just because i can…

Years ago I was waxing on about something I should do when a friend said…“Just because you can doesn’t mean you have to!” This little tidbit of wisdom has since been a beacon in a sea of indecision and revisited again in the middle of last night. Just because I can doesn’t mean I have to! Sheer brilliance…

I had been sorting & culling clothes from my closet and cloth from my studio over the weekend. It was a combo of creating robust energy in my surroundings and prepping for year-end tax-deductible donations. As the daughter of a war bride I inherited many of her quirky habits; you know the ones like recycling and reusing!  Additionally cast off clothing was always given to someone whose face you would recognize. I continue to have that quality to this day where I want to either remake old clothing or give it to someone I know. Fast forward 60 years… upcycling and repurposing are now the chic words for remaking.

There is a store in Berkeley that sells all kinds of repurposed clothing. Recently I bought a gorgeous cashmere scarf there thinking of course that I could have done this myself.

The idea that I could repurpose tired fleece pullovers into some jazzy, snazzy one-of-a-kind jacket/vest/pullover/you name it had been festering for a while now. I’ve obsessed about the pattern, should I use something ready made, an old pattern or perhaps design a new one? So yesterday I tossed in an ‘intend to repurpose’ pile two fleece vests…one with broken zipper, a brand new pullover for the man who refuses to wear fleece and a tired old red pullover.The pile nearly covered my ironing board which then created unwanted stress about more stuff in my studio!

As I lay in bed the fleece transformation came to mind. I just wasn’t sure which pattern, which shape, how do I get the neck right, yada, yada, yada until voila…an epiphany! Just because I can doesn’t mean I have to!  Just because I have the equipment and skills to do this task I don’t have to do it. Undoubtedly the people repurposing clothing love doing it. I don’t!

When I got up this morning I went directly to the fleece and repurposed the pile! I put the new pullover on the shelf for me to wear, the two vests went into the charity bag and the red fleece back on the shelf because sometimes there are days when a gal just needs some red, old or not!

I also sorted my fabric and pulled a lot of small pieces and books for the Legacy, a local thrift shop carrying sewing supplies.

All the remaining fabrics were arranged by color.They had been previously sorted by color and I laughed about how one value was now darker than the last time I sorted it. I am about to start a new series and the thought has come about making each piece in a different color-way in an effort to whittle down the stash. Hmmm….just because I can… 

When I was a youngster learning the ways of my depression era parents it was considered selfish and even verboten to refuse to do things one could do. Today it just seems incredibly brilliant!