Irrational Catastrophe

Several weekends ago, under my maniacal supervision, in a mere fourteen hours, one of my very favorite girlfriends Brilliant Chica sewed up the Kate & Rose Giselle dress from start to finish. She walked away with a garment, I walked away with a bigger head. No, really. I literally command myself to LISTEN AND RETAIN INFORMATION when the two of us are together. Intelligence seeps off of her like a heady perfume. I love it. My favorite observation of her beginner's view on sewing:

It's all about the avoidance of catastrophe. 

DAMN STRAIGHT, I hollered back happily. That's why I love my seam ripper. 'Cause stitches be TRIPPIN. (We were singing a lot of Iggy Azalea that weekend.)

She, however, was hellbent on not using her seam ripper. Until she saw that I too had to use that most important tool. Lots. Even with careful planning for catastrophe avoidance. Whatever level you're at, the seam ripper is your Number One Pal. Her surprise turned our conversation to the assumption, propagated by beautiful blogs and eye candy instagram and what have you, that once you reach a certain level, perfect garments appear with very little strife on the maker's end. Sort of like that Facebook syndrome everyone was hollering about. A kind of Irrational Reality. The number of people stitching has grown like some gorgeous untamed vine over the past few years-- I think the last 365 especially has seen an absolute eruption of people picking up needles and joining in the fray. It's wonderful, but also misleading: Everyone is doing it, and look how easily. 

Lately, I've had a lot of emails asking advice on how to begin, how to get a good fit, how I choose my wackadoo combos, how much do I really drink... well. I AM QUITE BRATTILY FLATTERED! But let's be real, not everything in Kalkatroona is a winner. I'm just not showing you the wadders. I mean, I could start a weekly series on What Was I Drinking Thinking. (I'm also not putting Coca Cola in my Gin. The horror.) 

But while some things come (seemingly) easy to me, others don't. I look at the great big beautiful pool of sewing blogs, our version of Reality TV, and fall headfirst into the trap. I look at the reality of Sallie Oh's silks, and Cashmerette's coats, and Amy's undies, and I irrationally think I CAN DO THAT! I TOTALLY HAVE THAT TALENT SIMPLY BY VIRTUE OF HOW INSPIRED I AM!!!! MY HIGH WAIST AND PROTRUDING DERRIERE WILL LOOK AMAZING IN AN EMPIRE TUNIC! AND WHY AM I NOT MAKING ALL OF MY OWN CORSETS?! I WILL BE SUCCESSFUL AT THAT RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE!!!

And maybe I will, but in all likelihood I so won't. I'll dive headfirst into whatever shiny thing has caught my eye, I will try, and fail, and try again, and maybe get better, and maybe fail some more, and maybe decide I don't wanna wear that ever again, and maybe be the best there ever was...which is ALL great. IT'S ALL LEARNING. Sink or swim, you've simply got to jump into the pool. And the deep end is different for everyone. For some, it's couture sewing. For some it's knits and an overlocker. You won't find out until you're standing on your own high dive board, ready to jump. More and more, I find I want to climb up to the top rung, stomp on out, and leap off.

It's where the irrational vibe can work in your favor. Turn it into inspiration, and have your seam ripper ready.

Go get irrational. GO GET CATASTROPHIC. Go sew something.