5 Simple ways to enjoy everyday pleasures

A creative life means as we journey through our routine we gather moments of inspiration. Creative opportunities are present throughout our day; incorporating creative time into our daily routines is often easier than we think.

Creative living seems to parallel with slowing down, a conscious choice, and not always an easy one, but with time it leads to more significant inspiration, appreciation, and calmness, in time becoming a way of life. Creativity surrounds use everywhere, every day; here are some tools to help you slow, see and enjoy:

1. Breathe - when life races ahead, pause and take a deep breath. Really feel the air coming into your body; by focusing on each breath, you bring yourself back to the present. 

2. Be present - be mindful of whatever you're doing at that moment. When your mind starts to wonder off, take a breath and gently bring yourself back to the present. Focus on the moment, the environment, hear the sounds and observe the colours, shapes and textures that surround you.

3. Embrace Nature - many of us are in day-jobs and spend much of the day in an office and commuting, getting some outside time can be tough. Start with getting up a half hour early and head outside to walk, to breath, watch the sunrise, hear the birds and other noises, visit a local park, touch the tree bark, or just sit in a new spot while having your morning coffee.

4. Mono-task - In today's busy world we often find ourselves doing multiple things at once. Studies have shown that mono-tasking promotes deep thinking and increases productivity. Start to focus on one thing at a time, when you feel the urge to break away to other tasks, pause, take a breath, and gently pull yourself back. Start doing this during the creative time, experience a new freedom.

5. Find pleasure in every day - this relates to being present and mono-tasking but taking it a step further. Whatever you're doing, be fully present and appreciate every aspect of it. Find an enjoyable angle even when doing the dishes, hanging out the washing or cooking the weeknight meal, take a moment to see the lines, colours, textures and shapes in front of you. When doing the nightly cook, how would it chance the task if you used a different method to cook or served the meal on a plate usually reserved for best occasions? Have a go at cooking by colour, for example, tonight everything on the plate is green etc. sees if it changes how you feel about the task. Does it give you ideas for other projects?

In a world where time is precious, let's not forget to enjoy the time that we do have. 

Creativity surrounds us everywhere in our every day surrounds; allow yourself to slow, see and enjoy.  

As creatives, our productivity doesn't just depend on speed and efficiency. It also depends on our creativity, intuition and innovation, and these things need space to flourish. 

Related Post:

Snippets of daily detail
Every day we walk our calico cat
How a Mundane task turned into a creative day
New fabrics inspired by crushed paper

What to consider when buying a new sewing machine?

Before buying a new sewing machine, think about how you will be using it. Standard clothing repairs and construction don’t require a state-of-the-art, computerized sewing machine. On the other hand, buying the cheapest model available could prevent you from developing your skills beyond the basics and leave you needing to upgrade before too long. Knowing what you’re going to be doing will give you an idea of the features that will be the most useful to you. Before committing to the purchase take a moment to consider the following:

1. What types of projects do you plan to be sewing on the machine? - dressmaking, quilting, bag making, mending, free motion stitching, costumes, evening / bridal wear, curtains etc.

2. What is the thinnest fabric you will be sewing on the machine, and what will be the thickest fabric? - if you plan to make bags or quilt, you will need a machine that can handle thickness with ease.

3. How often will you use the machine and how noisy is it? - How often you plan to use the sewing machine and how loud it is, goes hand in hand. Many sewers, myself included mostly sew in the evening. Unless we have a room that is away from the sleeping family a noisy machine can cause disruptions.

4. What is your budget? - Stretch your budget as much as possible, without breaking it and purchase the best machine you have the budget for. If you are a beginner sewer, consider buying something that may be the next step up. As your confidence and enthusiasm grow, you will want to take on more difficult projects and doing this with a machine that’s set up for this is much more rewarding.

5. How do you plan on paying for the new machine? - Your budget may be determined by how you intend to fund the machine purchase. Will you be using cash, lay-by, credit card or finance. There are many options available if you choose to finance, read the fine print. In the fine print, look for information regarding monthly account keeping fees, transactions fees or any penalties if the loan is paid off early.

6. What attachments & special features are included with the machine purchase? - Most sewing machines come with a range of accessories and features. Ask which attachments come as standard and which you can buy separately.  

Here are a few of the accessories often included:

Presser Feet & Different Width Feet – these are invaluable for basic sewing, allowing you to switch between allowance widths and the zigzag stitch

Buttonhole foot, blind hem foot, zipper foot – these are all essential features for making clothing

Walking Foot, ¼” foot, freehand embroidery foot – these features are necessary if you want to make quilts

And here are a few of the Special Features:

Needle Threader – in some machines this will be automatic and in others, it will semi-automatic or non-existent

Needle Up/Down- This feature allows you to stop the needle either in the up or down position which simplifies pivoting and turning fabric.

Adjustable Speed Control – allows you to adjust how fast or slow you sew.

Needle Position adjustment – Allows you to move the needle either left or right. Ideal for zippers, top stitching and bag making.

Lighting – make sure you can adequately see what you are sewing.

Automatic Thread Cutter – Many machines have an automatic thread cutter; all you have to do is push a button, and it cuts the thread

Knee Lifter – It allows you to lift the presser foot while your hands are holding the fabric in place, ideal when free motion quilting.

Stop/Start button – Some machines have a start-stop button which means you don’t need to have the foot control attached. 

Free Arm – A removable piece from the sewing deck which allows you to slip something narrow (like a sleeve or fabric bowl) under the needle.

Extension Table – extends the table area which is helpful when quilting or free motion stitching

Size of work area - Specialty machines for quilting have a larger area from the needle to the shank of the machine which makes it much easier for bunging up your quilts when quilting them.  

7. How many stitches does the sewing machine have? - At the very least make sure it has: Straight stitch, zig zag & buttonhole and that you are able to alter the length/width of these with ease.  With these stitches, you are able to achieve most general sewing projects. If you plan on quilting with the machine ensure it also has the option to free motion stitch.

    Another aspect to consider is service after the sale. To keep a sewing machine in good running order, it needs to be serviced at least once a year and more regularly if it’s in heavy use. Are there service centers in your local area and do they repair all brands?. If you already have a brand in mind, call your local center and ask the service person if they service that particular brand. There is no point in buying a new sewing machine that is too difficult to get repaired.  Many service centers have preferred brands. It is worth asking them if there are any brands they really don’t like repairing or won’t fix. A poorly repaired machine is very frustrating and affects the enjoyment and quality of your sewing. 

Related Posts
Are you having trouble threading the needle

How a mundane day turned into a creative day

Make a simple sketchers go bag



 subscribe to 'The Mel's Artistic Journey' newsletter

How a mundane task turned into a creative day out?

The day began routinely walk the cat, re-started morning pages, wash the car, breakfast, do a load of washing and drop the car off to get four new tyres and full wheel alignment. I had booked the car in for a 'while you wait' service taking about one and a half hours. On a whim, well I noticed a bus stop nearby and thought why not. Dropped the car off and caught the bus into town. Of course, there was a bit of looking at the shops, coffee and watch the world go by and finally ended up in the library. 

Allowing the whim moment to keep evolving I went to a section of the library I hadn't previously been and wondered the shelves to see what might grab my attention. A black spined book with white child-like writing peeped out from its bigger neighbours. The way it peeped out reminded me of Calico when we play hide in seek. "Steal like an Artist" by Austin Kloen, intriguing title, unique format 6" square and just one hundred and forty pages long. Page nineteen caught my eye as I thumbed through, right there in black font while on an unplanned trip to the library are the words.

You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else - that's how you'll get ahead. From "Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon.

mmm.. not sure where this will go, oh well!. Let's run with it. I had one of my sketchbook bags with me so pen and paper in hand. I firstly copied phrases, words and ideas that inspired. As I copied, new ideas came to mind, and I ended up doing a form of word association.

Word association is the process of using at least one word that is related to your topic as the starting point, then allowing your mind to spit bull (no filters) additional words and thoughts that spring to mind.

Start by writing the word at the top of the page. Look at the word and write down whatever comes to mind. Keep writing until you feel tapped out. Review the list and highlight the words that resonate with you. Write these words in columns across a new sheet of paper and one word at a time repeat the process. Once you've finished, sit back and have a look at the lists and again highlight the words that resonate with you. Often there are common elements. This collection of words is now the basis for further investigation. 

I was first introduced to this process during a workshop with Textile Artist Carol Wilkes via a dictionary wordplay exercise. We made a list of words that related to the assigned topic and using thesauruses and dictionaries we looked up each word and expanded the idea. The vintage of the dictionary can yield entirely different results.

Dictionary wordplay, word association and mind mapping are my go-to tools when exploring new subjects, deep diving a project investigation, resolving a stuck point or just exercising the mind with a bit of creative playtime. As you gather and collect inspiration include word association as part of the process, you never know where it will take you. My sketchbooks are works in progress and an ongoing resource; they often end up with all sorts of side thoughts, quick sketches, photos, collected bits n bobs and odd bits of paper. To get you started, I've put together a Word Association Worksheet, it's in PDF format.