All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you – Gandalf. I have a limited amount of time now to do things beyond explicitly caring for an infant. I always *knew* this going in, but the reality of parenthood still packs a punch. If I thought that … More Done, not perfect.
When Washington State went into a lockdown and my office started working remotely in early 2020, so many things changed. One of them, which I wouldn’t learn about for a few more weeks, has marked a fundamental shift in my life. I learned I was pregnant during a pandemic and gave birth during a pandemic. … More 9 months later…
So here we are. Watching a virus travel across the globe in a surreal (and sometimes very real) newsfeed montage of images of people in face masks, shopping carts full of supples, and late night comedian news summary clips. We’re avoiding each other, buying a couple extra of everything when we venture out to the … More Sewing through the long wait
Step. Breath. Step. Breath. Pause…. Step. I had come to hike the Inca Trail up to Machu Picchu. As an archaeologist, I was fulfilling a dream I had since first learning about the ancient city in middle school. Instead of living out a dream, I confronted my reality. The air is thin. (And so is … More Musical Inspiration: To climb a mountain pass
…and lamps and tables, too. How are we at the end of another year. 2019 started out with a rearranging of my sewing room, though I didn’t do as much sewing as I had hoped. I did make a massive dent in my mending queue, and I did in fact sew one new garment. But … More Curtains for 2019
A reckoning came for my fabric stash. Full of fabrics for costumes long-completed, I wanted to make physical and emotional room for new fashion sewing projects. During that reckoning, I kept the leftover costume fabric with potential for functional every-day clothes. Spandex was repurposed fun, personalized workout gear. I started with the Seamwork Aires, one … More Make it work, Aires
One weekend. Six garments mended and altered. It is a large accomplishment over minor tasks that have languished on my to-do list and my sewing table since winter. I recently listened to the audiobook of “Get Your Sh*t Together” by Sarah Knight. As self-help books go, it’s a fast and fun read. From overflowing inboxes, … More Getting my sh*t together
I wrote this post a year ago, on January 23, 2018 and never published. I was at work, checking Twitter (like one does) when I saw a friend retweeting a post from neil gaiman about Ursula K. Le Guin’s death. (I wrote passing, but as she’s not one to mince words, why should I?) She … More An Icon.
Marie Kondo inspired me to Tidy Up my sewing room. I think it might actually stick this time! … More Marie Kondo meets my sewing space
I have 38 draft blog posts. I have tried multiple times over the last year to make time to share my thoughts with you. To explain why I was painting and drawing instead of sewing. Each time I started out profound and then got lost in the weeds of what I was trying to say. … More Intermission
The Fabric Alchemist 