Intangible Inspiration

What the heck is it about inspiration?!

One day, the last thing I want to do is thread needles and sit behind a sewing machine, the next I am running my own private sweat shop, and I'm lovin' it. Inspiration has been flowing in on all sides, which I am so grateful for, I could just about do one of those jumps in the air where they kick their heels together like I'm in some live-action Disney movie.

I've been commissioned to make the coolest stuff lately. First of all, the 'Boogie Buddy'...but that one needs to be a secret for a little while longer...
Then, the totally-awesome-I-want-a-pair-of-those-in-my-size pants that are really little more than the happy union of a pair of jeans and a pillow case, which I am now making in womens' sizes.

And now, there's the Tie Skirt, which turned out so awesome, I have to wear it tomorrow to my live upcycling demo at Cherry T's in Eastsound. It was so much fun to make! I had a pillow case full of all these gorgeous silk ties, which I categorized into colors, then opened up and stitched back together. It took about 20 ties ot make a skirt for myself and it, in a word, rocks.

Then it starts:

Mia: 'What are you making, Mama? Is it for me?'
Me: 'No, Mia, not everything I make is for you.'
Mia: 'Is that for me?'
Me: (trying to dorwn out her whining by pressing a little harder on the sewing machine pedal) 'No, this skirt if not for you, it's for someone else.'
Mia: 'Who?'
Me: 'I don't know who, someone who will pay money for it. And with that money, we can buy food and gas.'
Mia: (looking confused for a while) 'What are you making, Mama? Is it for me?'

This exact conversation can take place anywhere from five to twenty times before I manage to finish any item of clothing.

Making Mia understand that I am not around just to sew dresses for her is a toughie. I mean, from her point of view, why else is Mama even around, for Pete's sake? When she needs a dress, Mama should drop what she's doing and make one for her, right? I mean, honestly.

I am thrilled that I can make her dresses, since I am not the type to buy off the rack unless it's been pre-loved. Even then, I can't help myself, I have to alter it in some way anyway. She is a lucky girl, only she doesn't get that yet... She will, someday. Or else.

Meanwhile, I am so full of inspiration, I've got plenty to go around. The next garment I make will be hers, and our conversation will probably be a lot shorter then:


Mia: 'What are you making, Mama? Is it for me?'
Me: 'Yes.'
Mia: (stunned silence)

Multi-taskin' Mama

If there's one thing I learned being a Mom, it's that you can't survive without the ability to multi-task. That is what I do, although I am admittedly not very good at it.

You see, next to being a mamapreneur, trying to educate the world the benefits of upcycling clothing, I am trying to be a rock star too. But when I am doing one creative thing, it's tough to do another creative thing simultaneously without causing some kind of injury to myself. I have been working on another blog to illustrate the challenge of raising kids while trying to make it in the music industry here but have sadly been neglecting my everyday diva blog, which I mean to rectify at this moment!

Being back in the US, where my upcycled kidswear is understood and sought after has done me good. Instead of doing the market this year, I'm working together with the coolest consignment shop ever, Cherry T's. We decided to do live upcycling right outside the shop, where I will magically transform clothes from the shop into completely new and unique mialeentje garments, right before your very eyes!

I'm also offering the new and incredibly awesome 'funky alteration' service for everybody who has something in their closet they just don't wear anymore. Poor lonely clothing, hanging in the wardrobe for no one to see just breaks my heart, so this is their chance to be pulled out and revamped into something...well, for lack of a better word: awesome.

So rock 'n' roll is being put on hold till after tomorrow, when it's all about fabrics and imagination. I have now officially admitted, I suck at multi-tasking, so I will stop trying as of now.