my efforts for days 3+4 of kcwc were all about damage control. there was a tremendous amount of sorting through things, clothes and textiles (a good exercise in itself). and in doing so, i came across a bin full of items in need of mending, pieces that no longer fit, and a whole lot of prototypes. everything has been (or is in the process of being) converted - into skirts that is.
- the fabric (jay mccarroll) i used to make this dress last summer was too cute to simply toss into the donate pile. but after a few wearings, we discovered that the top of that dress turned out to be, um, a little too revealing for a 5-year-old. bye bye, bodice. hello, respectable skirt.
- one of the skirts that matches their me-dolls has in the bin for over a year with a torn hem and a few snags. now there's a reinforced hemline and those well-worn areas were easily covered up with a bit of simple applique.
- and this little number was one of a pair of matching vintage dresses, but the shoulder was torn, and besides, the girls don't ever wear matching clothes. transforming the tattered one was the perfect solution. and they've still got the other perfectly adorable dress.
three done + another three to be finished up after they hop onto the school bus. and that might be it for this week. i've got to say, i haven't made as much of what i had wanted to make this week in terms of clothes for my kiddos. and that's perfectly fine with me. sure it's been a lot of fun, but i've spent the past almost 18 months making and making and making. and while it has been tremendously rewarding in many ways and i most certainly would like to continue along this professional path of writing and designing, i sometimes was left feeling drained from work, lacking the energy to fully be with the ones i love.
i have learned from that. and timely as always is my friend meg. if you have a moment, scroll down a bit in finn's birthday post and enjoy her words on embracing "the concept of creativity beyond simply making things." she writes "You needn't feel guilty for not being in the time or place in your life where you can sew/knit all sorts of things for your children. Just re-route your creativity to living, rather than making."
you see, what i have made this week is a lot of progress. i've made time for my kids, been to every practice, rehearsal, game and even volunteered all morning at kindy. each day i've exercised at the crack of dawn, made healthy + delicious meals for my family, and gone to bed early to give myself the rest my body needs. i've doodled, taking training wheels off (and put them back on), and played tag - oh yes, a lot of tag.
i've said "yes!" more often than "in a little bit" - that, my friends, is a very good thing. my fortune cookie this past weekend said that "opportunity will soon come knocking" and that i should "answer the door."
it did.
i did.
and i didn't even eat the cookie.
clothes will surely get made as others are outgrown, most certainly over the next few weeks as the sunshine returns to northern ohio. and when i do so, i will surely look here for inspiration, thankful for the reminder of just how easy it is to make clothes for my kids that are simple, age-appropriate, and as one-of-a-kind as the children who wear them.
what have you been making this week? xoxo
