From The Land Before Dreams

A few weeks ago as I was drifting off to sleep a vision of a new dress design floated before my eyes.  As sleep took hold I grasped at the idea and how to execute it.  The next day I sketched it quickly and then it just sat for awhile.  I worked on the dress here and there, drafting a sleeve, cutting fabric, gathering the bodice pieces, step by step until it was done.

All I’ve managed to capture were these two images of it before I added a bright red rolled hem to match the cuffs and neckline.

In those night visions I saw slashes of color and that’s just what I now have. When I slid the dress over my head for the first time I gave a little squeal of delight. I’m looking forward to doing a real photo shoot with it and listing it in the shop. As for the sample which I now have, I might be adding embroidery to it at some point. I’ll definitely be wearing it, and not just to dance in front of the mirror in my bedroom.

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Don’t Be Afraid

“Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid it will never begin.”

–Grace Hanson

I made it through Mayday!  Despite nerves and last-minute panic attacks, the show happened and I survived it all with a smile on my face.

There was a steady, lovely crowd there from opening until after closing. People were kind in their words and manner. I sold a few things, including the Gathered Yoke Shirt.

The show was such fun, too. There was live music, a hula demonstration, and chocolate samplings throughout the day. The Village Gate was beautiful to look at with sculptures and other pieces of art decorating the space.

I wasn’t able to see much of the rest of the show because I was by myself all day, though what I did see what great!  I’m sad to say that the pictures L1 & I took were few and poor. Wrong lens, wrong ISO, and a feeling like I didn’t have time to take pictures because I needed to be ready to greet and talk with people all contributed to some of the worst pictures I’ve taken in a long time. *sigh* That is my biggest disappointment, I think, that I don’t really have good pictures to hold the show better in my memory.

Whatever may come after this, more shows or no (though I think more would be good!), at least I won’t have regrets.

ps: I spent time during the show embroidering the above quote on some fabric.  It was so fitting, don’t you think?

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