There's no time for fidgeting, for faffing, for dreaming and looking wistfully out of the window. The only way I'm going to get things done is to BLOODY WELL GET CRACKING! I have had some long-neglected projects on my desk, patent leather bunting to be precise - I know I know, the bunting craze has been and gone, but I avoid jumping on things when they are hot, preferring to come around to them in my own good time.
Plus I have never seen leather bunting, so hey wow, it might just be an original thing.
I have been going mad lately with kids, life, domesticity, so these stitchy moments have been well-needed for my sanity. That's the thing about sewing leather: every time the needle slices into the work it feels so final, so complete, so much like I'm building something. So as trivial as bunting may appear, this stuff is the elixir of my life. I'm going back to basics, constructing things simply and deriving that immense satisfaction which I haven't been finding in anything lately.
Leather flags + bias binding + rhythmic stitching = happy Emma.
As much as I love my leather machine, the wheel was falling off the edge of the narrow binding, and so the work wasn't feeding properly. With trepidation I pulled out my domestic machine, a beloved old Elna (thanks Rose!) and hoped that it would be up to the task of sewing leather. Success! Now I am one of those women with two machines set up, what a sweat shop I'm running!
This antique floral cowhide is soft yet robust, such a beautiful pattern, rescued from a bin by a dear friend. I have gone a bit overboard and made bunting in 2 sizes - these images are of the smaller version. I can't believe I'm using brown, it is a colour forbidden from my repertoire, but it goes so well with this leather, and is making me strangely happy, so why deny it?Stitch stitch stitch, it's bliss. I'm looking for my daily fix now, as the small girl denies sleep and screeches from her bed. GO TO SLEEP HAZEL, MAMA NEEDS HER THERAPY!
2 comments:
Ahhhh, I remember those days, where naptime meant my own salvation. Wait till their huge kids and you can just let them sew along with you. :) Just a blink away.
I hear you Emma. I've been 'single parenting' while Hubby's been away for work and the only thing preventing me from breaking down in a huge exhausted blubbering mess has been the machine (and the hook).
So glad you're getting some studio time, even if it is to the soundtrack of the little one yowling. I hope the sleeping situation overall has improved?
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