Quote of the Day: How Lucille Ball's Sage Advice Saved the Day at Tea Time!

Do you ever feel a little stuck when working on a project? It reminds me of trying to get a car up a slippery hill in winter (something I've gained major experience points in, this year!) You have an abstract sense of what you want the final result to be, and you can clearly see where you are right now, but the path to the final result feels like it is working against you. You make a little progress, and erase it. Make a little progress and throw out your sketch, start over, toss a crumpled paper across the room in the general direction of the garbage bin. 

Yesterday I was stuck on a group of designs I thought I had firmly in my brain. I'd set a goal for the day and was staring at it – scrawled sloppily on a scrap of paper and tacked crookedly to the wall in front of my face. 

I kept sketching the same darned thing, over and over. Yes, brain, I've already got the pattern for that one drafted and nearly finished. No, brain, it doesn't count if you just put a different sleeve length on it. Go home, brain, you're tired. Wait, we are home. Drat.

I decided to take a break to grab a cup of tea (Herbal "Sweet and Spicy") and a graham cracker and it wasn't until I sat down that I noticed the quote on my tea bag.

"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done" – Lucille Ball

How perfect was that? In my moment of feeling droll, ordinary and unoriginal, there was Ms Ball, telling me to just let go and try some new things. I grabbed my pencil and began sketching out some designs based on drapier fabric, thinking about cowls and capelets and how they lay across the shoulders. I'd been focusing on designs using fabric that is easier for the average sewer, when all along my brain was trying to get me to say "Damn the average sewer! I want to challenge the average sewer and to make something truly elegant!" 

This quote was the four-wheel drive to my slippery slope, and I quickly met my goal and started drafting the pattern for this dress: 

I'm daydreaming of drapey rayon crepes and a gorgeous forties broach at the collar. I've also got some sketches of possible panel insertion and trimming for this one. We'll see! 

Have you ever found that perfect alignment of words that helps you forge ahead on a difficult task?

Thanks, Lucy!

xoxo Emily

Quote of the Day: Mary Brooks Picken

"Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade.When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing." 

Oh, Mary Brooks Picken! You're so domestic and painfully dug deep into the trenches of early 20th century gender roles!

Do quotes like these come off as being more dated or sexist? I'm always torn when I find books and pamphlets placing women in the kitchen and men in the workplace, but there is something about the writings of Mary Brooks Picken that occasionally makes me think she was on the right track.

Still, once you get past the blatant assignment of gender roles, I think this quote has a lot to offer. Too often in modern times we divide our attentions among activities. We clutter our brains and our lives with tasks and plans and rarely do we fully devote ourselves to the task at hand. So whether it's cleaning the dishes or changing the oil in your truck, I believe if you really want to excel at a craft you have to be willing to set aside those complications. Tidy up your to-do list, so you can approach a project with a clear mind. 

Anyway, back to the gender roles... Mary Brooks Picken started the Inspiration magazine, as well as the correspondence courses through the Woman's Institute for Domestic Arts and Sciences in the early 20th century and through these two highly influential publications were geared toward "womanly" activities, yes, but they always seemed to encourage women to use their domestic skills professionally. 

Sure, she talked as much as every other contemporary female columnist about women pleasing her "men-folk" (not sexually, folks – by maintaining a tidy house and a gentlewomanly manner) and reading some of the articles in her magazines is enough to make me physically ill with irritation at the brazen sexism, but there are also these strange little gems in her publications on women starting their own shops and businesses, improving and marketing their skills and even building successful careers as independent women. 

xoxo Emily