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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Hand Made


One of the reasons that I started my own blog is that I had become relatively obsessed with this blog. Everything on it/in it is beautiful. The writing, the pictures, the feel of it. Reading it has made my day more than once, made me laugh out loud often and brought me to tears more than I care to admit.


The woman who writes that blog makes things for a living. She is a crafter. For a job. It makes me at once jealous and also tired to think about creating things to pay bills. It was through reading her blog that I started to get excited about making things again. I stitched up a cafe curtain for my bathroom out of old hankies. I made a case for my camera and one for Nick's ipod out of old pajama pants. Small things, but fun to create.


Recently I've been getting a lot of hand made presents from my friends and family. Tailored scarves, Christmas wall hangings, sauce, peanut butter, and even a quilt! I've started to realize how special it makes me feel when someone makes me something. It feels like the person has put a little piece of their soul into that item. (Maybe I only feel that way because I just got done watching 9...)


So I've got the bug. I want to start making things. My goddaughter's birthday is coming in a few months and I've got some things planned. The girl who's blog I stalk wrote a book of crafting/sewing projects. I received it as a gift two years ago. I'm ready to start. Dolls and banners and even a horse! I'm sure it will be hard and frustrating at times but, I'm ready.


The small windows in my living room are the guinea pigs. They need real curtains. It only took me six years to decide on what to do with them. I'm sick of having various blankets draped in front of them so that Nick can block out the light in his lair of film.


We went to JoAnn's Fabrics. I only allowed myself to look in the fabric section. I nearly died of a fabric joygasm. I wish I was making a hundred things. I wish I had a million dollars to spend on fabric. I wish all of my friends had been with me so that I could use my special power of persuasion to make them all buy oodles of fabric for new kitchen curtains and something for their bedrooms and pillows and...things.


But for now, one step at a time. Living room curtains. Begin.

5 comments:

  1. Aaah, curtains--i have a bag stuffed with no less than 16 yards of heavy, heavy fabric sitting on my porch to make my living room curtains with. i think it will only take a year to get up the steam to make them, and by then i'll just pay carrie to whip them up instead. i'm not convinced i love what i bought, though, and i AM convinced that i LOVE those pictures you posted--was that all from JoAnn's?!?

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  2. Yes! JoAnn's! It was the best looking fabric I've ever seen in there, so, so many cute patterns! I nearly died. Nick though I had lost my mind! Did you get your fabric from Ikea? I seem to remember you buying some from there once. Last night we started cutting the fabric for the curtains. One fight later I did it by myself. It's nerve wracking!

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  3. Yeah, I did get mine from Ikea, but i hate, HATE committing to actually cutting it up since i'm not convinced it's perfect, and also because i'm not sure if i should do skinny or wide panels. Arrgh.

    I have never seen such cute fabric from JoAnn's--which store did you visit?

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  4. It was the one in JoAnn's. So many cute Asian-ish fabrics! One with umbrellas that I almost went into a coma over!

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  5. Um, I mean the one in Henrietta. Doi.

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