Embracing creativity has meant letting go of what used to win me awards: precision, logic, etc. Because when it comes to art, perfection is sometimes at odds with beauty. And I was reminded of this when I set out to make Hattie a sort of snood/lace cap to match her jumper.
I started with a wire form and covered it with thread. Then I cut apart an antique sock and used the netting and its top scalloped edge to create the cap’s base – though not without pauses for doubts between stitches. Because 80 weight thread only comes in so many colors.
I have them all.
And none of them exactly matched the sock.
I pressed on anyway, knowing that I could cover the “wrong” colored thread with my trimmings. Ribbons would be this cap’s saving grace. Or so I thought, until nothing in my drawer was both the right scale and the correct color.
For the hat, or the thread.
I fought off the vertigo of that catastrophe and did what many of us do when life is too hard. I got some coffee and looked at pretty things on Pinterest. Which was exactly the right choice, because I was reminded immediately that part of the charm of old things is that some parts fade, and some parts don’t. Patina changes everything!
And just like that, I knew I was on to something.
When I finished my coffee, I went back to my sewing. I let go of “perfect” and took a huge leap of faith.
I layered one wrong-colored ribbon over another wrong-colored ribbon. I attached them to the completely wrong colored cap with my mismatched thread. And when all was said and done, it was not the mess I had feared.
The cap was completely at odds with itself, but the colors were charmingly wrong. And somehow – despite nothing matching – the effect was kinda-sorta marvelous.
To see all of Hattie’s wardrobe as we add to it, click HERE.
And to see just the posts for her plaid trimmed jumper, click HERE.