The Start of Something New

I learned to sew when I was six years old, on my mom's ancient sewing machine. It was tucked into an out of the way alcove in our dining room and I am told I injured myself several times in the process of constructing a white and blue dress with tiny pearl buttons. But I don't remember that part. I remember the exhilarating whir of the machine, the thrill of how fast the fabric flew through the gap between teeth and presser foot and the joy of showing off my handy-work. By the time I was in high school, I was designing my own clothes and I knew with the abject certainty of the young that I was going to design historical costumes for the theater and go to fashion school in New York. 

One history degree later, that dream had become something very different. In some ways smaller, less ambitious, though somehow miraculously it had grown to encompass things that teenage me had never imagined. I worked in historical archives, managed the textiles, tableware and furnishings of a historical home, and passed on knowledge to the next generations through helping develop educational programing. Still, in my private time I would pull out my sewing machine and design elaborate costumes for myself and my friends.

We live in a world of hourly shifts and, for a “lucky” few 9 to 5's, the soulless world where creativity often dies a slow death, the sad victim to the necessities of survival. It wasn't always so. Now I am in no hurry to trade my life for the horrors of a time before penicillin, civil rights, and women's suffrage, but I can see the allure of the new found obsession with internet subcultures and “the good old days”, the myth that things must have been better in a day when your jam was made by hand and lovingly sealed in a glass jar, the creative endeavors of a 

personal passion. The undeniable health benefits of pasteurization be damned!

I am quite fortunate to have the opportunity, then, to pass onto those of you who stumble on this site, my particular interests and creative adventures. Combining history and crafting is a fever dream I am so lucky to pursue. Here I intend to post my historical musings and written tutorial blogs for some of my favorite projects, as well as a detailed account of my journey as I turn the half dead grassy stretch of ecological wasteland that is my backyard into a productive garden full of homegrown produce and patches of pollinator habitat. 

I welcome you all to come along on this journey with me as I embrace the joy of creating beautiful things by hand and bringing a little bit of delightful greenery back into the world. I hope you enjoy!