Sewing for friends

So perhaps some of you have been wondering where my proclivity for sewing has gone lately. Truthfully, I've been spending way more time in my kitchen than my studio these past few months. Mostly, it's seasonal. Every year, between the End of Snow and the Height of Summer, my needle-and-thread minded head takes a break. It's only fair: when the weather turns gorgeous, there's many places I'd rather be than in my room, under hot lamps, bending and cutting and pressing seams. So, when my urge for perfect seams flies the coop, I don't push it.

In the end, I'm always called back. Sometimes, it's the perfect fabric or project that calls to me, or the pure and simple necessity of Christmas beckoning. Other times, a friend's birthday, and plans for an early July soiree will draw me back to my fabric piles.

The truth is, I've always sewn mostly for friends. With the exception of the refashioning, plus three bags and a table runner for myself, everything I've sewn was a gift. The chance to come to my studio and spend time pulling out fabrics and sketching project ideas with one of my favorite people in mind is a treat. There's a slowness and eternal calming feeling I savor in every project. As seams and sewn and thread ends are snipped, I often find myself lost in meditation on the person, the giftee who'll soon be holding the finished item in their hands. Lots of people out there like to marvel at the amount of work and drudging effort that goes into a handmade gift, but for me, it's never work. It's an excuse to create, and spend hours in the company of my favorite memories.

And of course, the presentation of the finished gifts ain't bad, either.

Last night, I got together with my two best pals from college, and cooked a birthday feast for Kat. Good things happen when the three of us are together. We've been known to walk to miles in pursuit of ice cream, to create delicious concoctions involving coconut rum and frozen fruit, and to be the ones who start dancing at a show. Last night, there was toasted baguette with fresh mozz and roasted red peppers, cherry-vanilla-angelfood cake parfaits, and in between, this salad.

See? Like I said, good things.

Happy Birthday, Kat.