I am coming more to grips with the fact that by-in-large this whole craft for cash thing is mostly, well, not a failure, but definitely an experiment that has caused me to redefine my situation.
Yup, by-in-large, I am a housewife. A woman married to a house. (Not really, and I know that being a house wife is really freakin' hard.. why do you think I spent a year trying to avoid it?) The foray into career-craft-worker had turned my house into something like a tiny, messy, live-in factory. ( I do not craft cleanly..and the craft cave cannot contain my crafty exuberance, let alone my set-up sewing machine.) As I clean up for 2008, I am seeing that this is not ideal. I also am coming to grips with the fact that there will be no studio space for Betty in the near future...Optimism alone can not create out buildings.
So since I am now a housewife with all the powers and privileges that title entails, , I must assume some more active responsibility for the condition of the house and surrounding grounds. Otherwise I am just a very crafty Kato Kalin. (And I will be quite satisfied with a small, manageable, online craft business on the side... way on the side.)
So in that spirit:
here are two chairs... recovered by moi.
A teeny bit less shabby, a smidgen more chic.
Just a girl on a mission, trying to earn her keep.
oh, you are wonderful. i love what you've written (crafty Kato Kaelin, hah! i feel that way so often, and I would never in a million years imagine you that way), and those divine re-covered chairs too!
ReplyDeleteyou go! i love the office chair especially. i was a housewife for my daughter's first four years and i miss it terribly. now i am a part time house wife, part time day job worker. i would much rather be putting all that energy in to making our home wonderful and my heart toasty with creativity. ah, some day.
ReplyDeleteI just read an interview with The Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching. She started her business in 2001 and just made enough to pay herself a living wage LAST YEAR.
ReplyDeleteThat made me want to cry.
It's a damn shame that people who make things, talented people like you, can't make a living doing it.
I LOVE the chairs. They are awesome. The red one pulled my heartstrings. It looks just like a chair I got on big trash day in San Francisco. I miss that chair.
The chairs turned out great! I find that even just a little spruce up can make a big difference. Being a housewife is hard, that is why crafting is such a great creative outlet. Don't give up the dream ;-) !
ReplyDeleteWhoa Nellie! Just a minute! Slow down! Don't you want to think about this? Don't be too productive on the homefront. You'll give me a guilty complex. (my bamboo settee is still short one new cushion cover- eek)
ReplyDeletethe chairs are super. I'm trying to give my home some more attention too. I pretty much neglect the renovation/cleaning work for stitching, and I leave piles of scraps everywhere. I know I'll feel better if I put some more effort into it.
ReplyDeleteand FG, about Sublime Stitching, really? That is just good to know.
You're always an inspiration!!! Love the office chair. The red chair looks like home doesn't it!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful job on the chairs! I need to do that to my office chair. It's so blech and drab.
ReplyDeleteI love what you said in this post about being a housewife. Without going into too many details, something about it just struck me and, so, THANKS!!!! And those chairs are great! :)
ReplyDeleteAh, Betty - your epiphany sounds like mine, except for the cleaning part. It was a hard realization for me. I'm still processing. Maybe if I (finally) recover my dining room chairs I'll feel better. Your chairs are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLaurie
Ah... see now there is little reason for me to even blog since you have said just what I have been thinking and mulling over about my New Year and how to come to a bit more balance and not feel some inner pressure to be the next Posie or Betz or any of the other great gals out there who have made a rather nice splash for themselves. Its a hard thing to come to since no longer a designer (years ago) finding who I am outside motherhood has been hard.
ReplyDeleteAs a mother of 5 homeschooled kids I have in a sense made my choice and until I want or need to make another I think I need to keep on track with caring for my home, my children and my husband. Sewing and crafting for myself and sharing my outcomes for the fun it not because I feel some sort of inner competition or some other such nonsense.
maddie
www.domesticanarchy.blogspot.com
Chair recovering therapy always does the trick. That red chair is to die for!!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought of doing a book? Your writing is always clever and witty ...combine that with your passion for vintage fashion. How could you go wrong? Maybe sharing patterns or how-to? Your fortune could be in the sharing...
ReplyDeleteThere are times I wonder why I can't ever make just one of something and be satisfied..why I somehow feel like I need to spin that it 10 to sell.
ReplyDeleteOur house is just plain shabby/messy right now and I don't like it. I am not a neat person, but I'm extremely sensitive to clutter and this makes for big conflicts. I see pictures on blogs of these beautifully clear (some cozy) homes and wonder how it's done.
The chairs look great and I do hope you consider what Frizz wrote about doing a book...or more Youtube tutorials!
Ok, first... love the chairs. UBER COOL. :D
ReplyDeleteAnd boy do I hear you! I ran numbers last night and Thrifty Goodness has hardly earned its keep! At times, the whole house is littered with the "store", between photo shoots and listing and shipping. Meh! IZ used to call it my "habit that pays for itself" and now refers to it as the giant sucking sound in the room. Joy. Joy.
Hang in there. The chairs are really great. :D
They look really fab! I love the dotty fabric.
ReplyDeleteI am married to a house too. ;o)
I should probably spend less time on here and more time cleaning......oops!
holy crap! LOVE THE CHAIRS.
ReplyDeleteand magically, being a housewife does not give us all the damn time in the world to do what we want. it's actually damn difficult.
I love both of your chairs! I have been thinking for a long time how much I would love to have a desk/office type chair recovered in vintage barkcloth so it would actually be pretty and useful/comfortable. And I love chenille, so I really like your Danish Modern teak or whatever wooden chair refurb, too! Great job.
ReplyDeleteLaughin' about the "crafty kato kalin"...and the chairs are perfect. I would LOVE to be able to transform something like that with fabric...you are very, very talented.
ReplyDeleteMost impressed!
ReplyDeleteThe chairs look amazing. The office chair must have been a little more difficult though.
ReplyDeleteI *love* the prints and the end result is just fantastic. Now I'm kind of wishing I had chairs to cover.
ReplyDeleteBeing a housewife is my dream job. I've done it and loved it better than any paying position I've ever had. This month I get to be a housewife again for the first time in a very long time and after that? Every thing I do will be to get myself back to being a housewife.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of chairs I need to make slip covers for. I hope I can do it!
That is a great idea, to slip cover a sewing/computer chair. I have to slip cover my living room furntiture and I need to do that soon. Maybe I should start with my chair though, hmmm. I'll have to give it thought. Thanks for the idea.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it wonderful that you took time to figure out what would make you happy and now you're going for it. Your new year is starting off with some really pretty newly covered chairs :)
ReplyDelete"A wife to my house"....perfect. I wrote an essay about wanting to be a housewife in second grade. Even as a single parent, I made it. I'm sure everything will be fabulous, can't wait to see it! - Rose (aka, "I hate blogger comments")
ReplyDeleteBeing on maternity leave for a while has made me a house wife for the time being. I wish I could also grow more square footage through sheer will power. If I could, we would have a very large house. For now, it remains "cozy" (read "tiny"). Cheers to you being able to embrace it!
ReplyDelete