A Room Of My Own

As someone who lives in a 750 square foot house that is also a band practice space and home to a husband and two cats, I had been feeling a little cramped lately. When I started to work on my upcycled "fabric collage" pieces for the shop, I grew out of my little space beneath the eaves upstairs in a single sewing session. Still, I never thought that I would have a studio space of my own, since keeping our overhead low is not a preference, but a requirement.

It seems that I have an angel watching over me, however-- my Zumba dance teacher, Mary. She owns and operates our local Zumba studio, and seems to help out every person and cause that she comes into contact with. (One of the coolest things is that she started a local chapter of Good Women International, an organization which addresses the modern sex trafficking epidemic.) Mary spied an long-unrented industrial space and figured out how to get a bunch of us sewing/textile loving gals in there for a humane price.

myself and Chia from Out of The Mystic

My friend Chia laughed at me the day I moved in, because the first thing I did was pin a hundred things to the wall. Well hey, it's MY OWN WALL! "You've never had your own space before, have you?" she said.

There are several private rooms surrounding the communal central space, where one of our studio mates had her very kind husband build a gigantic cutting table:

Having this room is such a total game changer... as I told Mary, "I can finally think clearly." I had no idea what a difference having designated, ample space would be for my mental state. I don't think I ever let myself dream of it before!

 

I have space to work- space to put up inspiring images and experiement with fabric combinations- I even have space for my notebook. It can just sit in the middle of a table, undisturbed, waiting for me to jot something down. Can you imagine???

There is no internet in the building, which is actually a huge blessing. Like so many of us, I tend to turn to the internet for some kind of distraction/boost when I get stuck in a creative process or I am trying to procrastinate something. In my studio, it's just me, my work, and the other gals.

 

Chia at work in her studio

Another great blessing is that I am now able to seriously focus on collaborations with Chia, who runs a vintage store on Etsy called Out of the Mystic, and is working on a line of couture 1970s-inspired denim this year. She's a great seamstress, which I am not, so she can professionally finish pieces like this kimono jacket, which I designed from vintage scarves which I collected over the years and had put aside, dreaming of creating this:

Here are some of the other creations I've brewed up at the studio in the past two weeks:

Nepalese cotton hoodie with geometric details

the "Disco Hoodie"

I am so excited for what is on the creative horizon for me... stay tuned!

Comments

[Violet Folklore]

Nice Sa! I'm happy to get a peek at your new space! And so rad you got ChiChi to share it with (and extra rad about the lack of internet!)

My new place has what the landlords call a "hobby cottage" which is now VF headquarters- none of my vintage clothing, shipping supplies, & other paraphernalia are in my personal living space anymore!! It's such a spacious feeling :-)

[Ta Ma Ra]

Oh my! I am so very happy for you. I really relate to the external space = head space equation. Thank you for sharing the photos. Ive been on the edge of my seat curious for a sneak peak. Hugs