Could I Have Gone To The Mall?

 

Ah... the dress is done. I can sit back and admire it. I will wear it tomorrow to the farmer's market. It's the kind of dress I could wear wherever and whenever I wanted to. It fits me perfectly, and making the dress, instead of buying it, suits me just fine. Sure I had to work hard at making every detail perfect, and perfectly finished, so that no matter what I choose to do when I am wearing the dress, if it gets dirty, I can just toss it in the washer and dryer and know that it is going to hold up. This is the kind of dress that I can multitask in, literally. While wearing it, I can simultaneously breath, sit, and eat. It doesn't pinch or pull me anywhere. These are inherent bonuses in sewing your own clothing, but I could have just as well gone to the mall and bought myself a dress. So why didn't I? 

 

As you already know, I followed Kay Whitt's advice and made the muslin first. By doing that, I was able to make the necessary adjustments to the pattern before cutting my nice, colorful fabric. I increased the length of the arm bands at the edge of the sleeves and I also lengthened the dress by an entire 6" (that is almost 15 cm., for my foreign readers). Making the muslin first was like driving into the downtown area of a city I had never before been to; I was a bit unsure of myself. When I finally got to the fun fabrics, though, I felt like I knew the roads and the signs already. I had "been there before". I did encounter the equivalent of road construction detours with one of the sleeves, I had to make a U-turn and do a redo. If I happen to grow that third arm I have been praying for, I am ready with an extra third sleeve.

 So why didn't I just go to the mall and buy myself a dress? It was a tough week, and as a mother of kids on summer vacation, the week was a busy one. I felt torn between what I had to do and what I wanted to do.  I really wanted to spend the entire week sewing, but life has it's demands that can't be pushed aside. So I did the best I could. When I wasn't working on the project, I was thinking about the project. I thought about it while I was weed whacking the yard, while I was making toasted ground cumin seed butter to drizzle on the fresh squash & potato buttermilk soup, while I was driving to pick up the frozen equivalent of half a cow that had spent it's life grazing on the beautiful green pastures of the Tennessee countryside. I thought about the project while hiking around the lake, while I was on my way driving to a homeschooling conference; I thought about it a lot. I wondered what you thought too. I imagine you have thought about making yourself something and decided against it because it would just be easier to drive to the nearest mall, buy it, and be done with it. I could have done the same, but I would have missed out on so many things that have occurred in these past two weeks that have serendipitously made my life richer, let alone having the dress fit me to a "T". Before I share with you those things let me begin with the word, serendipity, since after all it is in the title of the book, Sew Serendipity, that I followed for the past couple of weeks. I got this off the internet:

Serendipity

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery. 

Once upon a time there was a fairy tale named The Three Princes of Serendip. Serendip was the old Arab name for Sri Lanka. As their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity of things which they were not in quest of.

Horace Walpole coined the word serendipity, and I am grateful to him for it. Examples of inventions made because of serendipity include cornflakes, Post-it notes, the Slinky, the microwave oven, and one of my favorites - the chocolate chip cookie. To find out how they came about look under "inventions" here. In the past couple of weeks I have been living the word. Here are a few serendipitous things that happened to me while I was trying to learn how to sew a dress:

1. Margaret became a new follower of my blog at my last post, by visiting her blog I learned about the beautiful Watts Towers by Simon Rodia in L.A., California. His work is worth exploring in depth. If you click on the highlighted words (above) you can see a short movie about him and his project.
   
2. I went to buy fabric at a quilt shop that had lots of fabric by Kaffe Fassett. I was so impressed with his fabrics, they seem to ooze color out of every weft and warp, that I went home and researched him. On his website I found a short movie about him and his thoughts about living with lots of color. After seeing it, I can tell you with a certain degree of certainty, that I can feel a learning-how-to-quilt project coming on. His explanations of why he is happy living with lots of riotous colors, vs. decorating with a more monochromatic, minimalistic decorating scheme, is a part of an ongoing internal dialog I have been having with myself for years. I was shocked when typing back and forth with Alicia, on an unrelated subject, she brought it up to me on her own. It is a subject I plan to explore in depth and you will be reading about, I hope, on your subsequent visits to my space, here on my blog.
3. I practically wore out my keyboard typing back and forth to my new friend, Alicia. The constant messaging back and forth with her has resulted in a deepening of our friendship beyond what I could have hoped for. I received, via snail mail, a beautiful watercolor painted by Alicia (see below). She has been sewing the same project and blogging about it on her blog, Possibilities. It wasn't until my dress was all done, and I was composing this post, that I realized my dress has the same colors that are in her painting. If the vast expanse of land between her home and mine were fabric, I would sew a running stitch through it and pull on the thread as hard as I could until, like the fabric in the dress, we were gathered together.

But that is not all that happened this week. Louis Pasteur, the French scientist who invented pasteurization and the vaccine for rabies, said "In the fields of observation, chance favors only the well prepared mind". This week I realized why I sewed the dress myself instead of going to the store to buy one. It is not because it is cheaper to sew it myself. It is because when I go through the process of making, I grow. I grow in a way that cannot be forgotten tomorrow, and in a weak moment the dress will remind me of that growth. I need that inner growth because it sustains me through all my busy, multitasking days.

Comments

[Brandy]

OMG I LOVE THE DRESS!!!!! It looks beautiful on you!!! I knew you could do it and would love doing it!!!! It's truly amazing!!!! I LOVE IT!!!

[Alicia Armstrong]

Your dress is beautiful! Now you need never go to the mall again. Alot of food for thought in your blog. I have a couple of Kaffe Fassett books as well as some yardage. One of my many "someday" projects.

[The Muse of The Day]

Alicia, All I can say is - bring on "someday". Ready when you are. Carolina

[Kay Whitt]

What a beautiful dress...what a beautiful post! I am so touched! I read every single word and LOVE that you get exactly what I dreamed that others could achieve with my book. It is a growing process and one that I have grown from every time I pick up fabric and begin to create. Thanks from the bottom of my heart! You made my week!!!

[Jona]

What a beautiful dress! Your neckline area looks so great and I love those fabrics. I can't wait to dig into that book!

[Amber]

it came out masterfully! love it!!! i can't wait until you start crafting funky belts to go with these wonderful little ensembles! i'm always so inspired by your creativity! xoxo

[Amy]

What a great accomplishment! Congratulations!! I know you had some issues with those sleeves, but they came out like a finished product of a seasoned seamstress, WOW! I am impressed. p.s. if I am ever in TN, I am coming over so we can drink coffee in the early a.m. on that beautiful deck.

[brigette]

and now, when someone says, 'love your dress!', you can say, 'thanks, i made it'. it looks fantastic. what fun fabric choices. and your new friend is quite the talented artist.

[Dianne]

The dress is beautiful. You are right that making it yourself brings many, many insights. I feel a grand sense of accomplishment when I make something. Making/creating feeds the soul.
On another note, Kaffe Fassett has a line of sock yarn and is also famous in the knitting world for his knitting designs! By the way, do you knit?

[cynde]

Oh it is so beautiful!!!! I love it and the fit is fabulous!! The fabrics you picked are incredible too. And the feeling you get from having made it is incredible. I love it when I tell people "thanks, I made it" in response to a compliment. What will you make next?
My fabric came in...I need to write a post about it all now. I'm off, will be back to read and chat at another post :)

[april taylor]

Your dress is so cute ! I also love to sew. I have not made me anything in years. I think- Thanks to you- It is time to start sewing again.

[Chase]

What a beautiful dress! Thank you for making it and showing us the process. I just got the book on Sunday and I need to dive in and start making some muslins!

[Danielle Reitchel]

LOVE the dress. It is beautiful. I don't sew anything but straight lines but reading you blog makes me want make clothes. Thank you for sharing

[Amanda]

The dress is just beautiful, and your post inspiring! I am going on a similar journey, but one that involves writing an entire novel (or three). I have always wanted to write, but shied away from such long stories that would take so very long to create (same with my crafting, I always preferred small projects that could be finished in a weekend). But, since starting it (and getting past my first 40,000 words) I have realised how much 'growth' I have found in sitting down to create something so worthwhile... I can look back and remember exactly how I came to the point I am at now and know I will notice and learn so many more new things in the process of researching topics and getting to know my characters in more detail. I know writing is different to sewing, but I feel very much like what you described in this post xx congratulations once again on such a beautiful achievement!

[Dianne]

well, I happen to be starting back at the Haus of Yarn on Mondays. I will be starting in August. I worked last year during the colder months as well. They slow down a bit during the spring/summer, so I bowed out until it got busier again. I can help you with the socks. I have only made a couple of pairs, but they aren't too bad! You should come by the store sometime.

[Fox.]

Lovely dress! The stitching on the sleeves is flawless!

[Erin]

Gorgeous dress and I love the conclusion you came to. I think that exact reason is why I've stepped so far out of my "previous" comfort zone to learn new things...I continue to grow and I love that feeling.

[Margaret Almon]

Your dress is so cool! And I'm glad to be part of your serendipity this week! It's interesting you mention Kaffee Fassett--the first mosaic book I ever owned was a gift from a friend, and it was by Kaffee Fassett! Then when I became a knitter a couple years ago, I discovered he was also the author of knitting books!

[Cassie @ You Go Girl!]

Love it! You look so dang cute in that. I want to make some clothing for myself, but I AM a chicken! I struggle with perfect. What if it isn't right??? Oh, the thoughts I think! LOL! You've inspired me. I am going to give this a try...starting with a muslin. Then I'm going to use some of that amazing voile stuff to make my princess dress.Yep. I'm going to do it. Really.

[Rachel at Stitched in Color]

Thank-you for your kind words about my reverse applique skirt on my blog. I agree - the stain is really a happy accident, though I have missed wearing it in the meantime.

These pictures of you wearing the dress are just lovely, as are your musings on why we choose to create. So glad to have met you!

[Gosia]

wow! i'm impressed by your strong will to finish this beautiful project. I love the last pic: you in the dress + the nature. Lovely! and somebody, at last, explained to me the meaning of this 's' word I couldn't find in any dictionary...

[Elizabeth Mackey]

I saw how you were featured on Kay's blog :) I just ordered that book today from amazon, along with Alicia's newest book. I can't wait for Mr. UPS to come :)
I really want to make the coat in that book, I'm thinking velvet or some kind of brocade. I'm excited!!!