Studio notes: easing back in

These last few weeks I have been easing back into the studio. Slowly. Intentionally. And particularly because I desperately need some pants that haven’t been mended within an inch of their lives. No launches. No dramatic new year, new everything. Just sewing what’s necessary, right here, right now.

Some notes from recently:

As much as I love quilting, I’d forgotten the alchemical magic of garment sewing. Fabric pieces waiting patiently in two dimensions. A few seams pulling them into place. Then suddenly there’s something you can step into. A handmade shelter. A cocoon. A pair of fresh new pants. A toile ready for adjustments.

Uma has spent some afternoons with me, art-directing her own little nine-patch, how very Laura Ingalls Wilder of her. Choosing colours, learning the machine, boldly slicing through an HST. Watching her quiet, electric joy as imagination becomes tangible has been the highlight of my week.

Asha got some new classroom slippers. A beautiful pattern by Twig + Tale. I made some rather rookie mistakes along the way, which led to a good deal of unpicking, but they came together in the end. Soft, sturdy, and best of all…they stay on!

Finally, a brief summer cool change. The first whisper of a breeze. Those first drops of rain almost evaporating on contact before the sky commits and the earth finally drinks. It feels as though every living cell, from microorganisms and cicadas to cucumbers and dahlias, takes one long exhale.

This is how February has been unfolding. Sewing what is needed. Rain after heat. Nervous-system reset days when they are called for, children close by.

Letting the year begin gently.