Saving the planet... one garment at a time!

... and one upcycle at a time... Welcome to my blog: A place to have an "over the fence conversation" about sewing, altered couture, upcycling, and all kinds of crafts using found objects, beads, ephemera and other vintage finds!


Monday, April 16, 2012

The Art of Chaos - My Sewing Room

 "You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche


Today I thought I'd give you a glimpse into my little world of chaos, my sewing room.  Not too long ago I wrote a post semi-whining about not having room to cut in my sewing room.  In my defense, the room is tiny.  But it's also full.

Confession is good for the soul, right?

The sewing table contains the two main machines, various tools and notions, the directions from whatever I'm working on at the time, etc.

“Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk


There are piles of bins with stash fabrics and saved scraps.  In these bins you can clearly see satin and tulle netting saved from my mother's wedding gown - but no archival acid free tissue paper gently swathing it, no obvious effort a preservation beyond the bins themselves.  In another corner is an antique steamer trunk, also FULL of fabric.

 “In chaos, there is fertility.” ~ Anais Nin


Here you see the twin towers of terror, the stacking drawers which hold all manner of things.  Zippers, boning, horsehair braid, embellishments, fabric paints and dyes, rubber stamps for surface designs, snaps, pins, needles, and almost anything else you might need.

There's also a bookcase for all those sewing books I can't live without and a storage cube unit which houses trims and ribbons and buttons. 

“Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos.” ~ Mary Shelley

Believe it or not, I thrive in my little chaotic bubble.  I love spending time in my sewing room, whether I'm planning my next project, working on completing one, or sharing the results with you, I always feel inspired here.  I'll never make it into an issue of Where Women Create, but I love what comes out of this familiar jumble.

“I like it that order exists somewhere even if it shatters near me.” ~ Elizabeth Moon

Thanks for stopping in and joining me in my little sewing space today.  I hope you won't leave appalled, and can forgive me my eccentricity.  Do you have organized chaos, or do you sew in airy, roomy, luxurious order?

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