With a purpose in mind...

One of the channels I watch regularly on YouTube is Kiko Sabi. She is a Canadian wife to a Japanese husband, and is quite prolific in the variety of handcrafts she carefully learns, practices, and then creates with.

Initially I found her interesting to watch each Sunday afternoon, and enjoyed the silent 30ish minute videos with gentle music and subtitles. She was a beginner to many crafts and each week there was something new to be seen as she began making various items, often with a Japanese theme or technique. 

But there was something I enjoyed even more, especially now, two years later. It was the purpose she had for each item made. Rarely was it whimsy, though in the beginning there were practice pieces, but over the past year and a half Kiko has had a very clear purpose for all the things she makes - whether that be spinning yarn , knitting, crochet, embroidery, boro, sashiko, darning, sewing her own clothes etc. 

I have been pondering her way of thinking for a month or two, and it's changed the way I plan and create. Looking back, especially those first few years before I started designing, when I was teaching myself to embroider and quilt, I saw something lovely and immediately made it. It really did not matter whether it had a place in our home or a purpose, because I just loved the various aspects of sewing and had a project (or five) on the go all the time. Some were given to family and friends as gifts, some were placed around the house, and some were stored away in large plastic tubs because I did not know what to do with them, or were donated. After a while it became clear that other people like me were doing this as well, as though it were a natural part of the sewing/quilting culture in that time. 

Now I want what I make to have a purpose. Just having this mindset has allowed me to slow down and enjoy the sewing/stitching process more than I ever did, because I no longer feel the need to make so many of the lovely quilts or projects I see online or in books/magazines (and I no longer design 4-6 hand embroidery patterns a month for a living).

Back at the end of 2018 God directed me to "use what you already have" and eight years later this is the first thing that comes to mind when I'm considering what to cook, or sew, or plant, or create with. Lately I've been going a bit further and looking at ways to keep using what I have by repairing or mending or altering those items. My clothes have become a good avenue for living out this habit, and many dresses, linen pants and nightgowns are now mended and back 'in service' again - but I also spent an afternoon cutting up the items that are too worn and discarding the fabric which is unusable, whilst saving the good sections of fabric for future use. 

Now with Kiko's philosophy, and creating purposefully at the forefront of my mind, I began to look around our home to see what was actually needed. That tiny red rice bag I made last month was sewn from scrap fabrics (vintage linen I bought years ago mostly) and my own sketchings for the embroidery. Along with the tiny pinushion and needlebook made the following week, this item is in use every single day now. It holds all I need for my evening embroidery, looks lovely, is small, taught me how to make a rice bag, and makes me smile!

This past week I made another three purposeful projects. The rice bag pictured above, and below, came about because I had been working on some sashiko embroidery blocks, learning the rice flower stitch, and making use of some reclaimed blue cotton dress fabric. Initially I'd considered making this larger rice bag for holding yarn, but in my sewing room, something that bugs me is the foot pedal and power cord for my sewing machine. I wind them both together and push them loosely into the throat space of the machine to keep them out of the way - but they do not have an actual place to be stored.

So over the past few days I made a larger rice bag with sashiko on four sides, fabrics cut from two old dresses, and smaller offcuts of quilt wadding. Each square was 7.5". This now houses my foot pedal and power cord beautifully. 

(This is the outside before sewing the sides together. The lining is the same, also made from five equal measure squares)

Last week I burned my hand getting a tray out of the oven, because silly me used a damp tea towel! I had some small leftover pieces of Insulbrite in the cupboard and decided to purposefully sew some pot holders, and I chose a design which had caught my eye over ten years ago. The pattern was a free one by Amy Sinibaldi of Nana Company, and though her old blog is no longer around, she has republished this free tutorial on her new webpage HERE

These are the two I made on Saturday afternoon. Two layers of Insulbrite in the base (for extra heat protection) and one layer of cotton quilt wadding in the top. The fabrics are by Lori Holt and mostly leftovers from a quilt project (still not sewn together years later...oh dear). These are actually quite easy to make, which surprised me, and would make excellent useful gifts with Christmas just a few months away. I intend making more and gifting some to my daughters. 

Something else I did this past week was to makeover a mini ironing board found at the opshop for $5. Cully May and I saw two of them there a month ago, in very dirty and tatty condition, but I had not stopped thinking about them since, regretting not getting one at the time because I currently use a piece of wood with Insulbrite and fabric wrapped around it. So I prayed and asked the Lord to hold one for me until I could get back to the shop, or for another to be donated before I arrived there.

On Tuesday I went back to the shop and could not see them, so I went for a short wander around anyhow. And there it was, hidden behind a stand of large framed pictures, but I could not mistake the horrible tattered fabric that poked out from behind them. 

Once home I threw away the old cover and removed the thin foam which was glued to the wire top, gave it a jolly good clean and got to work on giving it purpose once more. 

I traced the ironing board shape onto the old Insulbrite (previously wrapped around my piece of wood) and was able to get two pieces. Yay! Then I cut a wider piece of scrap cotton quilt wadding, and some sturdy cotton fabric for the outer cover. 

What a blessing! Just $5 for the donated mini ironing board, and everything else was reused from what was already in my sewing room. 

Such a productive week, and all projects had real purpose. :-)

I did also make time for baking a fresh loaf of sourdough, which was enjoyed with all we had left of the apricot jam I made last season. Soon the apricots will be back, hopefully before Christmas, and I'll be able to restock the pantry with another year's worth of delicious apricot jam - though I do wonder if this is in fact apricot conserve because I use whole fruits (halved) in my jam. I absolutely love getting those big bits of apricot when I have it on bread or toast!

There's more purposeful projects on my list now, and my heart is very excited about that. In fact, it seems that the Lord has opened my eyes to 'see' what I've missed by too often being swept away and tempted by other things that are lovely to the eye, but not particuarly of any great use. 

Message to self - "Useful projects can be beautiful too you know, Jennifer".

God bless dear ones, and please let me know if you've had similar thoughts of being more purposeful in what you make. Have you discovered projects that make a difference in your home, or in your life? Useful and purposeful gifts to make? What are they?? 

Much love!!

Until next time,

PS: My Etsy Shop is always open, so please drop by if you are in the mood for something new to stitch.

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