for the love of crafting

i can clearly recall being maybe six or seven years old, sitting on the floor next to my granny while she was sewing.  seems like she was always making something – nightgowns, dresses, you name it…she could sew it.  and so i would set up shop right there next to here, gather up all of her montgomery-ward catalogs, and pull out all the fabric swatches.  then using a needle and thread, i would sew all of those pinked-edge rectangles together to make blankets for my barbies.

when i was a little older, my mom would take me up to t g & y and buy me remnant fabric that i would then sew into summer shorts and dresses.  i spent many a summer day sitting outside in the garage (where mom kept her kenmore sewing machine) with my pattern taped up to the wall, carefully stitching together inseams and ruffles.  and when i needed to know what a selvage was or how to clip the curves, my mom was just a phone call away…she being one of many in a long-line of skilled seamstresses.

i’m not sure exactly who taught me – granny or my mom – but sewing things together is something i’ve been doing for a long time.  sewing is deeply woven into the fabric of who i am.

these two things were going through my mind this past sunday as i was sitting at my sewing machine… that same kenmore that i used as a kid.  sewing together punched out circles of scrapbook paper to make a paper garland for a photography project.

please…i know…don’t say it.

i was laughing at myself, wondering what my granny would think.  how times have changed and how few people know how to sew.  and even those that do, ahem, using it for such an unorthodox purpose.

anyway, after i got finished making my garland, i played around with several different compositions of a couple of old books, my journal, dried roses, and a teacup.  this still life photoshoot was a delightful way to spend a bitterly cold, snowy afternoon.

i know this is going to sound so goofy…but there is something about this whole process that was so utterly gratifying.  and i think it starts with my little paper garland.  isn’t that so dumb?  for some reason i just love the fact that my photo reflects me in a very unique way.

now don’t get me wrong…even if i didn’t have the bunting and just used the books and the roses – it would still reflect me.  those books that i got junk-store shopping with my mom and the roses i dried from a bouquet that my bff sent after my father-in-law passed away – they both tell a story.  but that little bunting i made.  with my own hands.  yes.  that’s what feels so good.  to make something .  not just to envision or create digitally, but to make.

and now i have this sweet little garland hanging up in my office for the next time.  a reminder of how much i love to make stuff.  and a serious warm fuzzy thinking about my mom and my granny.  maybe to some it’s just another craft project, but for me it’s very much a connection to who i am and where i came from.

really…when i think about it the things i love, the things that bring the most joy…most all of them involve making something by hand.  whether it’s baking cupcakes, chopping vegetables, planting flowers, sewing halloween costumes, making decorations – i crave these kinds of tactile pursuits.  maybe it’s because we live in such a digital, virtual world now or maybe it’s because i spend so much of my day in front of a computer screen.  or just maybe……this is who i am.

maybe this is how God made me.

call it what you want – crafter, maker…to me it is all part of the{A}rt that is my life.  and i hope that by listening to my heart and using these desires and talents that God me, that i can in someway glorify him.

he who works with his hands is a laborer. he who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. he who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. ~ st. francis of assisi

peace, kelly