The Life of An Artist

I have been dabbling in fashion design for over a decade. For the last five years I have had a dream of having the majority of my wardrobe consist of unique, one of a kind garments that I have designed myself. Today, that is my reality.

I like to crochet, but I have never followed a real written pattern. I freeform and that’s what works for me. I kept creating designs, figuring out how patternmaking and draping worked, and now I am able to create my own patterns. Thus far I have made patterns for vests, sweaters, t-shirts, trousers, shorts, socks, tanktops, hoodies and a lot of non-clothing designs as well. It’s fun, it’s a creative outlet and it gives me the freedom to make my ideas reality and make what I want and need in life. My background in mathematics has helped me a lot since there’s a lot of counting involved. I never thought I’d find the connection between the part of me who wanted to pursue mathematics and science-related topics and the artist in me. But I guess I’ve found it now.

I crochet a lot, but that doesn’t mean I can’t sew. Crochet often involves sewing by hand, and I find that very relaxing. I also have a sewing machine, but I kept it in storage for years and it was only recently that I got reacquainted with it. It’ll take a bit of time to refresh my memory and get back in the habit of using it, but nothing we learn can be unlearned. We may forget, but that doesn’t mean the knowledge isn’t still left somewhere in our memory palaces. We simply have to open ourselves up and make an effort to find it.

Patternmaking

The pattern I have been working on the last few days is a pattern for socks. I have made three different pairs thus far, and they were all great in their own way. I am wearing one of the pairs now. As I make more of them, I will figure out which one I prefer. And when I do, I will make the amount of basic socks that I need for my capsule wardrobe. After that, I will move on to making underwear and tanktops.

Wearing what I make

I used to make designs but never wear them, but this year I have finally gotten around to make the shift. Now I end up wearing my own designs more than the other garments in my wardrobe. When I decided to turn my capsule wardrobe into one that can work through all of the four seasons, I also went through all of my clothes. And I did that again this month. Now I mostly wear my crochet garments and combine them with my black linen trousers, organic cotton t-shirts and a few other sweaters and whatnot. At home I also wear shorts and oversized t-shirts that I sleep in. Some of them are organic ones that I acquired from a store at some point and some of them are crochet t-shirts.

After I have finished making my socks, underwear and the loungewear set I am working on, I think I will make a few basic black t-shirts. Maybe another pair of shorts since they are so comfortable. But that’s more because I want to than because I need to. My current capsule wardrobe works for me and I love everything in it. I am never without clothes to wear.

What I love most about being an artist and a creator

The best thing about being a creator and creating things is knowing that this thing that you’re making would not exist in this world if it wasn’t for you. You have pulled out an idea, a thought, a dream even, from your own mind and turned it into something real and tangible. In this case, something you can use, hold and wear. Holding something you’ve made, realising that this was just an idea in your mind and you breathed life into it and turned it into this very real thing that others can see as well… Yeah, it’s pretty magical. It makes me appreciate what I do more, and it makes me appreciate my things even more. Sitting in my room and noticing that I am surrounded by my own creations is a wonderful feeling. And it makes me feel so safe knowing that if I want something, as long as I can imagine it, I can make it for myself.

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