Learning Curve

My friend Lisa recently asked me to give her a little sewing lesson. I was super excited about it, because Lisa is always telling me that she's "not crafty." I think the only reason she's not crafty is because she's never tried to be! She's got a great sense of style, and she's one of those rare people who has a real appreciation for handmade items even though she doesn't actually make things herself. To me, that's a crafty girl who just hasn't been turned to the dark side yet. : )

So we sat down and made this pillow together. She shopped my stash for the fabric, and gravitated straight to this bold zig zag print that I recently picked up for bags and the like. Here's Lisa's finished pillow looking mighty happy in its new home on her sun porch.

I don't know if I'll turn Lisa into the sewing nerd that I am, but our little lesson got me thinking about the nature of "craftyness." I believe everyone has the capacity to be creative. But it's like so many other things in life—if you don't use it, you lose it. The more you flex your creativity muscles, the stronger you'll get at it. And I know everybody has the capacity to learn a technical skill like sewing. That just takes motivation and practice. (I won't lie—sometimes it takes a lot of practice.) In my mind, creativity + technical skill = craftiness. Therefore, everybody has the capacity to be "crafty." Yes, really.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I believe it really comes down to motivation. If you truly want to learn how to sew (or knit, or decoupage, or whatever), there's nothing stopping you. So what are you waiting for? Get going!