4.18.2010

Hats

About a year ago, I needed a change. I was not feeling like I had any space or direction of my own. I was feeling bogged down in my work and in my home life. At work, the listening to trauma was zapping my energy and at home, there was this issue of a two-year-old's tantrums...

So, I was looking for some help lifting the mood and finding a new perspective. A friend suggested a book, I Love You Rituals, to help bring some lightness into the parenting. Another friend loaned me the book, and J. and I had some fun with it, but I didn't end up buying it. However, I looked at its listing on Amazon, and in so doing found another book that I did buy, The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, by Amanda Blake Soule.

Finding this book lead me back to an article in Mothering Magazine about momma blogs I had not really noticed the month it came out. From there, I found SouleMama, angry chicken, This Vintage Chica, and The Artful Parent (see side bar for links). These blogs and the many links they lead me to opened up so much creativity and curiosity for me! I started making and plotting to make and making some more.

It was at this time (May of last year), that I started this blog. I wanted to explore my own ideas and my own creative adventures. One such adventure was the making of a hat for C. (although I didn't end up blogging about it then). It was kind-of a revelation to me that I could make, from my own mind and fabric stash, a sweet hat for my sweet girl that actually fit her apparently-tiny-for-her-age, lovely, little head! That was just the beginning of my crafting and concocting for my girls.


Now, almost a year later, I find myself in the mood for both again--a hat and a change. Last weekend, I made C. her 2010 sun hat (or at least the first one; I might need to make another before too long). And this weekend, my sewing room/treadmill room/guest room got a makeover. I haven't been getting enough making done lately, and it's been feeling discouraging. Sleep has been tough, we've been sick constantly, and work is, well, work. So I really need my creative outlet to be working for me. So, some organization and new energy into the place seemed to be the ticket. I still have to hang some art and organize my notions, but the space is so much better and fresher. I'm feeling a lift and some excitement about the creative adventures ahead!



5 comments:

  1. What a difference a year makes! But still the same beautiful little person.

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  2. I love seeing my old mommy-made sun dress on my little niecey's head!

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  3. Such a cute hat! I have been searching for a great pattern to make a new summer hat for my little one... Which pattern did you use? Have you seen this cute bonnet pattern?http://www.kingpod.com/kingpod/bonnet_pattern.php

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  4. Actually, I made my own pattern. I just measured C's head, used my fairly rusty memory of geometry, and figured out the circles from there (I also dug out my high school compass to make the circles). I added 3/4 inch for seam allowance (which took all of my sleep-deprived brain--you have add it in on the brim) and then just made two complete patterns from two fabrics, stitched them almost all together around the brim (I also added a rim of interfacing for some body), flipped it, and then edged it.

    The bonnet is cute! I have one that my grandmother made me that I put on the girls sometimes, but they get pretty cranky about the ribbon! I'll be checking your blog to see what adorns your little one's head this summer! :)

    -Becca

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