Luxury Entertainment

It's officially fall which for me means sifting and sorting my spaces and evaluating what I have and what I want or don't want, what I do and what I want might want to do instead. Since the last post, I've been thinking more about holistic health and balance and in particular about physical health. A few years ago, I read a book about developing habits that said to eliminate a bad habit, or to develop a good one, work on one thing at a time, one per month. This month, I am concentrating on walking every day. This is a luxury.

When I moved here, I wasn't too worried about having a new wardrobe since I was new to the community and the environment was similar enough to wear my - then - relatively current wardrobe although I'd already worn it for a year or so. Only it's been three years now and my old wardrobe is feeling quite old indeed, especially as I have a minimal wardrobe to begin with.

Cleaning my closet, some things were moved along simply because I'm so tired of them that I don't want to wear them anymore however, if the garment was still in good condition, it went to the thrift store. If it wasn't, it became rags. And if I still liked the fabric, it was cut into pieces and put into stash for a re-make some time in the future. Having clothing options is a luxury.

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food and have started on Cooked. Both talk about food from different perspectives and since food is a huge part of physical health, I'm interested to see how that may relate to my goal. The changes to food and how it's grown, marketed, and cooked in just my life time is amazing and not all good. Cooking is now seen as optional because food can be acquired in much quicker and less expensive ways other than making it yourself only those ways are not necessarily in our best interest socially, emotionally, or physically. What it means though is that cooking - like having clothing options - is a luxury.

And yet... I live in a community where I am younger than the average age and that gives me numerous opportunities to see what aging looks like and how two people of the same physical age can function in vastly different ways. I can see that holistic health including good food and regular exercise are a huge part of a positive outcome which leads me to question are they - cooking and exercise - really a luxury? One book I read recently put it this way - you can pay more now to look after yourself or more later in medications and health issues.

The number one excuse given for not cooking is lack of time. What does it say about us as a society when we don't have enough time to feed ourselves or our families the nourishment we need to function well - when our cars get better "gas" than we do. It's a question I'm asking myself because - even though I am a good cook - cooking has certainly never been a major priority for me. Perhaps it's something I want to learn to do better.

Sewing is another form of luxury entertainment. While it's still possible to sew some clothes less expensive than you could buy them - think advanced fashion - generally speaking it's cheaper to buy ready to wear. Only I tried that this weekend and I came home package-less and concerned that I remain in good health so I can continue to sew fun clothes that fit and flatter for the whole of my life. Besides the fact that nothing fit like I wanted it too, it was a sea of sameness, no individuality, no authenticity, so boring. Every time I attempt to shop, I am glad I sew.

I'm working on a version of - out of print - Butterick 6138. The last time I sewed this blouse - which is called an unlined vest on the pattern back, only I added sleeves, and called it a blouse, so it's a blouse - was almost three years ago in December 2015. At that time, my goal was to add design elements like trims and inserts. This time, it's to focus on the seams and top stitching and to create a monochromatic piece.

The fabric I used last time was a mystery blend, with fabulous drape, that kept shrinking every time I washed it... on cold... and hung to dry. This time, I'm using a quality cotton shirting, also in grey, that I've already washed several times just in case.

One of the things I love about this pattern is also one of the things that most people hate about it. It's cut out in a single layer, each piece individually. For me, that's the mark of a garment that will be fun and interesting to sew with lots of options for combining fabrics and adding details. It doesn't matter to me that the pattern is out of print. This too, is a luxury - to make what I want to make even if "nobody" else is doing it. YES YES!

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - luxury entertainment, holistic health choices