Dearest Needlework friends,
I was going to just add a couple of photos of the lining of my #needleworkyourjeans challenge coat, but the lining work was all handsewn and took hours and hours - and was such a particular process that I wanted to write about it in itself. I know that a lot of folks don't feel drawn to hand-sewing, as they claim not to have the patience, time or even skill, but slowing down and hand-stitching at length is a particularly treasure-full practise which all of us should try at some point.
And for your convenience, here are links to all the other posts about this project:
PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR
Essentially, anything that we use a machine for, is by-passing something that can be reaping us great natural Gifts. The riches that we gain from exploring any creative hand skill are immense, and sewing in particular is a profoundly gift-laden activity.
Patience for example is a quality that everyone can cultivate, by spending time concentrating their focus; sewing is such a perfect means of exercising this - and the reward of a skillfully finished garment gives us incentive to keep focussed. This reward of our increasing learning, plus the results of our bettered skills as we make more and more beautiful clothes and accessories, can even make us forget that we are 'working', because we gain more and more satisfaction from our activities. It becomes more pleasure-full and fulfilling, as we actively learn.
This is not evident from the very beginning, when we might jump on any small reason to abandon a project, but by the time we master our first techniques and are able to begin constructing things that are in our imaginations, we build up a momentum, a passion, a vitality in what we're doing - which in turn becomes self-sustaining.
Once we have a certain vitality and flow in how we create, it can be incredible what we are able to bring into being. As we lose the doubt and the stagnancy in our mindbodyspirit, the possibilities expand exponentially.
Even in a seemingly simple project like reworking jeans, the possibilities are infinite: I thought immediately to go big with this challenge, because I needed something to shake up my energy in my sewing. I was making good progress generally in my needlework mastery, but was keeping it safe and so getting a tad lazy or bored with my repairs...
So this jeans challenge was a perfect chance to push myself out beyond the edge of what I was previously dabbling around in.
Hand-sewing the lining of my denim coat (made from 3 pairs of old jeans) is a good example of this harmony: sitting for long hours putting in one stitch after another - but every stitch is unique, and there are multiple microclimate and textures that the lining has to be attached to. I have to adapt the size and depth of stitch, the tension and the direction I'm putting the needle in and pulling it out, at every part.
The collar and around the arm holes in particular demand much care to the shaping of the lining as it is helping to hold the form of the outer coat - it certainly shouldn't interfere with the overall structure of the garment.
It is wonderful to settle into a rhythm of 'technique' and to do long hours of repetitive actions like hand-sewing, BUT then I have to set a really difficult challenge to myself, so I am not just acting like a - very slow! - machine. There is a divine harmony, when we can get the balance of repetition, innovation and what I like to think of as 'riding the change': the natural, easiest container and structure around our practise, which is also flexible and can be adapted whenever things around us demand it.
The light cotton from an old sheet is such a beautiful material to play with: the draping of the lining for this project was quite hard but ultimately it was do-able; if I'd used a slippery material like silk, I think it'd have been too challenging! The draping wasn't as straightforward as I expected it to be, owing to the non-patterned nature of the coat, and to my non-symmetrical tendencies...
But eventually it fell into place. I love working like this, as it illustrates very clearly how Flow and Divine Order or Universal Intelligence work - it shows us how creativity is a bonding exercise with the Divine, and how our humble, dedicated actions can bring great things into being.
The balance between the gravity pulling the weight of the cotton downwards and in-line with the jacket, versus my want to effortfully place it - there was a sweet-spot between these forces, and I allowed the pinning to take the path of least resistance.
I was glad to do the pinning, which is my version of 'sketching' or 'designing'! It meant that when I got to the final stitches in the 4-segment lining, they lined up! I LOVE this kind of precision!! It is hugely gratifying. And it looks and feels good too: the more I am capable of intuitively learning in this direction, the sooner I will be able to offer unique clothing for a reward that will make the creation time in each garment worth it.
Every stitch that I make, even the rough and 'inaccurate' ones, are steps towards my vision of being a successful clothing creator who can request appropriate reward for her activities. Every tiny action is a movement forward which gathers momentum, and every thread placed is constructing my better future.
I love the metaphor of sewing. It is such a perfect natural metaphor for how small steps accumulate, and for how our life-long learning becomes valuable and useful in the world. This kind of time-full activity, as well as the profound relaxation that sewing by hand brings, is an investment of the highest calibre.
THIS is Living In Gift:
Using hands and body, mind and spirit, in The Way that the Universe intended us to. When I sew like this, I feel things aligning within and around me, and worries fall away. I sense my trust returning as I unwind from being charged up by being out and about in the town, or from labouring in more laboursome jobs. The clean, organised space between me, the fabric, the tools and my phone with which I take an occasional snap... there is such a reverence of easy playfulness. I really align with my purpose in these moments. I sense the quiet around me much more lucidly, and I feel like I am in an act of prayer.
The communion of thread with the garment, and the myriad tiny movements of hand, wrist, arm, and repositioning of my whole body, as I work... it rolls and unfolds as if it were being conducted.
I feel like an antenna, as the sureness of my confidence guides my charged fingers to the next point and the next.
A few months ago, I would not have been able to approach a project like this. Either it wouldn't have entered my imagination, or I'd have been overwhelmed at the first hurdle and so would've put it to the side.
But this time I went from start to finish within a couple of weeks - even the lining!
This surprised me, and I thought back to at least one big coat project that I'd begun and then abandoned.... then to all the other things I'd not got past phase one with...
It feels powerful indeed to get to a point of momentum where I don't leave as many pieces lying around unfinished!
This too is Gift: making use of Gift and growing that Gift.
I feel like I can never thank this community too much - both Hive and NeedleworkMonday - for the support, practical and emotional and mental and spiritual, that you give me.
It is no small thing, to be supported enthusiastically.
Like many of us, I lacked enthusiastic parenting and schooling, and was pulled away from things I most loved and enjoyed as a small being. Now I'm reclaiming them, my energy levels and confidence are rising exponentially!
We can achieve such great things, when we are encouraged!
MUCH LOVE to you all, and thank you for witnessing, always!
