Crafting tales
Pursuing creativity in a random and unfocused way
This year I want to spend more time working on creative crafts, but being realistic, improving my skills is probably less important than spending the time creating. I have had a tendency to flit from one thing to another; as a result, I never was brilliant at any craft, but like to try different kinds of activities and media.
When I was a girl there was a little alcove off our small kitchen surrounded by mullioned windows on all three walls; outside was a forest of bay laurel and oak trees and the blue sky above. Below the waist-high windows were deep shelves that were crammed with glass jars and boxes holding collections of everything and anything.
Some of these ‘things’ came from our surroundings: stones and rocks, small sticks of driftwood and branches, lichen and moss, and so many shells! But also: jars of buttons, beads, and small bits of fabric scraps and ribbons; rolls of coloured and patterned paper, masses of cookie cutters, pipe cleaners and cotton balls; scissors that cut patterns, stencils of all kinds, shapes of leftover plastic and odd shaped bits that came from packaging. Not much was thrown away in our house, as most everything could be saved for future ART PROJECTS. (I didn’t know back then that this was also a symptom of my mother’s hoarding tendencies, and that I would feel the full force of that behaviour many years later when I had to move her out of her home.)
It was always fun to go digging through all the jars and boxes when I thought I might want to create something, even as simple as a birthday card. Nothing in the room was off limits, and making things wasn’t something saved for special occasions; it was just integrated into our lives. It was something to do when I was bored and my parents were busy. If I didn’t have a book to read, or I didn’t want to play in the garden, I could create something, if only to take it apart again. It was the process of creating that was fun, not necessarily the outcome.
The first time I ever took a class to learn something crafty was when I learned to sew. I started sewing in order to earn a Girl Scouts Badge, but then continued taking classes in summer school, eventually making some simple summer shift dresses and skirts when I was a young teenager. About the same time I got really crazy into embroidery, and embroidered EVERYTHING I owned. No classes needed for that and I loved the lack of patterns to follow.
I tried needlepoint when one of my classmates raved about it. That task needed WAY too much precision for my adolescent brain; I couldn’t keep with it, and my fingers felt stubby and in the way. Eventually all my needlework crafting stopped when academics, other activities for school and a busy social life took priority. The most creative I got then was decorating birthday cakes for friends.
Photography became an important tool to interpret my world, as it is still. (All the photos for this blog are mine). My father was a photographer and we had a darkroom in the house, long before digital photography. Sometimes he and I would go out for drives to places we liked and go for walks to take photos together, then we would hang out in the darkroom watching the images magically come to life.
In my 20s I tried some activities that didn’t really stick, such as knitting and needlepoint again (attention to detail for following patterns was required; I am seeing the issue now)! I also took classes with one of my friends: watercolour painting and then collage-making classes which were great fun, both for the craft and for the social time together.
Shortly after I had a couple of kids, and personal crafting time was gone, although as a family we had creative projects always on the go. After my kids were off at University and I moved to Plymouth, I found a lovely woman Lizzy who ran a button shop - a tiny treasure trove of buttons and button-related crafts and art. I was excited to give button crafts a try. When Lizzy went on to open bigger premises with fabric, patterns, and all kinds of haberdashery, I followed right along with her expanding repertoire.
My fabric and dress-making memories from childhood were rekindled, I got a sewing machine, and took some classes to get more confident with long-dormant skills. Eventually, I started making some simple summer shift dresses again, inspired by her gorgeous fabrics.
I am still not very patient with any of these crafts. If it needs attention to detail, and fine, delicate motor skills, then forget it. If it is complicated (alright, lets be honest, if the instructions are tricky for a 10-year-old) then I am done too. So, the bandwidth of time and attention to detail for the crafts I am prepared to work on is pretty slim. But still, I love the idea of the project, the focus, spending time with colours, the textures of fabrics, and keeping my hands busy.
For my birthday present last year, my mother in law gave me a needlepoint kit. The image I am supposed to recreate is of the main landmarks around the Isle of Wight. She had seen me working on some embroidery, so she thought this locally-made crafting kit would be just the thing for my next project. And it is lovely. Meantime, before I could start that, I wanted to finish my year and half-old beginners embroidery project which I finally did last week. Whew. That was a long time for very few rather unimpressive stitches.
The next night I picked up the needlepoint kit, and just reading the instructions made me slightly panic, and my hands were suddenly clammy. I remembered my early efforts at needlepoint, and how I was rubbish at following directions. Augh, how was I supposed to do this! Then I stopped myself, remembered: I am not 15 anymore, and I can do this, right?
At least this one is for beginners and is not ‘complicated’. I was provided a COMPLETELY blank piece of white needlepoint fabric. By folding it in half both directions I can ‘see’ the middle cross point, and from that place COUNT all the squares in each direction to know which colour thread to put where, based on looking at the drawing. HA HA HA HA. I may not be 15, and I do have a bit more patience than I did, but my eyesight is certainly not what it was. Counting tiny squares of white fabric over and over again to keep on track is particularly challenging, but I have persevered!
Over the last week, I have started to create the image, but maybe it will be more like the spirit of the images rather than the exact replica of the pattern I have been provided. Now at least, I am ok with not following instructions precisely, and creating my own, let’s say, Impressionist version of the landmarks of the island.
Still it is the process of creating I enjoy, and will stick with it for now. I am finding it enjoyable (maybe also a bit entertaining?) to poke coloured thread into tiny white squares whilst binging our current show in the evenings.
I may or may not let you know how this goes.
When I am done with this project, my sister-in-law sent me a fabric pattern I had on my Christmas list to make a simple jacket. I’m really looking forward to starting that. Over the years she has given me many fun projects, some of which I confess are still waiting to be started. However, this year she also gave me a large unexpected LOOM (??!!!) with the tag, “I can explain…” oh dear….
What about you? Do you have a favourite creative endeavour you love? Do you have just one, or many? Have you developed different activities and skills over time? Are you focused on the process or the output? Are you a perfectionist, or do you want to get something/anything out of the activity? Creative minds want to know!
Also, if you want to find out more about my friend Lizzy’s amazing shop and services, or just enjoy the visual treats, click here.
Thanks again for reading, and I look forward to hearing from you!
-Sabrina
I LOVE your impressionist needlework! What a grand idea!
I confess, I’ve been a crafter since middle school when I learned to knit, making squares for a blanket that then went to a children’s hospital. I loved learning to sew and became quite adept at it. (I’m sure it was due to that standardized test I took in middle school where we had to determine what 3D shape of a flat2D image -of squares and triangles- would make upon folding. I aced it!)
My most ambitious project was my junior-senior prom dress, which was a halter dress with a 3”ruffle running from the bodice on one side, around behind my neck and to the front again, all the way down to the floor. You stitch a very long tube right sides together then turn it inside out and attach it to the 👗 stitching it on. Well, I was still attaching it when my date arrived! He had to sit and talk with my dad for 40 minutes while I finished my dress!
I love how you kept (keep) craft stuff in jars. After I cleaned out my mom's house, I took a set of old glass cookie jars that belonged to my grandma and stuffed them with fabric and yarn. I just like looking at them, even if I never use the stuff inside! Also, I never knew your dad did photography - no wonder you have such an amazing eye!