INTENT--see a good definition here
I have been sewing a lot of late--(the
sky blue jumper is almost finished.. it just needs snaps and bias
binding on the arm holes)
My DIL, Sonya, has been sewing too.
What been different about the two of us
is our INTENT.
My intentions are practical. I wanted
some new clothes—ones that fit better. My sewing is a practical
matter. I have a stash of fabric (and some new fabric, too) (the oldest fabric in my stash—at
least 30 years old (it was old when it moved with me when I got divorced, and again
when I moved back into the house, and then it moved here to my
apartment)--and I have the skill (I have been sewing a long time—my
mother wasn't a great teacher—but she was a fantastic seamstress—I
learned a lot just watching her.) and I like the customized details
of home made clothes. (This was something I learned early in life—I
remember the year when Santa brought a new doll--(for my older sister
and myself) and each doll came dressed in a matching dress to my own!)
Now days, the customized details are
different—like the newest jumper... The pattern is a Simplicity
one (I hate their web site and can't find a way to link to it—it's
pattern number 9890—a jumper (as we in the Americas know jumpers,
i.e., a open neck, sleeveless pull on dress) and jacket.
First time round, the only way I
altered the pattern was to add pockets. I always want pockets, and
always add if they are not included.
Second time round, in a sparkley black
linen, I changed the top by added a small placket and a 2 button
closure.
This time round, I make the front fully
open—able. (It's still waiting for snaps and armhole facings—NYC
(and a good part of North East) have had a heat wave—3 days in row
of +90°(32 to 35° C and even higher!--Blood hot as my Nana
used to say!--and for the most part, too hot to sew)
All three versions have the same inset
side seam pockets—that almost goes with out saying!
They are, all three, casual clothes
(the linen is a bit dressy looking) and all three are nicely
finished—with the seams over-sewn with a zig-zag stitches.
(I
remember the huge cardboard spools of seam binding my mother used to
have—I haven't seen seam binding like that in ages! I don't much
like over lock machines, I like the look of seams worked with seam
allowance. But I haven't bound a seam with seam bind in well over 40
years—OK that's not quite true.. I just finished some seams with
bias tape (zig zag stitched in place!) but I haven't use silky rayon
seam binding (on seams, or on hems) in ages!)
+of+a+skirt.jpg)
My skirts, too, have nicely finish
insides—I have always love that my clothes look almost as good
inside out as out side in... It's a point of vanity with me.
My DIL has nicely finished detail on
her clothes, (as a sewer, I notice the lovely details in the
binding!) and some pockets on dresses she has made are pieced to get
the pattern just right... Her dresses are skillful made, with nice
detailing. But more than the details, her INTENT is totally
different.
Her intent isn't practical—It's all
very specific—It's an project exploring fiber and construction;,
clothes and society; made things vs manufactured. There are layers
and layers of meaning to her actions.(See links below to her own expressions of her intent.)
Her sewing is a work of ART-- the
practical clothes that result, a mere side effect.
Looking at the mere detail of our
dresses.. there are many similarities. But our INTENTS are so
different. My sewing is pure practicality—practiced with skill and
attention to details.
Her sewing has a practical outcome (new
clothes) but it's all about the medium, the process and place.
It's like children engaged in “parallel
play”--at first-- it looks like we are doing the same thing (Sewing
clothes) but look closer, and there is hardly any similarity at all.
Still, I am happy for the small overlap
of activity—I am happy being a crafty person who sometimes engages
in a work of art (but more often than not, is just engaged in craft).
And I am happy that Sonya find art in a very similar activity.
Wax and Wool (her blog)
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