Maxi Dress Mania

Anybody who knows me knows I love to sew. I actually enjoy mending and have been known to spend an entire day hemming pants for people. But the best of what I sew is art. And for me -- the best art always starts with junk. You will never hear me talking about cutting into an expensive piece of silk...old t-shirts are my preferred artistic medium...

And -- thanks to that dastardly Goodwill and their weekly QUARTER DAY -- I have an unlimited supply of junk to inspire and feed my art.

On Quarter Day -- I go to the Goodwill store and pretty much buy anything that's a quarter. I leave the store with bags full of t-shirts and baby clothes. (the occasional snow pants or parka -- I mean -- IT'S A QUARTER!). When I get home -- I sneak the bags into the house -- and IMMEDIATELY put all of it down the laundry chute.

After it's washed and dried -- I do the "sort". There's a big pile of black t-shirts, another big pile of prints, a big pile of shirts with pithy sayings...another pile of baby clothes...well -- you get the idea.

The piles kept getting bigger and bigger... I started calling my basement "t-shirt mountain"...and I'M NOT KIDDING...

I could show you a picture of my basement -- but then I'd live in fear that the Hoarder Show people would start pestering me. They could spend an entire season filming in my basement...so instead, I'm putting up a little gallery of some of my favorite 2012 maxi dresses...

These dresses are ALL ABOUT THE CREATION. I love every step of the process. The shopping (I NEVER know what I'll do with the shirts)...the laundry, the sorting, then the planning, the cutting, trying on, figuring it all out, starting over, cutting it up, changing my mind. Most of the dresses are gifts.

I NEVER know when I'm going to be moved to make a dress...but it always starts with me digging through t-shirt mountain, looking for just the right inspiration...

Sometimes I spend days working on a dress...Drinking coffee, listening to a book on tape.  imagining how it will look on the person I'm making it for. Because of Christmas, and some special dresses I've been working on (pictures later on, I promise!) -- there were several nights when I was down there until 3:00 AM, completely IN THE ZONE...

GEE -- I LOVE MY LIFE...

Some dresses go together in less than an hour -- like this dress I made for myself ...

and I WEAR IT ALL THE TIME....

others take more time...

or are for a special occassion...

ALWAYS for special people...

Some are theme dresses...

The thing is -- what I know for sure is that the joy of these dresses is in the MAKING OF THEM. I LOVE DOING THEM...and THAT'S REASON ENOUGH.

Sometimes, they fit into a person's life -- they become a favorite and get worn. That's a real bonus for me.

But often, that doesn't happen. AND that's okay, too. Because that's NOT THE POINT...

On Christmas Day, I wanted to say...GOOD FOR YOU. For putting all the love you could into this holiday. The gifts you made, the food you cooked, the decorations you put up -- all of it in the hope of bringing joy to the people you love.

But remember this -- the real joy is always IN THE GIVING....and how your gift is received is beyond your control. You did the right thing.