I intended today to post about my progress on my Swing dress, which is coming along nicely, but instead I find myself slightly teary eyed at the situation of a woman I have never met. If you have never been to the site Bakerella, and you like anything cute, sweet or cake-like in any way, you should head over there. Unfortunately the Queen of Cake pops has been very sick with a failing donated kidney. For some reason, this brought me to tears this morning. Again, I don't know this woman nor will I ever get to meet her. But I feel like I know her, which is a strange and unusual; this woman has let me (and thousands others) into her life through lollipops made from cake. This is the way we live our lives now. A family of strangers.
As I write this, I think that this is ultimately a good thing. This blog-sphere brings people together that may never have the chance of meeting in real life. Our online sewing community, in particular, reaches all over the world. I imagine most of these people are online commenting and writing blogs because they have no one near them that enjoys the pleasure (and pain) of creating something from a piece of fabric. Most of my day (more than I would like to admit) is reading about sewing. And it isn't just reading about sewing, it is reading about someone else's life as they sew. I love looking at the creations that Tasia makes, but I was even more excited when she recently got into a business program to help build her pattern line. I eagerly await Peter's hilarious posts because I love reading about his crazy adventures, whether they be in sewing or some slightly obsessive doll collecting. We notice when people are gone. Selfish Seamstress? She hasn't posted in months, yet people still talk about her. I guess Bakerella's post made me realize how influential a short paragraph or two can have on someone else's life.
But, one has to wonder, if we should be building our community and friendships closer to home, right around the corner as opposed to across continents? I would love to see a combination of both. Sewing, home sewing, is not nearly as popular in the area I live as quilting. Not that there is anything wrong with quilting, but that is not what interests me. So most of my help, encouragement and ideas (besides from Laurel, Anne and mother/sister) comes from this online sewing community. What would I do without Evelyn constantly cheering me on?! But I would also love to have a in-person sewing group that met once a month or....at all! I am hoping that with the spread of the online sewing community that more concrete evidence of the home-sewing movement will eventually come to light.
Okay. Enough from my waxing non-peotically about this. I guess also I want to say thank you. Thanks to everyone who makes me write about my sewing (or lack of) and thanks to those who make me want to sew more. Before I get teary eyed again, I am going back to my swing dress. :)
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Oh, you've no idea how true that is. I also spend too much time reading sewing blogs (instead of sewing!) because, well, I don't know anybody who sews in real life (except my mother). I also wonder where's the Selfish Seamstress and you're not going to believe it but this morning I was thinking, is Maggie still in Italy? It's weird once you think about it. So cheer up and keep us posted on your (Italian?) sewing adventures!
ReplyDeleteMaggie, I know what you are talking about. Often times the internet for sewing is how I understand thing, I have emailed all kinds of people that I don't know for sewing helps. I also pray for people I don't know, it feels weird but for now, this is my sewing family. There is no one who sews that I know local unless it's quilts, which I also am not interested. I can understand your tears, because this is a REAL person that you read her blog and knew her thoughts and were encouraged by. It's okay to cry about it because it's sad and we all are connected, all human and can identified with each other. So for now keep reaching out and my hope for you and myself is that people we know locally will come along side and be apart of this adventure of life and sewing.
ReplyDeleteGuilty of reading lots of sewing blogs, and commenting on a bunch of them too :) You make a good point about having blogs to connect to the online sewing community - when I lived in LA I had a lot of people around me who sew and I hadn't thought of having a blog. I didn't even really know about blogs like Casey's, Tasia's, Gertie's, etc.
ReplyDeleteI need to get going on my swing dress! Good luck with yours!!
Hi Maggie. So glad to hear from you, was wondering if you were okay. This is what it's all about - sharing thoughts, moments, news good or unfortunately bad, most importantly knowing that you have friends that share the same passion as you do and can listen when you're in pain or even laugh when you've done something really silly - not you Maggie, I mean me. It must be hard for you at the moment being so far away from family & friends but hopefully with the fellowship of our online sewing community, we can make you feel a little bit happier - I hope it helps.
ReplyDeleteNow, not wanting to put any pressure on you...but....how's the swing dress going? Cheer up and have fun sewing :-)
Your craft sewing project is totally up to you; there are so many choices and possibilities that it would be impossible to focus on just one. You can make dolls, quilts, clothes, mittens, key covers, chair covers, CD holders, pillows, pin cushions and countless other items. Not only may these items be useful to you around your home but they can furthermore be a good source of income as other people will also be interested in the craft items you sew.
ReplyDeleteMaggie I know exactly how you feel. I look and read some of the blogs just for inspiration. Sometimes I will start something and then put it down. After looking at another blog then I pick up where I left off. sewforreal-mamafiore.blogspot.com
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