Just sitting here wondering why my mother has disappeared ‘up the street’ for six hours when we are about to embark on an exhausting trip to Melbourne for her to have internal radiation. No matter how many times I say ‘we are organised, there are shops in Melbourne if you forget anything, I know exactly what we need to do, you need to take it easy’ she manages to generate a whirlwind of unnecessary stress around such occasions.
She will return completely exhausted, and freaking out about now not having enough time to pack.
While I await the whirlwind of chaos to return, trying to type quietly so I don’t wake up my dad who as always is having to work too much, I am kind of wishing I could be plugging away at a sewing project, my stress relief and chief distraction of choice in recent months.
There’s something comforting about whirring along a hem, or figuring out something tricky in a garment. Producing something that can be worn, and that is different from what is in the shops (even though there are so so many shops to choose from now, given online shopping, growing up the fat girl with limited teen choices but a love for prints and colour still makes me want it all). I’ve been quite happy with some of my recent makes, moving into wovens (which I have traditionally neglected due to my deep hate of ironing….) and I’m inspired to learn a bit more about fit as well. I’d also like to learn how to draft my own patterns at some point — to be able to copy an existing garment, or to see something I like and have a good idea of how to achieve it without needing an exact pattern from a pattern company.
Secret pyjamas (clothes that look good but are super comfy) are my favourite genre, being tired and achey a lot.
The thing that makes this a good ME/CFS hobby for me is that I can do a little bit at a time, and it’s an inside my apartment hobby. Cutting out used to be a chore as in my old place I would need to do it on the floor and crawl around, but in my new rental we have a large kitchen bench that is just right (I just have to clean it off first from my cooking adventures….).
Here’s some of my recents.
