Patterns

I can sew on a button and darn a hole in a sock but my sewing abilities end there.

After finishing grad school, I found myself with ample time to explore hobbies. Unfortunately, my hobbies were writing and editing and highlighting text books in prep for in-class essays. In exploration of new creative outlets, my mother tried to teach me to knit. I was a horrible student. My failures were only amplified by the fact that my mother knits, sews, quilts, needle points and crochets. Even my younger brother was an expert corker when he was a kid. Nimble fingers I have not. I gave up on my kitting dreams after about three inches of a soft white scarf.

I would love to be able to follow a pattern though.

Over Easter, my friends and I selected fabric for the dresses we'll wear at our friend Lesley's wedding next summer. Lesley's mom and my aunt (Lesley's soon-to-be mother-in-law) will be making the dresses from this pattern (for those curious, each bridesmaid selected a different style. I'll be wearing 'C' - the boat neck). The fabric store was full of fantastic raw silks and jerseys, and fun buttons. If I was a seamstress, I don't know how I would have contained myself.

When I was fifteen, I spent a lot of time listening to Hole. Though I don't play guitar, I thought Courtney Love's Built by Wendy guitar straps were fantastic. I wanted a baby pink leather strap of my own.

Given my eye-opening experience at the fabric store this Easter and my long-time support for Wendy Mullin's work, her line of Built by You patterns for Simplicity excites me. Granted, I don't have the skills to bring these clothes to life. But I'd like to. And I'm sure some ladies, blessed with far better creative skills than I, will be sporting some fantastic outfits from the pattern line this spring.