12.20.2013

sewist does not equal crafter

sweet marguerite, how i love her smile. we met through the sew weekly, where her infectious grin never failed to light up the screen. though i'm pretty abysmal at sew alongs, her "sew tiny" grabbed me. something christmasy! something portable! something tiny!
 
cue the reminder that I AM NO GOOD AT CRAFTS.
 
seriously i suck at them. this is a constant source of shock to me. i suppose i think craftiness should come as an instant bonus prize to sewiness. they should go hand in hand, like gin and vermouth. but the two disciplines are not happily married in kalkatroona. i envisioned hand embroidered gift tags that would transform into ornaments aftre the prize was unwrapped.... how very green of me! instead i got something that is so obviously handmade it's likely the recipients will think i've been hiding offspiring from them. small offspring who are very bored and have been playing with my stash.
 
but! i did accomplish the "portable" part. sewing one (ONE) tag ornament up occupied me for the entire holiday flight. i won't tell you how long the flight was because it's embarrasing. i WILL tell you that there was no alcohol, which is also embarrasing.
 
gorgeous tiny works are beginning to pop up over marguerite's--behold this sneak peek and this bunny brooch...this fantastic fox stole isn't tiny but I LOVES IT SO MUCH...you still have time to join in! come on, it'll keep me going on these damn fugly tag-aments!
 

25 comments:

  1. Good time of the year for crafts and don't be embarrassed too much if you suck at them. If readers knew half of what was going on behind projects, I would be hands down the dumbest guy of the sewing blogosphere! Thank god I only show completed projects! :)

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  2. That may be true (I don't think that your object d'craft looks bad), but question: the first few things you sewed, were they abso-frickin-loutely perfect? Non. :)

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    1. a VERY good point. but do i have the resolve needed to get better at this?

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  3. Craftiness, like sewing, takes practice. As you do a few more you'll get better and better. Your tag looks cute. Maybe you are being too hard on yourself. I make baggage tags for gifts. My first ones were slightly not perfect but perfectly nice. Now people request them.

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    1. baggage tags sound WAY better than this tiny trinket. tiny tawdry tinket. maybe i'll leave my crafting skills at the pathetic level, as i imagine i won't do very well with requests...

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  4. I totally understand. I've been working on crafts this holiday and they've tested my patience. They're fun to do and I'm getting better at them but I have to admit, I think I'm sticking to sewing.

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  5. Bahaha! For REAL! My first day working at this boutique I tried SO HARD to tie a pretty bow on a package and FAILED! It was so embarrassing, especially b.c the shop owner (aka my boss) knows I sew my own clothes! She was surprised at my obvious lack of bow-tying talent. I was ashamed...

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    1. HAAA! i saw martha tie a bow on some show once and i was stunned. it's a talent, yo.

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  6. It's gorgeous - seriously! I love that hessian and the colour change in the thread. Thanks so much for taking part, it's meant such a lot to keep in touch. Really miss the Sew Weekly days and I'm thankful for such good virtual friends all over the globe. Keep going! I'm smiling for you :-)

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  7. i actually think your tag looks adorable.. but, i kind of know what you mean, i thought i'll be great at crafting, and decided to diy all the gifts this season.. at this moment, it's pretty obvious that i kind of suck! but, won't give up!

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    1. i absolutely do not believe that. peeps are going to be thrilled with mokosha made!

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  8. Oh bless. I love embroidery and decorative hand-finishes... when other people do it. I have never been able to make it look very good. We all have our strengths, right?

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    1. yep. bless my heart, for real. this tag may stay in the vault.

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  9. I have seen your golden yarn tree, you do have a gift with the glue gun! Your embroidered tag is perfect, even if it did take you a whole drink free flight. I wanted to make something embroidered or maybe sequined, for the ornament exchange too, but knew that I probably wouldn't have the patience or time. I admire those who do!

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    1. ah, i guess the yarn tree IS pretty crafty! sequined ornaments sound boss.

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  10. A drink-free flight? Girl, that is DEDICATION. The tag looks pretty good to me, but I feel your pain. Get this: I take my daughter to the local Mother & Toddler meet up once a week. Recently I made the mistake of wearing a me-made skirt. One of the organisers asked me where it came from, so I had to say I'd made it. She immediately pounced. 'Oh, you make things! Excellent, we need someone to do crafts once a month.' And just like that, I'm it. No amount of protestations would persuade her that I am not, in fact, crafty. So I've got two weeks to come up with something to entertain twenty toddlers/keep their mothers happy. Merely sloshing paint about on a piece of paper just doesn't cut it, apparently. I AM SCARED. Any suggestions gratefully received...

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    1. WHAT WAS I THINKING.

      and what were YOU thinking?! that is a dangerous group to belong to. you better pull out the glitter glue.

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  11. i agree! sewiness and craftiness do not necessarily go hand in hand, but like sewiness, i bet if you practiced crafty things, you'd improve! but listen. next time let's craft and booze!

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  12. Merry Christmas! Yep, it's weird that sewiness may or may not equal craftiness. My Ma has started calling the multitude of Christmas Craftsman Specials and handmade/homemade pop-up local markets "Arts & Crap sales." She's often correct. Hope you and R.have a lovely, lovely holiday.

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    1. HAA!!!! arts & crap, i love it!! a merry warm holiday to you and your man as well. clink clink!

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  13. I also feel like I should be an excellent crafter, but I don't have the patience and end up getting frustrated at all the teensy bits and extra things I'd have to buy.

    For example, I decided I didn't want to buy wrapping paper this year and decided instead to make my own with butcher paper and potato stamps. Cheap and so cool, no? No. Ended up having to spend ~$7 on paint (with which I could have just bought two rolls of fancy wrapping paper!) which I'll likely never use again, to make some kind of ugly wrapping paper.

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i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!