Sew Grateful Week - Grateful Reflection

Hello again! Something a little bit different today - I'm taking part in Sew Grateful Week 2013 (fashionsfromthepast.blogspot.com) and today's topic is a Sew Grateful Reflection. It's been lovely to take the time to recognise what gifts sewing and the online sewing community really are. So here's my two cents:

I'm grateful for a whole new appreciation for sewing lately. It's always been something I've loved to do, but mainly as a creative outlet or challenge, or even as a way to help out friends and family. Last year though after reading Lucy Siegle's book To Die For, an expose of the global fashion industry, sewing took on a whole new sense of purpose. It's become my way of opting out of the whole insane, exploitative juggernaut that the fashion industry has become. Sewing is my way of making a difference, however tiny in global terms, of ensuring that my wardrobe isn't at the expense of the environment or some of the world's most vulnerable people. Sewing has become empowering, and thus satisfying, in a way that it really hasn't been before. And that's something to be grateful for, I think!

I'm really just getting to know the online sewing community, so it might seem a bit odd to writing a Sew Grateful reflection on it. But I'm already incredibly grateful for the wealth of inspiration I've found. People are just so generous with their projects and knowledge (and whoever first thought up online tutorials deserves a special place in heaven...) I've never been more motivated to sew! I only have one other friend who sews, so it's lovely to think that there's a whole online world of amazing, creative and talented people to meet out there. even after only a month or so, I'm grateful to be part of it all.

Funny how satisfying it is to stop and "count your blessings" like this. I must remember to do it more often in other, non-sewing areas...

Have a wonderful week :)