I thought I would use my first blog post to describe myself a bit and share what I am hoping to do with this blog.
By day I am a criminal justice researcher and by night I am a sewing and DIY fanatic. I consider myself a late bloomer when it comes to sewing. I took a sewing class in high school (in the early 1990’s) but sadly there was no spark.
It wasn’t until I moved to NYC in 2011 and found myself walking through the fashion district every day on my way to work that the idea of picking up sewing came to my mind. Oh the fabric!! It also didn’t help that I have a friend who then using her sewing skills to make just the most wonderful baby shower gifts. So in the fall of 2011, in search of a creative outlet, I bought a Singer sewing machine from Target and signed up for a sewing class.
… and from that point on I was hooked!
In the fall of 2013 I found myself becoming a student once again but this time at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City pursuing an Associates Degree in Fashion Design (Evening program). While I absolutely loved attending FIT and learned so much, I knew that NYC was not my “forever home” and so I made the tough decision to withdraw after completing just one year. After that I dedicated my efforts to finding a new home and eventually relocated to Alexandria, Virginia.
So since 2012 I have been absolutely obsessed with all things sewing! And I have allowed this creative streak to expand into other areas like jewelry making and photography. This love of sewing has also increased my interest in the historical and contemporary issues (e.g., environmental impacts, sweatshops, human rights violations) surrounding sewing, fashion, and the clothing industry. I also appreciate the ways in which sewing (and other creative outlets) can increase psychological well-being and help create and strengthen local and global communities. I should also mention that I have healthy appreciation for all things vintage as well!
With all these interests swirling around in my mind I wanted to create a blog that would help me to participate more in the sewing community by sharing projects I am working on and in turn facilitate connections with people who have similar interests as well as provide a space where all the rich and complex issues surrounding sewing and fashion can collide. I would like this blog to be a place where people can find and share information on all the good and the bad that comes with the sewing and fashion industry -- on both a local and global scale.
Based on my interests I have identified a number of themes that I will be focusing on as I begin to develop my blog, and these include:
1) Recommended reading/book reviews
2) The history of the sewing/fashion industry
3) Sustainable fashion
4) The psychological benefits to sewing (and other creative outlets)
5) Sewing events and news in the local community (Alexandria and surrounding area)
6) Sewing events and news in the global community
7) Links to other blogs or interesting fashion/sewing related websites
8) My projects (sewing/personal/donation/DIY)
Finally, I recently re-opened my Etsy shop! Currently, there are only a select number of things up there now but I have ideas bursting from my brain on what I can do and sell on my Esty site! The sky is the limit! So I am very excited for 2017 and what it will bring!
Welcome to my blog…and hey, 2017 isn’t going to slow down for anyone, so let’s get started!!!
Sew on,
E. Farley
