but i have finished another Thing (sewn) of which i am very, very proud. i was a little worried about it at first, but it got an outing last night and lots of people commented positively on it. it's the first Sewn Thing i've made that really encapsulates what i want from the clothes i make: quirky to the point of being fashion forward (not easy when the pattern drafters copy from the catwalks), and flattering enough that i get plenty of compliments that allow me to tell people that i made what i'm wearing.
which brings me to this: it surprises me how, to people that don't knit or sew or otherwise make garments and accessories, this act of creation is some mystical skill of great monetary value. last night a friend's mother, a most high-powered lawyer, told me i should open a shop. with what? i wanted to say. with my poorly finished items made from commercial patterns that don't extend beyond the 'easy' and 'very easy' classifications? my manager at work told me i should drop everything and become a fashion a designer. again, why? i just pick commercial patterns, scrounge around for what fabric i can find and hope for the best. that has nothing in common with what i imagine an actual designer does (with the exception of the hoping for the best bit, maybe).
i understand these comments were meant as compliments, and of course i took them as such, but i just found they revealed an attitude towards home garment-making that i didn't realise existed. because my mum always sewed, so i've always regarded it as a home hobby, nothing particularly special and (given my current skill level) certainly nothing to base a career upon.
2 comments:
Argh - completely understand where you are coming from. People say you should open a shop because they love your stuff, but then wont pay more than say $20 for a shirt that has taken you 2 days to make.
Exactly, I think the thing is that people who don't sew have absolutely no clue as to how long it takes to make something... People are always like "you should open up a store" and I'm thinking, "yeah, I could make a single garment every two days and how exactly would I make money?". No wonder apparel construction is outsourced to parts of the world where labor is so cheap.
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