments I mentioned earlier. Our bodies have the same shape with more or less weight. I will always be bottom heavy, always a triangle, always have high back hips, and always be petite through the armhole and hip. I'm just a slightly smaller version now. I'm learning about these adjustments.

Life long learning is really important to me. Now that I'm a stay at home Mom, I'm a bit worried that I'll become stale and boring with nothing to contribute to a conversation or self centered and all about myself which is unacceptable to me. That's one of the reasons I watch Oprah every day. I don't always agree with her but I always come away with a new thought. And it's free.

Now that I'm not earning an income, I can't afford the number of books I'd like to read which is why I also spend more time on the Internet. Not wanting to become self centered is also why I include the grateful item at the bottom of each posting. There is so much in life to be grateful for and I believe that a focus on gratitude helps to keep us from becoming too introspective and/or depressed both of which I could easily do.

When I closed my business, I decided to make time for the things that I'd been putting off. In my studio there was 400 meters of fabric and over 150 patterns even though I'd barely sewn fashions for the past twenty years. To me, that expressed a yearning. Fashion sewing was at the top of that list. It - and the perky pretty wardrobe - were something I really wanted to get back to.

Also on that list was personal growth through developing my spirituality. I'm a Christian. I believe in God, in heaven and hell, and in the gift of eternal life. Just as I rarely discuss politics, I rarely discuss religion because I am absolutely opposed to shoving our religion down other people's throats and I'm very aware of the hypocrisy so often associated with Christians because although we may try to live a certain way, it is impossible to be completely on all the time. EVERYONE makes mistakes. That said...

... one of my goals is to spend more time in this area. Just as for years I said I wanted to sew fashions, for years I've been saying I want to spend time each day reading the bible. It hasn't happened. I'm going to work on that and see if I can make it happen more often. When I do, I'll share a personal growth thought at the bottom of each posting. If you're interested, you can read it. If not, you can skip over it.

For those of you interested, I'll be reading The Message which is written in easy, every day language. There's a lot of controversy around which version of the bible we read. I find that ridiculous so please don't bother emailing me about it because I don't care. I believe that God can speak through any thing and any version. This version I actually read, understand, and enjoy which is not true of others. You do what you want to do. I'll do what I want to do.

Why am I mentioning this? To hold myself accountable. I'll be adding another category at the bottom of my posts called Personal Growth and writing a "thought of the day" type blurb. It may or may not refer to anything religious. I'm not sure. I haven't tried it yet. If it doesn't work, the category may disappear. We'll see what happens. If you want to join me and/or comment, I hope you will.

Today is knitting day. This has been a significant change for me in the last year. As a work from home Mom, my time was filled with work or home or family. I'd become house bound and quite lonely. Now, I'm starting to get out in the real world again and meet people. I go to two groups, one in the morning and one at night. At both, most of the women are quite a bit older than me. Even so, I'm really enjoying the time together. Just as the blog is connecting me with other women who sew fashions, these knitting groups are connecting me with more women to talk life and knitting and creativity with. It's good.

Have a great day - Myrna

Gratitude - this has been a difficult post to write because of wanting to share this new category and the background to it. I'm not perfect and now I feel vulnerable and nervous that I'll have put this thought out there and then won't do it. That's life. We all go through it. Now that I've said it, I can see what happens. YES YES!