I continue to be amazed and totally humbled by the attention my little blog has received this year. Your love and support inspire and motivate me daily. If you're so inclined, I'd be honored to have you visit over there and cast a vote. What an unexpected and thrilling way to begin The New Year! Here's to 2010!
I hope you are enjoying these last few days of the year! My presence on-line will be a bit sporadic for a wee bit, as I focus on the most important people in my life (that I sadly only get to see on rare occasions.) In other words, if you are waiting on an e-mail, I appreciate your patience and feel free to try again... I may need some nudging. Love to you all!
I'm so delighted to be one of the stops on the tour of the newly published Sew Liberated 20 Stylish Projects for the Modern Sewist by Author/Designer Meg McElwee. After three years of teaching Montessori in rural Mexico, she and her husband returned to the states to focus on her pattern business and begin a family. I have watched this past year, with pleasure, as she gracefully transitioned into motherhood and now a published author. Meg and I share many loves: early childhood education, sewing, Mexico, apple galettes, burlap buckets, strong black tea... the list goes on. As a peer and friend, I've been curious about how she has been keeping up with it all. So please go grab your cup of whatever makes you happy and let's begin! Maya: How do you find balance in your daily life with an infant, while still blogging, creating & releasing new patterns, and writing books? I'm exhausted just writing the question!
Meg: Oh Maya, sometimes it's a real struggle to keep all of these balls in the air! There are days and weeks when I feel pretty confident in my ability to get things done and get them done well, and there are days and weeks when I don't get much done at all. I have a little mantra that I repeat to myself often: “One person can only do what one person can do.” I try to let the rest slide off my shoulders and enjoy the plentiful moments of peace and laughter peppered throughout any given day. But let me focus on the laughter – this, above all else, keeps my family happy. I'm fortunate to have married a very funny man, and our son seems to be following in his footsteps!
There's more to my partner than wit, though – he also is a full time co-parent and spends half of each day caring for our son while I get work done. Later in the evening, when I'm going through the bedtime routine with Finn, he is busy packing and shipping patterns and keeping up with the accounting and web site maintenance. I could never accomplish all of this flying solo – the secret behind my productivity is teamwork.
Maya: Has your creative process changed since your son was born?
Meg: Definitely. I used to work uninterrupted for hours, sometimes even forgetting to eat lunch or dinner, while bringing to life a vision in my head. Now? Now my life is actually more balanced than it was before my son was born. His presence in my life makes my priorities clear – spend time to be with and enjoy every stage of his life. Expressing myself creatively is important for me as a person and as a mother, but the time that I have in which to be creative with fabric is certainly less than before. I might be in the middle of a designing epiphany and the baby needs to nurse just then … no later. This has been an adjustment for me, certainly. It's a letting go of the old way of doing things, and a subsequent embracing of this little person, his needs, and his wonderful presence in my life. On a practical level, this has taken the form of “work boundaries”: during the half day when I am the primary caregiver for Finn, as well as after dinner and before his bedtime, I do not do any work. I don't check my email, I don't answer my phone, I don't sew, blog, or write pattern instructions. I'm simply present with my child. (Although I often knit or do other handwork in his presence, which is certainly not work for me!)
Maya: In Sew Liberated's introduction, you spoke about your mother's love for fabric. How did fabric and sewing play a role in your early years? As a mother/sewist, what memories would you hope to give to Finn?
Meg: My Mom is a talented seamstress who got her start sewing her own clothing while in high school. She is intrepid when it comes to learning new skills, from sewing bathing suits
to learning calligraphy and Chinese cooking. When I was young, she was always taking classes. She was undaunted in the face of creative challenges, especially when it came to Halloween costumes. From the Pink Panther to Princess, she never said to me “No, I can't make that” or “That's too hard.”
With my Mom, everything was possible. I'd like to think that she passed on this attitude to me, and I would love to pass it on to my own children.
Meg: My training as a Montessori teacher has hugely impacted my designs (and my life!) Sewing for my students is what started me on this road as a sewing pattern designer. But more than that, my Montessori background makes me a child-focused as opposed to adult-focused when I am coming up with patterns for children. There are many lovely patterns on the market that are made to appeal to an adult aesthetic (lots of frills, clothing made out of fabric that isn't comfortable) rather than a growing child's needs. When I come up with a design for children, I think of three things: it needs to be comfortable, conducive to unrestricted movement, and able to be put on and taken off by the child (or adult, in the case of babies) with little frustration. For example, all of my child's apron patterns are front-closing instead of tying in the back, and my clothing designs are simple and comfortable, putting the emphasis on the beauty of the child, not the frills surrounding the child.
Meg: My inspiration is a many-headed fountain. My tastes are (and have always been) somewhat eclectic. I am moved by a more reserved palette and simple lines of European clothing design, but I am also completely at home with rustic/folk elements. My home reflects this duality, mixing modern thrifted elements with very homey, elaborately embroidered and appliqued details.
Meg: I'm so very excited to be writing my second book, which is tentatively titled Growing Up Sew Liberated: Over 30 Sewing Projects for the Daily Rhythm of Childhood. This book is so close to my heart, as I get to pour myself into every page – from sewist to mama to passionate educator. Each chapter will represent a time of day: morning, sharing food and keeping the home, inside play, outside play, and bedtime. Each sewing project is accompanied by a suggested activity, all keeping in mind my Montessori background and my newly discovered interest in Waldorf educational methods. The resource section alone is a joy to write, and I hope that this book is something that will be useful to all parents, even those who might not have considered sewing for their children.
Meg: Checking my favorite blogs is something that I could never give up – they give me creative fuel as well as mothering support. I'm currently the most drawn to blogs which combine parenting and sewing/crafting topics. At least once a week I catch up on the following blogs (among many others, which are just too numerous to list here!)
-www.uncommongrace.typepad.com
-www.frontierdreams.blogspot.com
Friday, Dec. 11: TrueUp.net (interview)
Sunday, Dec. 13: “In the Studio with Cate” (studio tour)
Thursday, Dec. 17: Grosgrain Fabulous (book review and giveaway)
Friday, Dec. 18 Living Life as Art (interview, review, and project)
Saturday, Dec. 19: CraftyPod.com (book review)
Monday, Dec. 21: Craftsanity (podcast interview)
My daughter turns five in a matter of days, and I wanted to create something very sweet and special for her.
This blouse came together because of two very special women. You see, months ago, the lovely and generous Michelle, of Cloud9 Fabric, asked me if I could use any of her left over organic fabric from the Quilt Market? What an amazing question to be asked! She knows I love organic and recycled... this bird fabric, Flock, had already been used on display (as a curtain) in her booth and fit both those categories. This print got so much adoration from my daughter that it was clearly going to turn into something for her.
Yes, it's gush time! Thank you M & M! I can't wait for more time in the new year to make another... in my size. The blossom blouse is a mother/daughter pattern! Here's a photo of it in a grown-up size with the beautiful applique that this book is filled with.
I have a bunch of little gifts I'm finishing up, but I already know that I won't complete everything on my list. There's always next year! What I do get done will be so much fun to wrap. I bet you can guess how much I love wrapping up handmade gifts in creative, repurposed packaging. Remember the art storage/display I made out of a turned-inside-out priority mail box? I used the same technique with cereal and cracker boxes to make "gift bags"! I punched holes in the sides and used selvedge , ribbons, or twine for handles. A glue gun was the easiest way to re-consruct each box.
For a substitute to tissue paper, I enjoy using old patterns (that I'd never use for sewing) found while thrifting. I love how you can customize these bags/boxes for each recipient. This one is for our music teacher. Vintage sheet music came from this lovely friend.
My family flows from one celebration to another in December. I'm always curious about how other families build their traditions. I thought I'd share a tiny bit about ours. For us, Chanukah's emphasis is on the magic of lighting the candles with prayer and then singing festive songs. About five years ago we spontaneously choreographed a little dance to Sevivon. We've done this dance (while singing) each of the eight nights ever since. It's a silly one, and we all love it. It's our special family dance, not that we haven't shared it with others, but it feels like our unique tradition. We do open gifts, but it isn't the focus and I'm grateful for that.
Tomorrow we will celebrate the Winter Solstice, Yule: the shortest day of the year and the slow return of the sun. One of the ways we honor this day is by lighting a candle to signify the light and warmth of the sun and by singing our favorite sun songs... as you can see, we really like to light candles and sing. Next, we peel an orange for it's wonderful symbolism. We pass it around, taking a section and sharing our favorite memory of the sun over the past year. Then the person sharing eats their slice... tasting a bit of sunshine in each bite. We go around a couple of times. Our candle is by a local company, Sunbeam, that uses solar power to create their wares. Perfect. My son is an accomplished pianist and this year he will play a wonderful version of Here Come the Sun, while he and his sister sing along. I'm so looking forward to it!
Embroidery has reentered my life with gusto. It started with a lesson for my daughter last month and has only grown in momentum. On Monday and Tuesday, Laura and I introduced the joys of embroidery to over FIFTY 9-12 year olds. Teaching a 4 or 5 year old is vastly different. I'll talk a little about each today, but my focus will be on the young child. With this age group my goal is always to emphasize personal satisfaction and fun, rather than technique. My embroidery basket was such a hit on The Artful Parent''s giveaway and numerous parents asked me how to make one of their own. This post is for you.
Kid's Embroidery is a wonderful book I've taken out of the library several times... and is now on our wish list. Doodle Stitching is another fresh and fun book for beginners.
My son was one of those 50 big kids, and he's taken to embroidering every surface. He came home from school the other day with his black ski hat embellished with cartoon faces in thread! Both children have the embroidery bug, simultaneously! I can't tell you how amazing that is for me. Each afternoon this week they worked, side by side, quitely stitching their own surprises for their Dad's birthday, Shh... that''s all I can safely say for now, although he was told not to read today's post... yet.
Yesterday morning, I slipped on my Mucks, threw a coat on over my night gown, and ran out into a world gone white. I wanted to capture dawn in my back yard... for you.
The sun illuminated the fresh fallen snow with all of the magic you might imagine.
Only an hour later, I would be driving into town... past fairy forests and
sleeping corn fields...
When you live in the country you pick and choose the roads you travel on very carefully in the winter. At days end, I realized that this maybe my last evening turning down a our short cut until spring, so I snapped this familiar little woodland creek , too.
This utter beauty makes it easy for me to embrace the thoughts of the long, cold months ahead.
Wire ends are sharp... fabulous for piercing berries, but care should be taken if done with young children.
Every year I spend a December day baking an assortment of cookies and bars for gift giving. Packaging them up is always the most challenging part. This year I came up with a solution from my recycling bin. I had wanted to whisper my idea to you all week, but wasn''t sure if I could pull off these cookie house as nicely in reality as they were in my head.
Turns out they're super easy to make! You've got to try these... no excuses not to! Everything you need is right in your house. Milk cartons work so well for cookie transport because they're sturdy and grease proof. I originally was going to make some little baskets by just cutting off the tops and punching holes for handles, but the natural shape of each carton screams house, and then last week I saw these. I had no choice... houses it was. Covering them with brown Kraft paper transforms them into gingerbread houses waiting to be frosted- with white acrylic paint. Great project to set out for children. Cover a bunch of carton houses and set out some paints for them to add windows, doors, etc.
Need:
Once you've made this shape, you'll see that you can adjust them to any height you desire. If you choose to adorn them in paper proceed to the next step.
It should look like this:
6. Cut out paper and adhere with glue or paste. I ended up using a combination. Fold over flat top edges and secure with clothespins until dry.
7. When dry, paint and decorate. Whether you make gingerbread houses or keep it a simple carton... you'll need a handle. Punch holes into the A-frame and tie on a ribbon.
8. Fill with cookies! You can make little wax bags to separate the cookies by folding over a length of wax paper and zigzaging the sides shut with peppermint thread (red thread and a white bobbin). Seal each house's roof with a little label or sticker. Have fun!
And listen to this wonderful feature in their own words:At Aurora Shoe we believe in shoes that last. We use top quality materials and time honored methods to create footwear that only gets better with age. While no shoe lasts a lifetime, with proper care and periodic repair, Aurora Shoes can grow old with you.As long as your shoe leather is still soft and supple with no visible cracks we can fit your Aurora Shoes with new Vibram soles. Mail your shoes to our shop address along with this simple form and we’ll get them back on your feet as soon as we can.
The emphasis on REPAIR in our throw-away society really needs to be celebrated now more than ever. Thank you Aurora Shoe Company, I'm so happy you're here!
