It's a start

Okay, I saw the movie Julie & Julia and felt the need to commit my next project to a blog in order to feel accountable to someone (something?). I feel the need to reinvent or at least expand my retail business. While on vacation in July I had that conversation with myself -- you know the one -- if you could do anything what would you really enjoy doing. Believe it or not, I really like to sew. I was never so happy as when I was making all the window coverings for our house when it was being built. I love being in fabric stores, walking through the aisles and touching all the fabrics and imaging what it could become. I love easedropping on all the conversations between the women who work and shop in the store to hear what they are working on. And, it's timeless. As long as I can see and my fingers work, I can sew. So unlike corporate America...

My Aunt Virg taught me to sew long ago. Her basement was full of fabrics all the time and there were always projects laying about. After high school I went to college in a fashion design program taking tailoring and textile courses. So what happened, where did I swerve off this path? Remember marabou? The fru fru stuff that edged dresses and capes back in the 70s. Yep, that's what did it. I made my mother a blue knit dress with a chiffon cape trimmed in marabou fur. The dress turned out fine and mom looked beautiful, but I decided at that point that clothing was just not my passion -- not to make anyway. So I changed degree programs, to Finance no less, and moved on. But I always continued to make window treatments, bedding, upholster items, etc. -- and I enjoyed it. But I was self-taught and never learned the professional tricks of the trade, which is what I propose to do now.

So to Aunt Virg, who I spent countless hours in the basement with digging through fabrics and trims -- and to my mom who bought me a sewing machine in 1975 which I continue to use -- She Sews!