Day thirty six: favourite things

A friend of mine brought me a pair of jeans. She told me they are her favourite ones, which unfortunately have served their time and now are just taking up space in the wardrobe as she doesn't have a heart to throw them out. I'm quite familiar with the concept of sentimental attachment to all kinds of things and letting go of those has always been an issue for me. Therefore I sometimes come up with alternative uses for my favourite things, so I shouldn't part with them. I guess, this puts me on the same page with my friend and that is why her request didn't surprise me. "Maybe you have an idea for a project," she said. And I did, dear emf :)

Day thirty five: here to stay

When I was 5 or 6, I wanted to become a painter. Teaching seemed like fun, too, but drawing was the one and only path I was willing to pursue (right until my first drawing class at school when I was suddenly told what I was supposed to depict in my artwork. Gosh! A tree bark? Seriously?) Anyway, while I was still into art, I once drew a greeting card featuring a rather decent hill, some jumping/flying animals, gigantic flowers and a sun with a huge smile on its face (I can’t believe I still remember this). I was supposed to bring the card with me to a friend’s birthday party, but I was so overwhelmed by the success of my creation I just couldn't part with it. I might have even cried a little over it, when my mum finally suggested that I could draw another picture for my friend and keep the first one if it's so precious to me (mums rock!) 

Yet 25 years later it happened again. I made this green linen zip-pouch for the Christmas market and fell hopelessly in love with it the very instant it was finished. Somehow I managed to convince myself I'm not a child anymore (oh yeah?) and placed the pouch in a box with other things for sale thinking to myself that it would be a bit sad to let it go, so I should hope I will like the person who gets it. Imagine my surprise when people were browsing through the basket of purses, some buying a thing or two, but nobody - not a single person - even touched the green linen pouch. So this is how mental earmarking works! Finally, I gave in to my inner child: YES, I love the things I make, so why not celebrate it? The green pouch stays with me : ) 

Day thirty four: heart of Scandinavia

I'm in love! With linen :) What a remarkable material it is: so classy and sturdy, decent and predictable, just like a perfect gentleman :) I ordered 1.4x2.2 m of Avignon Linen in October and it's all gone. Working with this material is a pure pleasure since it's very neat, easy to cut and irons really well. Sounds like a dream, right? To make things even better, the same kind of fabric comes in different colourful prints. For example, the one with heart pattern I used for this project is among my favourites: it is called 'Scandic Love' and looks really lovely. This particular name is another reason why I chose this fabric for a present to a very dear and special friend of mine who is now residing in Scandinavia (Moi, moi, Anda!) She is a fantastic lady, such a brave and generous soul with terrific sense of humour and a real knack for crafting: she's making amazing things using just a crochet hook, a thread and handful of teeny-tiny pearls. I hope my parcel reaches Anda soon and I can finally tell her about this blog without risking to spoil the surprise :) 

Christmas market: two days in Dragontown

After a whole month of intensive sewing, stitching, baking and planning I finally made my debut as an elf in the Christmas market in a nearby town guarded by the loveliest dragon I've ever seen. The market itself was a two-day event that took place outdoors (yep, long hours in freezing temperatures certainly calls for more than one glass of Glühwein if you plan to survive :)) and it was a fantastic experience for a newbie like myself. The choice of the event could have been better though, since two thirds of the stands were filled with foods and drinks and people were clearly in party mood, meeting friends and having good time, not thinking much about shopping. Also the tradition of gift-giving for Christmas apparently is not very popular in Luxembourg. From what I've seen, people don't exaggerate with these things and don't regard this custom as a must. Being aware of all the above-mentioned, I kept an open mind and did a great deal of observing and learning. It's only fair to admit that not all of the conclusions I made were the most flattering ones, but I really see no reason to dwell on those, because there were far too many beautiful and special moments I experienced and those are the ones I will be carrying in my heart. 

  

While watching my work through eyes of my friends and loved ones, all the grannies who smiled the warmest smiles and children who dragged their parents to my stand to show them the colourful Christmas stockings, this event quickly transformed into my personal thanksgiving. And I do have so many things to be thankful for: this time in life I am given to explore sewing, the chance to work well with my hands, my mum who has taught me so much, my wonderful and supportive husband who was out with me in the cold for most of the time and helped with all the logistics and spoke German with customers and for my fantastic friends who lent me tables and baskets and showed up just in time to cheer me up and did some Christmas shopping themselves :) 

Finally, despite the cold and all the Glühwein (and the fact that all my things smell of smoke from fireplaces) I am glad I gave this a try. Sure, the overall sales could have been better, but as far as the first attempts go, I'm happy with my trading experience and I might actually try this again.