Last week all the peppy and/or bubbly colors on my site started to make my left eye twitch. So I took a bunch of dresses home and re-dyed them in the lush murky colors that make my heart beat just-so. Which, if I’m honest, is kind of like a turtle’s heart. Slow and muddy but solid. And that’s fine. [There are new dresses too. Mike and I will take pictures of them and get them listed in the next dew days.]
And just now I took COAT NUMBER ONE and its matching bonnets down to the cellar to overdye them into something more murky/lentil-y. They’re soaking now. It's JUST WHO I AM.
Did I ruin it? Will it be more magical? I guess we’ll find out. In the linear practical world of time=money it’s silly to step backward and re-work things that I already completed, already took pictures of, etc. A tiny voice whispers: I should be logical. I should only be moving forward. But when I look back I realize that forward isn’t often super helpful to me. I'm going to be bold and say: Forward may even be a myth.
Serpentine winding.
Spinning in spirals.
Following my own curiosity.
Thats what works.
Not losing myself (ourselves) in something, but meeting the thing halfway. Showing up, checking in, but deftly eschewing the ruts of the past for the path of right now. It sounds simple but it's hard to remember and always, always scares me at the time but feeds me in retrospect.
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In other coat news, the amended pattern (COAT NUMBER ONE is a prototype) has gone back across the country and will soon return as a full set of patterns in an expansive range of sizes. Yay! No two will be exactly alike (OF COURSE) but the sizing will be consistent — so I'll only be reinventing part of the wheel for each one and you can get a piece in YOUR SIZE.
A VISION I HAVE for the coats is this: I will hand print / paint enough yardage for just one specific themed coat, and post the fabric. Then you can choose the fabric you like and I'll make the coat in your size. There will be some variety in the details too, like pockets, patches, other fun things. Heh? Heh? Yes? We'll see. I love this idea and I hope I can summon it up in a way that feels good.
Keep breathing okay? I'll take a big deep breath if you will.
best wishes,
