When you make a pattern a number of times, you start to know what you want to change before you even begin working on the next version. You know how to get a little closer to perfection.
By the time I finished my first two Metamorphic dresses, I had a plan in my head for a last, “ultimate” Metamorphic dress. It would be the perfect colors, and the perfect length. I’d use everything I learned from all the other makes I’d worked on this past spring and it would be amazing.
And it is. But it isn’t perfect.
I wanted to make one more Strata top in cotton, and my girls were asking when I was going to make them something.
For years, I sewed exclusively for the kids, or else for our house (quilts, pillow shams, curtains, etc.) so it’s no wonder they were confused when I spent an entire month and a half sewing for myself.
Trying to find a socially acceptable way to discharge negative emotions has been a lifelong quest for me.
As a high schooler, after watching the 1989 movie Dead Poets Society, I would regularly yawp out in nature when things got to be too much.
Since then, I’ve discovered swimming, live music, and waterfalls. All of those things are weather- and location-dependent, or “subject to availability.”
Sometimes I can let it all out in a meditation. I can’t plan an outcome for a meditation and expect success. That isn’t how it works for me. Often, when I’m at my most stressed, I’m also at my lowest functioning, and it’s really hard to be clear-headed about my options for de-escalation.
Have you been there?
Anyone who’s ever made a pie knows they sure don’t come from nowhere. The labor involved is why it’s been over a year since I made one. But the fact that the pies in this book remained anonymous when it mattered is a big part of its charm.
Once every year or so, I treat myself to a beautiful design book. This year’s treat was Get it Together! An Interior Designer’s Guide to Creating Your Best Life, by Orlando Soria. I’ve been following him on Instagram for a while now and appreciated his use of triangles in design, his sharp humor, and his fearless vulnerability.
Orlando Soria has a unique brand. He knows his audience and his strengths and uses them well in promoting his work.
A while back, he announced his new book was coming out and that there were a limited number of signed copies. In a weak moment I clicked purchase, and then didn’t open the book for months. I brought it to Tobago and didn’t read it. You know how when you have a special treat, you have to be ready to enjoy it? Then one day in May, I cracked it open.
