Last week was all about my new craft love, eco-dyeing. You could be forgiven for thinking that I am fickle, (well I admit I am sometimes!) flitting from craft to craft. For a long time I was trying to focus on doing one thing and mastering it. That old saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none" with its implication that being a Jack was a bad thing used to haunt me. But it no longer does. I now embrace my fickleness. I can't help it – I get distracted by new, bright and shiny things! And there's just so many of them. My friend Eleni summed it up perfectly, I like the creative challenge of a new craft and once I have mastered it, I move on to something new.
I do however, return to my old craft passions when the need arises. Somehow, amidst all the making for Christmas, a new pair of shoes appeared on my list of things to make. I desperately need a new pair of shoes for summer. My Birkies are ten years old and I think it's time for a change. Of course I could always go to a shop and buy a pair but apart from it being against my ethos of trying to make for myself the things I need, once you've worn a pair of hand-sewn barefoot shoes, it's very hard to put on a pair of the clunky, ill fitting things they sell in the shops.
Having someone to share your passions can also help to keep the flame alight. Jessie who I met at The Village Continumm has been sending me pictures of the boots she made for her kids. Seeing those cute little feet wearing handmade shoes got my fingers itching to sew my very own pair of deerskin shoes. I did start a pair of boots but it's just not boot wearing weather and they're not going to be finished any time soon!
Like always I'm getting these done, five minutes at a time, here and there. I even took my shoes to the beach and sat and sewed while the girls played. If you're thinking about doing the same thing – don't! It was a very windy day and the sand got everywhere including stuck all over my artificial sinew. It made sewing very tricky and it took ages to remove all those pesky little grains of sand from my sinew when I got home.
My shoes are now finished, just in time for my annual Christmas trip to Canberra to visit family and friends. The leather is from the tropical Indonesian Rusa deer and is nice and thick. I love the colour of these shoes and my feet feel very happy in their new home. It's so good to make something for myself as well as for everyone else!
What are you making for yourself this Christmas?