why i sew

Years back I received a letter at work stating, "I'm an idea man! If you're in the market for ideas, I'm your guy!" I scoffed. Hollywood seemed pretty saturated with ideas.
Today I realize, I was wrong. One can never be short of ideas.
And since most of my inspiration comes from other's ideas, I've decided to share mine too.

My name is Dana. I'm a 32 year old mom of two kids, with a husband who makes me laugh (and laughs at me too). My grandma taught me to sew when I was 10 and we started by sewing straight lines on a piece of paper; no thread, just holes. My mom taught me to use patterns and I made a few dresses in my teenage years. And though I have always enjoyed the craft it wasn't until I had kids that I realized, I loved it.

One day I'll spend more time sewing for myself. But these days I thrive on making clothes for my kids and refashioning new items from old clothes. It's not easy sewing with kids around but since it's a passion.....I find the time.

Some things that motivate me:
* My sewing machine and Serger (which my husband purchased the first year we were married and it took me two years before I opened the box!) both sit on my table permanently. No clean-up/put-away required. One day I'll have an actual craft room (instead of our kitchen table) and my family will be happier for it. But for now they're very accommodating. I guess you can't complain when mom is making your clothes and saving the family money!

* Signing up for Wardrobe Refashion really helped me look at clothing in a new light. I always knew I could refashion things but the pile of things to tackle kept growing. Maybe I was lacking the confidence? (or the time). So I took the WR 2 month challenge. And wow! I starting sewing more, buying less, and realized that old cothes could be recycled into new and CUTE things! I still purchase the boring stuff: t-shirts, onesies, jeans, etc. But I find joy in creating and sewing something new, with my own twist.

* Starting a blog. If you don't currently have a place to showcase your work, I recommend it! I sometimes find myself wanting to sew, just so I can share it with others. And I equally love reading your blogs and learning from your skills and clever takes. You guys inspire me.

My goal with MADE is two-fold:
1. Share ideas
2. Help the Sewer of any skill-level realize that they can sew without a store-bought pattern. It's not difficult to recreate something that's already been done or to figure out how to manufacture an idea in your head. You just need to understand some basics of how clothes are put together. And I hope my tutorials help with that process!
Start by studying your own clothing. Take apart an old shirt and use it as a pattern for a new shirt. Your eyes will be opened to a spectrum of possibilities. And the more you create, the more you will surprise yourself at what a creative person you really are!

As a very wise man stated recently:
"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.
We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty."

Perfectly stated.

Thank you for visiting my site.
Here's what I've MADE.