Intro

Unless you are from the Pacific North West, you probably have never heard the phrase: "liquid sunshine". In plainest terms it means rain when there is sun outside. I fell in love with the phrase when I moved here, and looking at my life, I find that the term also applies to my life as I could see joy when there was pain, and hope when times were bleak. And as I recently learned, it takes a breakdown to break through. To me it means looking at the positive when things are negative, like the saying, "when God closes a window, he opens a door."

So what does this have to do with sewing, you ask? 

I'll tell you. But, you need to know a little bit about my past. 

I used to be shopaholic, correction, still on the mend shopaholic. I enjoy shopping, I really really do. I used to call it my 'retail therapy'. Girls, don't lie, some of you are in the same boat. As all of you know, it takes money to fund this "therapy" of mine. Money that I didn't have, or should have spent on expensive clothes. I love the hunt of getting a great item on sale, I love watching to see if a particular item will go on sale and then swoop in with a click of the mouse, for the deal of a lifetime. I love feel of a new outfit, how it outlines your shape, and its crisp ironed feel, from being freshly unpacked. I love the reaction one gets from wearing a new nicely fitted outfit, those appreciative glances, the oohs and the ahhs, and 'where'd you get that? You look amazing!' Call me shallow, but I have a passion for fashion, and it strongly correlates to how I feel and care about myself.

Well, my spending habits got out of hand. I became a new mom, and with that my life began to change, I was stuck at home more and I started dealing with postpartum depression. With a young and restless baby on my hip, I found one of the only ways to entertain myself was to shop online for deals and buy, buy, buy! I discovered dealigg.com and bradsdeals.com and went nuts ordering and impatiently awaiting the arrival of my boxes. At first the thrill of getting a good deal of something I loved was greatly admired. Over time, I started to get disappointed. Pictures were not as they seemed, the sizes didn't fit as well, and I was starting to get angry looks from the clerks at the counter, when I'd bring in pile after pile of returns; thus in turn, messing up their sales goals for the day.  Instead of simply stopping, I continued to order more things, and at an accelerated pace. Boxes were arriving everyday, and my spouse began to notice and question what was being delivered everyday. I tried to play it off. "I'm just simply, returning the items once they get here" or "It's a gift", but after too many deliveries, I gave in and confessed. It didn't feel good keeping this from my spouse, but it didn't feel wrong to me either. So, once my significant other and to my horror, myself, realized just how much I was spending, including frequenting online stores, and visiting malls, I knew I had to come up with a better solution to fuel my shopping habits, yet find that rewarding time I felt in buying clothes. 

Thank goodness for my spouse, for if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have found my cure. 

Hubby: "Why don't you start making your clothes? At least that way it'll take you longer to make something than ordering twenty items. And perhaps you'll find joy in doing so. It won't be cheaper to start but it'll be cheaper than all those boxes coming everyday."

 Me: "But, I can't sew. I tried sewing a frog in high school, and my home ec teacher told me there are some things I should do and some things I shouldn't, and sewing was one that I shouldn't!"Looking back now, I can't believe that a teacher or anyone, should say those things to a child, but now I know. 

Hubby: "So take some lessons, have fun with it. You need a hobby."

And that's how it started. I took some beginner sewing classes recommended by a friend, making items I really didn't need or want, those quaint, old-ish looking items you would resort to saying "that's lovely" when you're really hoping they won't give it to you. But I had fun with it. Putting the needle to the fabric rejuvenated my soul. I became alive in that class. I found my liquid sunshine in sewing! I haven't found something so rewarding before.

I'm finding joy in couture, did you know couture in french means sewing?
That is why I've started a blog, I want to help others find and discover their passion. Whether it be coming here for free sewing patterns, tips or style ideas, or to just discovering what makes up your liquid sunshine.