We're so pleased to welcome Storyteller Odessa Denby to the Twig + Tale blog, exploring the theme Work in Progress (WIP). Odessa reflects on her own relationship with the idea of a Work in Progress, and how it relates to all aspects of her own creative life. We love how her low-pressure, process-based approach allows projects to evolve in their own time.
Looking back on it now, the decision to learn how to sew is just the natural progression of my life. My whole life, I’ve always been compelled to make. I did theater throughout my childhood and I was always writing little stories, dreaming of the day when I would be a writer. In my late teens and early 20s I made soap and maintained a small garden.
There is nothing so human as the act of creating and seeking expression, but oftentimes, that creative urge is drummed out of us. After graduating college I found myself alone in a foreign country, working full time at a demanding job, learning a new language, and managing all my household errands by myself.
And suddenly I didn’t have time to create anymore. All the things I had been distracting myself from throughout my life had no outlet and I started to suffer from extreme burnout.
When you’re not able to perform the creative activities you once did, are you still a creator or an artist? I have noticed a lot of people struggling with this question as life interferes with many people’s ability to stay connected with the things they love. Was I still a writer or a book lover if I had no time to read or write?
Sewing became a hobby that I could quietly work on through moments of stress. Doing something with my hands helped reduce my stress and also helped reconnect me to some of my earliest interests, such as costuming from my days in theater.
My approach to sewing has continued to evolve and it’s always satisfying to learn new skills and puzzle out solutions to issues that previously stumped me. I like being able to return to a work in progress that I banished to the no-no pile a few weeks or months (or even more than a year) later with fresh eyes. That time and perspective change has made seemingly insurmountable problems manageable.
And now that I have the tools, my wardrobe is not something I simply wear (or wear and discard), but a project I’m developing. When I first started my sewing journey, my motivation was to create something to wear, what else? So I didn’t like leaving things unfinished. I wanted to complete one project and then move on to another. But I soon realized that my brain doesn’t always cooperate. Sometimes I’m not ready for the challenges a project presents. Sometimes my brain needs to work on something, but it doesn’t need a complex puzzle. It needs a calming meditative handcraft. It’s okay to leave things unfinished with the promise of returning when you’re ready.
The concept of “finished” has also become more flexible. I often find myself returning to older projects and tweaking them by making them more durable, more wearable, or adding little embellishments. Wearable is now the goal with most projects. Since I’ve committed to only making or thrifting any additions to my wardrobe, I feel like I have all the time in the world, in a sense. There is no deadline. It’s a journey, not a destination.
I think that’s what being a creative or an artist truly is. It’s not about having endless time and resources to always prioritize making art. It’s also not about churning out masterpiece after masterpiece in nice consumable bites that algorithms like. It’s about committing to that journey of making yourself the ultimate work-in-progress.
Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Everything you learn, do, and experience gives you more to draw from when you can return to your passions. Sewing and writing aren’t natural companions, but I have been slowly finding my way back to writing for pleasure as well.
Currently, I’ve got two projects on the sewing table. The first is a summer dress that I’m Frankensteining together from pieces of various favorite patterns. Summers where I live are getting longer and hotter, so I need to accommodate that with my wardrobe. Instead of buying fast fashion items made from synthetic fibers that ultimately contribute to pollution and also make me feel hot and sticky wearing them, I’m making items from natural fibers like linen to fill that gap. I’m prone to severe sunburn, so my idea of summer clothing offers more coverage than most of what arrives on store shelves every summer anyway.
The second thing I’m making is the T+T Breeze Shirt for my husband. I’m now learning to sew for others and finding ways to share what I’m learning. My husband isn’t adventurous when it comes to fashion, but I love his commitment to wearing things until they fall apart. The Breeze shirt is going to be an item he can wear when we attend renaissance faires together and maybe it will become part of his general summer wardrobe as well… Maybe.
On my writing desk, I also have a new work in progress. I wish I could say that I’ll have it finished in a month, à la NaNoWriMo, but I probably won’t. Sometimes things simply need longer to marinate and sometimes we can’t step away from the responsibilities of our daily life and be completely dedicated to our creations. But that doesn’t make us any less of an artist.
To have a WIP is to still be connected to the act of creation.
But if someone wants to send me on a month-long retreat in the mountains to write and sew without interruption, I wouldn’t say no.
Read more articles from the Twig + Tale Storytellers here.
