During the off-hours I often find myself at a loss for what to do. The urge to watch TV is all too easy, and to be honest, the options are usually pretty boring. And yet I want to sit still, not only physically, but mentally as well. Hand-sewing is the right combination of physical labor and focused attention for me.
I am always thinking of ideas for sewing projects that will produce nice gifts for my friends. To me, a hand-made gift is more meaningful than any blouse by Marc Jacobs. Ok, well maybe not more than the gift of a Marc Jacobs blouse, but close! Every night I read before bed and the usage of a torn piece of paper is less than inspiring as a bookmark. So of course I thought to make my own.
Here are some early bookmark ideations.
I immediately learned that bookmarks are usually made of plastic, as the stiffness of the material is good for sliding between pages. Yet, I still love the feeling of fabric. I think of these bookmarks as mini quilts. My friend Andrea's now-deceased Kentucky-based great-grandmother made her a quilt for her graduation from high school. Andrea still uses the quilt as her bedspread. It was sewn by hand, which blows me away, not only because it must have taken her many months to construct, but the stitching is as good, if not better than done by a machine. Those Kentucky grandmas! My stitching is of no comparison, but as my boyfriend says, the imperfections is what gives the final product character. Take that, sewing machine!
I think I'm going to give this one to my mom.
