Let's start with a Coronavirus Update:
I've been home since March 13th...and I've had some good days, some bad days and some days where I just wanted to sleep the day away. Many mornings I wake up now not knowing what day it is because they're all kinda running together...and I'm still sewing less than I thought I would.
Now this is not to say that I don't realize how blessed I am. My family is still healthy which I say prayerfully since I have two daughters who are considered essential personnel and they go out to work. One daughter is working from home more than she's out checking on the personnel at the warehouses but every time she leaves the house, I hold my breathe. The other daughter is the manager of a stock-out crew at the supermarket and luckily she works at night...though two people at her store have been diagnosed with Corvid-19.
I'm still working from home, getting paid and have healthcare so I'm grateful and very thankful for this! However, I have NO idea when I'm going back to work in NYC since it's the epicenter of the disease right now.
Okay some sewing updates...
Let's talk fabric in and out totals since it's the beginning of a new month.
This month 9 yards of fabric arrived in the cave - 3 yards was a gift and 6 yards purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics.
Then I went on a cutting frenzy and cut a bunch of stuff for a cut pile. This was before I was home bound and believed I would go back to work in 2-3 weeks. So I cut a lot of tops and cardigans to wear over jeans - my standard work outfit. I cut out 21.5 yards of fabric. I've made exactly three pieces from this cut pile.
I did well this month with balancing my in and out totals. This means my year-to-date totals are: 24 yards in and 35.5 yards out - I have 11.5 yards more out than I have in during this first quarter. So while not great, it's a good start.
Sewn Garments ~
Like I said earlier, I'm not sewing as much as I thought I would...three weeks in I'm still adjusting. Some of it is that I don't like to wear jeans at home, I'm definitely a maxi dress, maxi skirt woman at home. So my cut pile is totally unappealing since it's an outside the house wardrobe.
It took me a minute to realize that I could wear my Myosotis dresses and other maxis while I'm home. Once I spent a week getting dressed in maxi dresses and feeling more like myself, I shifted my sewing and pulled fabric for more summer maxi dresses.
I've presently got two Myosotis maxi dresses on the cutting table. Since this is what I'm wearing and feel like sewing these will be up on the blog soon.
Other sewing things ~
Lisa, the owner of Black Women Stitch and the podcast, Stitch Please recorded a podcast with me pre-Corvid-19 and it's now available to listen to here. I have a couple of things to say and yes, I rail about pdf patterns again. At least I'm consistent people! *LOL* I hope you will give it a listen, as well as listen to some of Lisa's other podcasts.
Finally, it's April...April in a time such as this... I hope you and yours are safe, that if you have a shelter in place/just stay home order that you're making it through...
...as always more later!
Your blog, and many others, bring up a point that I don't think we address with ourselves very often - how we are FEELING. This is a scary time, the world as we knew it has been upended and we need time to just deal with that, the fear, the anxiety, the altered routines. I'm a dedicated introvert who lives by herself and even for me this has changed things - though not nearly as dramatically as for many other people.
ReplyDeleteBut even in my head, adjustments have had to be made of what to expect from the world and how to react to it. I firmly believe (did I mention I am also an inveterate Pollyanna?) that in every crisis there is opportunity and now we have the opportunity to recreate the world in a way that serves us better. That may mean something as simple as rearranging the spice drawer or finding a better place for the laundry hamper or as complex as realizing that you need a different job/career or a different relationship with your loved ones. It's HARD and we need to cut ourselves some slack while we do that.
Isn't it just the thing that we think we'll sew more, or organize the house more, or whatever more ... when we're handed lots of time at home? Then, we find we don't. I think it's because having an outside influence (a job) creates for us a basic outline of a regular day, with somewhat set times, somewhat set tasks to be done, etc. Once home for a long period, it takes some awareness, focus and determination to get ourselves to a point where we set our own realistic schedule.
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh when you mentioned not knowing what day it is! I'm beginning to find that factor to be unsettling to I'm refocusing on a daily schedule in my bullet journal. Looking at the journal every day, and moving still-to-be-done tasks to the next day, has really helped me feel a little more grounded in that way.
So I pray for your good health for you to find ways to settled yourself into a routine that works for you and gives you confidence and a sense of accomplishment.
Sew on!
100% agreee with all of the above. I would add that if medication, meditation or just journaling can help, then that is what we must do. Please pray that at the end of all this we can reflect on what we have learned and will hopefully carry this knowledge into the future of what must surely become a different world. Not one of us has been untouched by C19 and surely some more than others. With hope for a new and better world, I am. Pegeth
ReplyDeleteHuh, no picture of new fabric? With a name like Gorgeous Fabrics, I was hoping...! I am going on leave from my job so no new fabric for me, I have to live vicariously through the acquisitions of others.
ReplyDeleteKnowing the day of the week is an overrated skill ; ^ )
R - I linked to it on my Instagram account. If you click the link, you can see the fabric.
DeleteOh, thank you!
DeleteI've read your blog off and on since the beginning and have always enjoyed it. Thank you for your blog and sharing your knowledge and projects. And today I want to thank you for expressing the "not so positive" feelings many (if not most) of us are having. I am still going in to the office to work; we have less than 10 people on any given day and are spaced very far apart. Most of the time I can hold it together with what is happening and sometimes not even think about it. But once in awhile, the devil creeps in and plays a game of "What if?" with me--what if I or my DH get the virus? Have I seen my out of state relatives (in Louisiana and Florida) for the last time? Will I lose my job? Has my retirement gone to hell in a handbasket? Etc,. etc. I too have so very much to be grateful and thankful for-I still have my job and healthcare coverage. My state is not nearly as bad as other states. So thank you for admitting that there are good times and bad times for each of us during this crisis. And thank you for letting me get that off my chest.
ReplyDeleteMary - anytime. I know I feel better when I write it down and am so thankful that I can have those conversations here. It's a tricky time for all of us and it's going to be a minute before it gets better!
DeleteWhen I first retired two years ago, I found lots of time to sew. Last year sewjo was on and off. Thus far I have made three items, one a month for 2020. I have plans for another top and really should pull out some TNT's to sew. New patterns take so much fitting time before cutting and sewing. Glad you are well and your family also.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your candor as always! My husband is an essential worker also, and I understand the concern. I am glad you are well, and pray your family stays safe and healthy too.
ReplyDeleteI will take a listen to the podcast!
Loved the podcast! Thank you for choosing to speak your mind about the state of our nation instead of remaining silent to please sponsors.
ReplyDeleteskyethebard - thanks for listening to the podcast and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteI enjoyed the podcast. You reminded me of what the NY Garment district was back in the day.There was a lot of made in America in that area. I am saddened by all of it. I appreciate your perspective on Indie patterns, It made me pause. I've never bought an Indie downloadable pattern because in my opinion the patterns are overpriced and I have yet to see an Indie pattern that is not regurgitation of the Big 4. I have bought downloadable patters and the most I have paid is $3.00 or it's free.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I truly enjoyed the podcast.
Alethia - hope all is well with you! Interesting times we're living in right? Thanks for listening to the podcast I appreciate it. And I do miss the days when you walked through the district and there were racks of fabric on the street in front of the many fabric stores, with so much to choose from!
DeleteAs always your blog posts shine a light on my day. As others have mentioned you discuss the range of feelings that are welling up at this time. In our country we are in week 2 of lockdown and there is an ever widening cluster in the nearest town, with two high risk family members this is alarming. However I take all precautions and retreat to the sewing room and fondle fabric dreaming and planning what might be. Thank you for taking the time to write and share. God bless Jacqui
ReplyDeleteI haven't sewn as much as I planned either. It's a difficult, uncertain time and it's hard to concentrate on more than getting through the day. I'm glad that your family is well. I found out that my cousin in NYC has the virus and he was told to stay home unless he has trouble breathing.
ReplyDeleteThanks once again for contributing to our mental health by giving us things to read, admire, and think about. I've had a similar experience with the (not) sewing during quarantine or whatever we're calling this way of life. My sewing room is dedicated only as long as there's nothing else going on, like everybody working at home full time. Things got a little out of hand when I had to clear space in various areas of the house and all the stuff I cleared went on top of my cutting and sewing tables. Eventually I will dig through it and get my space back.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to be positive, but it's not possible when some people are considered essential but expendable. How can people be forced to work without PPE? That is not a "we're all in it together" attitude.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-04-07/a-crisis-within-a-crisis-black-americans-face-higher-rates-of-coronavirus-deaths
I know I'm supposed to sew masks bc my husband is an essential worker and I'm high risk. But I'm just tired and don't want to face it right now. I'm so worried for your daughters and their families.
I don’t comment much but love and appreciate those that keep their sewing blogs going. Thank you, it’s a much needed reset time for me each day and I save a special time each day for it. I to work from home and will continue even after our current state ends. No telling what my industry (air travel) will look like for the next few years. Anyway, curious thing is happening with me in my creative world right now, repurpose and reuse has cropped up hugely. Lol! I laugh because I’m actually crocheting a cut up tee shirts rag rug for the RV. It’s my evening TV meditation project. I want and plan to sew but then I find myself dragging that bag of scrap in front of me. The point here is each of us find that calm place for ourselves and be okay with it. No judging yourself and be okay with recognizing you need it. Whatever ‘it’ is for you. Thank you for sharing your skills but also for the courage to display for all life’s realities.
ReplyDelete