Two: Sewing is Resistance
Sewing is Magic is a four-week journey into making your own magic with a sewing machine. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or you’d like to refresh your knowledge of the basics, this class will give you the foundation to make anything your heart desires!
This blog post series is a pre-course correspondence leading into the Sewing is Magic Course. Interested in learning more or joining? Click here!
Sewing is Resistance
I think it's safe to assume that since you’re reading this that you're interested in becoming a maker, too, at least in your heart. Maybe you're here to learn about how to make some magic in a way that sets you firmly within the counter-culture.
Maybe you've made it a priority to use washable towels rather than paper towels to clean your kitchen? I made the projects in Sewing is Magic really practical - you'll make useful things starting in the first week. We'll go a step further by making our own kitchen towels.
It's so satisfying when something you make becomes a part of your every day. Of course, you get to decide how far you want to take your handmade home. I, for one, consider myself a little punk rock, but will probably continue to clean up dog vomit or sourdough overflow with paper towels.
I have always considered making my own things to be a valuable protest against unchecked consumerism. Not only does making require a bit of planning, thoughtfulness, and slowing down, but the very act of doing something consciously rather than succumbing to the ease of ‘click and ship’ helps me to be in choice, rather than living by default. Even if I do choose to buy something I could make, I know I've made a choice instead of living by a cultural default.
It can be really easy to go super far in the other direction, too. Just because I can make something, doesn't mean I always have to. Being consciously in choice is the key.
This past weekend, my youngest child and I were playing a silly game we love. We have played adventure time love letters so often that we wore out the little plastic bag the tiny gems used in the game are stored in. It was so satisfying to reach for a scrap of fabric from my mending basket and whip up a little container for those gems while we were playing the game. I might not have thought to do that when I was a kid. We'd simply have let the gems roll around loose in the box and have to search for them every time we wanted to play, but because I have a healthy relationship with making and with choosing when to make vs when to buy (or go without) I was able to give us a lasting little reminder of choosing handmade.
If you want to learn how to sew so that you can work this magic in your own life, you can sign up for Sewing is Magic, here.
If you are still on the fence about the full course, but want to join the next mending lab, you can pay what you wish and sign up here.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, I'D LOVE TO HEAR THEM. PLEASE EMAIL ME AND I WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER YOU DIRECTLY!
I'm not sure if you've had a chance to think about last week's "homework" (here's the link if you missed it, or if you're new to the course!) but if we're thinking about the things our ancestors made, maybe the next question is to think about the difference in needing to make things vs. choosing to make things? They didn't have the opportunities for convenience we have. They didn't have a choice.
My friend, would you spend a little time with your notebook and a cup of tea this week and ask yourself:
Why would you want to make your own things?
Does your answer bring up internal resistance?
How does it feel to lean into cultural resistance?
Additional posts in this series
