campitello di sepino, a beautiful camping space, near sepino/ pietraroja/ bocca della selva, south Italy
Dearest Friends and Needleworkers of the World,
Instead of working on my post this week, I was up in the mountains sitting by a campfire - the last one left at Campitello Di Sepino, after a hectic Sunday of picnickers and partymakers. I spent a good part of this camping trip sewing my denim coat, but am not feeling particularly closer to finishing it, as I had expected...
Nevertheless, I am enjoying working on this new coat immensely. I am loving all the tiny wee pieces of it that I am completing, and how each new aspect brings new patience, skill and sense of mastery - plus the joy of the beauty of it all: the gold denim is heavenly to work with! It takes an age to finish a garment in this way - intuitively and care-fully - and it reminds me of how I used to paint: the first phase of creating a painting for me, seemed like I got the majority of it done - I could see the end line in sight, and it just needed a few details to make it right.... then realising soon after, that instead of having completed 95% as it felt like, instead I had only done the 5% - and the details were all the job, essentially!
So now I am on that 95% instead of the 5%, just like when I painted. I keep thinking - just this one more detail - just adding the edging, just the collar, just the zip... then I find a whole other aspect which requires significant attention - whaaaaaaat??!
This is also a beautiful metaphor for life, in my mind; one that demands we remain humble and let the creative process guide us (rather than us being in full control at all times!) - that we stay present and focussed with all of our attention on the task in hand.
The stay up the mountain was highly realigning in many ways. I found that essence of presence, which feels missing at home in the medieval quarter, or out and about in town; the primitive element, and the deep satisfaction of unrushed rhythms of survival. All the moments that I was immersed in, I prayed to steep into my blood, bones, sinew and brain; I asked for grace and merit-gained to return with me, and to stay permanently. And I feel the momentum and motivation returned. I know what I have to do: reset. Make e v e r y t h i n g very, very simple again. Pare everything back to its absolute minimum, and get rid of anything which is more than that.
I love the hard truth of this simplicity, and I hope to bring that back into my sewing and undesign: I love the raw reality of having very little to work with (I probably got off-track a little, by frequenting the 50c stall so passionately!), the minimum of resources and energy, and the rich abundance of time and attention to glean perfection out of them.
So I bring back a load of new energy and heart-bursting with creativity for my week before the big wine festival begins, and my usually-empty wee street will fill with a great throng of folks merry-makinng. Hopefully they'll be sufficiently pulled in by a new idea of remaking of clothing - of seeing (un)designs that they've never seen the like of before... I hope my friends will come by, and that I'll maybe even sell something. 😊
I think of all the posts I've written for Hive, each piece of clothing with its own link and story. And I think of all the garments, and where I got them or was gifted them. All the travels that they all made, to convene in a garment, crafted out the magic of having all the time in the world, and the intention to create beautifully so that (myself and) others can dress with clothing steeped in meaning and good vibes. Truly ethical clothing!
It has been nerve-racking too, wondering about how it'll feel to expose such a wealth of creative exploration. The garments represent a lot of effort, struggle and wrestling with fabric, as you know if you read my blog regularly! Mt neuroses are going to be in full view, alongside my imperfections, stubbornness, insistence on doing it My Way, etc. Phew... it's like showing my Art for the first time, all over again!
The space where the clothing will be shown - my 'boutique' as it were - is almost complete. I have the walls painted with limewash, and it made all the difference; having a white, neatened-up background is very important, as well as the effects of the amazing cleansing and disinfecting power of calce. The room feels less 'cat house' and more 'art gallery', as I begin putting the furniture in it, and deciding what to write on the doors to identify it...
