I didn't learn to be a photographer by thinking about it or 'designing images' in my head. I became a photographer by doing it. Taking lots & lots of photos. All kinds of images with all kinds of cameras & film, (8mm, instamatic, polaroid, 35mm, 6x6, 5x4, even 8x10) but it took a few years, & some amazing tutoring before I found 'my thing'. I found my own way of making images, that only I could make, & that I only made because they were me. I did not care if anyone else enjoyed them or not, there were images I made for myself, that were a part of myself … So when I put them out there in the world, I was surprised that other people liked them too. The same went for my later work with ceramics & glass. It takes a while before you find yourself in a new medium, & when you do, WoW! You really know it!
I have been sewing at home & selling online, for almost 2 years (not the sewing part, that's something I never remember not doing) - & now I am starting to let myself go, trust myself & make something for myself, & of myself. Sure, I love making things for kids, & I may not stop doing that. Creating fabric things for babies & toddlers was born out of making things for my newly arrived family members, & the fact that my kiln was in storage while I built my house (I had to make something in the evenings!) … & it all kind of snowballed from there. But it was always about making things for other people & thinking about what they would like. Maybe that's why I called it 'i made this for you' …
So I have started a new adventure in fabric that I am calling '… & then some'. Which is simply me creating things with the materials & methods that I love & adore.
I have been working away behind the scenes getting things ready, to put it all out there in the world. (Kind of in the same way you prepare your work for an exhibition.)
I have been collecting fabrics, preparing my website, (well, not so much preparing, but more like re-structuring it & making quite a few dramatic changes in it's map.) Making business cards & post labels, working on a new Facebook page & adding to my other social media … But all the while waiting for posh new woven fabric labels for the new creations themselves to arrive.
I waited two months to get those babies! (There were some issues of communication, with the manufacturer taking 5 to 6 days to reply to emails … so it was a very slow back & forth. *Humph*) Anyway … I did a pretty big happy dance when they arrived, because it symbolised the real beginnings of this new path … plus now I can really start to make things!
So my Mothers Day was doing just that. I cut & I sewed … my daughter spent the day catching up on homework. (p.s year 12 sucks! But I am ever so proud of her just for doing it!) I have made my prototypes / patterns. I got my method worked out, & I am rearing to go!
Did I ever tell you that I sew with an antique Singer?
I adore that darling thing, but she does not have a zipper foot … needless to say I am doing things the hard way ... but that's the way I like it. I have also busted out & given the overlocker a good going over. Seriously, that thing had not seen the light of day in 10 years or more! But me thinks sometimes an overlocker is the only way to go, so put back in service she is… But of course my Singer will always be my preferred machine, because nothing else sews like she does!
So what is this ramble really about? Maybe I should just say that, I am really looking forward to showing you what I have been up too, & opening my new made it shop in about a week or so … stay tuned …
xoxo
P.S. While I was awaiting the fabric labels, I made a bunch of new stuff for the little ones - now my i made this for you madeit shop is overflowing with handmade goodness!
www.madeit.com.au/imadethisforyou
