A First

I love making things. I love finding inspiration in something- a painting, a beautiful sunset or forest or flower, maybe an expensive dress or duvet at Anthropologie that I would never be able to purchase in this lifetime, then figuring out how it works, how it's made, throwing my own thoughts into the mix, and coming up with an idea for something new and somehow re-purposing a few raw materials into something usable, beautiful.

I like to think that it's sort of what God does with us as humans. We're really quite ridiculous, let's face it. We're no good on our own. Just look at the world around us and see what we've made for ourselves? But I'm finding that God often takes humans and re-purposes them, and turns them into something useful. And that's a beautiful thing.

So on that note, I present to you my very first garment that I designed and created all on my own (with the instruction and wisdom of my dear mother and Knower of All Things Domestic and Beautiful). I often create things on my own. Quilts, pillow covers, bags, computer sleeves, ipod cozies, etc. In fact, I've done quite a bit of that lately. But nothing that I would actually wear. That requires much more attention to detail, shape, size, curves, particulars if you will. So I usually use patterns. I do make clothing but always with someone else doing the hardest part of making the pattern first. (My mother actually knows how to do this but chooses patterns because, well, it's just so much easier. And you can always tweak the pattern here and there, which we do liberally. The luxury of making your own haute couture, custom-fit clothing.)

I was inspired by a dress that my friend Kristen wore in her engagement pictures, on a sun-drenched hillside outside Los Angeles, under a bright blue sky on a windy day. Might very well be some of the most stunning engagement photos I've ever seen. Simply gorgeous. Loved everything about them. Anyway...I used a heavier knit fabric (slim pickins in the Ozarks) but it turned out almost exactly as I imagined it. A very simple design but it's a start. My first!