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| deconstructed frenchie body shirt one of a kind |
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyndykitt/4609775965/sizes/m/in/set-72157607443200605/ |
Last week Samara kindly invited me to be her “Friday Friend” to talk about my craft on her blog; it was going to be the standard Q and A, but as I just did something similar for Seam Magazine I suggested a different tack.
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| Scoop Neck Mini Dress - UK Size 8 |
Sewing is natural as breathing to me; never struggled to thread a needle or been intimidated by a sewing machine, but it’s never been a great passion (though I once dreamed I’d be a famous fashion or costume designer); it’s simply what I do, not particularly difficult, even when the work itself was hard (as it was when I worked in factories as a production machinist).
Writing is a challenge. I love words and stories, but spelling and formal grammar do not come easy and there are days when I feel the weight of leaving school at the beginning of year 10 (gasp, over 30 years ago). Still, I have the writer’s compulsion and as a mature age student earned a Dip Art in Professional Writing at RMIT (graduating in 2006). When I write, I’m slow and pedantic, far too slow to be a regular blogger; I admit a deep respect for those of you who can dash off a blog once a week let alone every day.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyndykitt/6078179124/in/set-72157625415691046 |
I wonder at this compulsion to write, but there is a connection between stitching and writing; drafting patterns and drafting tales, and getting the fit and details “just right” in both. These thoughts inspired the following poem which I wrote about a year ago, and symbolises how sewing, writing and life are entwined.
Seamstress
Machinist
Dressmaker
TailorStitcher
Sewer
Maker of clothes
Fold the virgin cloth
Mark
Measure
Cut . . . ?
Hesitate . . . ?
Meditate!
Take care
Once cut it can never again be whole
Seamstress
Machinist
Dressmaker
Tailor
Stitcher
Sewer
Weaver of dreams
The fabric of your life
Remains on a roll
Fearing an error
You commit a greater sin
For cloth has a duty
And a right to be worn
So I will always sew, but over the last few years my business – Cyndy Kitt Productions – has focussed on selling new parts for vintage sewing machines and renovating treadle powered machines which I sell through my housemate’s store, Anne Bonny’s Locker. I also scan hard to find vintage and antique sewing machine manuals for digital restoration and reproduction, and write my own fully revised and updated versions when I feel the original lacks important information.
I still use my high speed industrial machines, but more often I am finding real pleasure sewing in the slow lane on vintage treadle powered machines; sewing simple things like sewing wallets, eco grocery bags, cushion covers and rouleau cord for fabric jewellery. There is no practical business model in these projects, but while they are waiting to be bought my vintage sewing machines need to be used to prevent their old joints from seizing and it is only by doing real projects that I can tell if a machine is not working as she should.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyndykitt/5186791154/sizes/m/in/set-72157625415691046/ |
If you’d like to know more about my machines, or need parts, manual or advice for your own vintage machine, please feel free to get in touch. As for my writing, one day I will complete and publish that prize winning novella or collection of short tales, till then I will stick with the stitchery and pen the occasional poem.
http://www.cyndykitt.com.au/
http://www.annebonnyslocker.com.au/
http://www.facebook.com/CyndyKittProd
http://www.facebook.com/AnneBonnysLocker
Vali the 1908 Singer
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