Working with my hands

During my hiatus from shopping, I have become more keenly aware of other people's shopping woes.  It seems that if you want a nice dress that covers both your arms and your knees, you are out of luck.  There is a void in the market for modest dresses, and it makes me want to make dresses.  I feel daunted and excited by the 10,000 hour rule (the one that says it takes 10,000 to master a skill).  Wouldn't it be fun if I were so good at making dresses that you could just describe it to me and I could make it for you?

Today, I put in 4 of those 10,000 hours working on a wrap dress.  I love wrap dresses and believe they are the answer to the daytime dilemma.  (Next, I will be working on a dressier dress.)  However, I had to make it hard on myself, so I chose a plaid fabric and altered the pattern slightly.  This dress may end up being just a learning experience.



As difficult as sewing is at times (like trying to figure out how to line up plaid and take out pleats), my brain feels so much calmer today than it usually does.  I spend so many of my days multi-tasking and racing from one thing to the next that my mind is torn in 100 different directions.  Doing something with my hands gives my mind room to breathe.

I guess it's contagious, because when I start designing dresses, my daughters start designing dresses.  My older daughter wants to sew hers as well, but I don't have that much patience yet.  Here are a few of her designs -

And here is one from my younger daughter that I have to show you.  The dress isn't much of a design, but I love the little face with glasses and the bun on top of her head -