Part 2 - Or Why I Do What I Do.

I think I may have mentioned the wonderfulness of Grampians Texture before, but I only touched the surface.  It's hard to put into a few words and pictures.

 

 

A brief show-and-tell at the end of each of the 2-day and 4-day workshops is a visual summary of what took place, but the rewards run much deeper and richer than that.  When I look at these purses and bags, I see the people behind them, the challenges they faced, the stories they shared and the achievements that were made.

 

Below, I see a cluster of purses at the front, made by 3 lovely ladies who were 'knitters and embroiderers' and had no faith in their ability with a sewing machine. 

  

And I met so many wonderful people.... 

We laughed, we cried, we sewed.... we conquered fears.

We made bags.

Anne drove down from Sydney to come to my 4-day workshop, which made me feel very honoured.  I'm so glad that the adventure of designing, pattern-making and sewing up a bag was a part of the her journey.

Val thought that she'd never understand the pattern-making process.... but this (below) is the bag she designed and made (including the pattern) ... before whipping up a quick Fan Bag to finish the 4-day workshop.

Viki was afraid of zippers, but managed to do a stirling job of a feature zipper on the front of her bag, a zippered gusset in the top and an exposed zipper pocket on the lining.

I was thrilled to be able to teach seasoned dressmakers like Viv and Faye a few new tricks.

And when I took Viv slightly outside her (zipper) colour-matching comfort zone, it was a joy to see her triumph.

There was so, so much more to it...but in these deadline-heavy days, I haven't had the time to ponder the perfect blog post about it, nor even find the right few words.

I'm tired.  I'm busy.  I have another cold. I'm thinking about the book I have to finish writing.

But these photos speak volumes to me.