Featured — I Want To Be A Turtle

July 2016: #Vintagepledge Guest blogger - A Stitching Odyssey

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October 2016: Cut Out + Keep Sewing Superstar

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one for sorrow, two for joy - Obscurae Magazine Volume 6 Issue 1

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I Want To Be A Turtle

A creative lifestyle blog which mainly focuses on my personal sewing, drawing and thread painting projects.

Claire

Self taught sewist, fabric hoarder and handmade wardrobe builder. Say hello:

iwanttobeaturtle@gmail.com

Over on Instagram

Sometimes you create something that you utterly adore. It’s been a while since I made for myself and what better way to begin again than using a fabric you brought back from your honeymoon and have been dreaming about for months. Fresh off the machine on Thursday morning, this Ginger skirt has already been worn twice. Full details of this slightly unusual cotton are on the blog.

Found a very special make earlier in a much overdue clear out of our home. I helped to make metres and metres of bunting for a friend’s wedding in 2011 - unfinished triangles stitched to tape. Very simple but I remember the cutting and pinning took forever. She kindly gave me a bit as a keepsake. It’s freshly pressed and folded to keep somewhere more safe now.

One of my favourite parts of making clothes: hand stitching the hem

I guess it’s inevitable that we all experience the moment of a sewing machine needle going through your finger. I managed to avoid it for eight years. I was lucky to avoid my nail by a millimetre. No new skirt for tonight’s party.

I find it incredibly satisfying when the fabric, project and recipient come together seamlessly. I made my mum a kindle cover using a couple of the beautiful Winnie the Pooh cottons by Visage Textiles. More details on the blog - you know where the link is.

Do you have a morning ritual? Perhaps writing, reading, meditation or yoga? Over the years I’ve tried a few things and found that nothing comes close to hand stitching while enjoying a cup of earl grey. I find the slow action to be steadying with the added bonus of having achieved something, even it’s just a few stitches, before walking out the door.

January’s physical and audio books.

The final Sunday of January, surrounded by embroidery thread. I’ve spent so much of this long month buried in slow craft. I made a deliberate choice not to go after new goals, new activities, resolutions or anything that could put unnecessary pressure on myself - the pattern of many previous years as I distracted myself from what really needed focus. It’s been a strange month as a result but one full of personal learning. I’m now ready to set a small number of goals and finally get cracking with the year. How has your January been?