Why I Do What I Do (When I Do What I Do) And Why I Love Doing It

Why I Do What I Do

(When I do what I do)

And Why I Love Doing It

Lately I’ve had a lot of opportunities to speak up about why I love what I do and why I want to do it. Opportunities like this usually come up as questions regarding the odd lifestyle I’ve chosen to live… I live in a constant pile-acious mess of fabric, thread, invoices, bills, scissors, pins and million unsorted things. I work when I feel best which sometimes is at 3 am. My ideal workspace is a big empty room with great lights where I can put all my toys and take naps under the cutting table. I can put in 60+ hours a week on my various client work.  I don’t punch a clock or wear a suit; pj’s and Post-it’s are more my speed. My client products range from leather work to scuba gear.

And I love it. I struggle daily to keep my business going because I love what I’ve made.

Early on in my business someone told me that I won’t be without problems, like I assumed that running my own shop would be easy. Certainly I never expected that I wouldn’t have problems. Having a business is hard. I don’t like doing paperwork, dealing with hard clients or spending time writing quotes; anything not sewing feels difficult. I’ve learned that all those things that I hate doing are worth it when I see what a difference I make to my clients.

Perhaps for some people it’s hard to understand why I make the decisions and take the risks I do. I won’t ever be happy working a 9-5, it’s just not me. That’s not how I work best. One of the strangest things people see in me is how weird it is that I want to live in my workspace. My current search for a live/work shop has been full of questions about exactly why would I want to live like that. It’s hard to not take it personally but I know what I need for me. I know what I put into my work and for me it is personal. I have devoted my life to becoming the best at what I do and I am fortunate enough to be able to operate in a way that allows me to do what I love every single day. When you find a job that you love that much… doesn’t it make sense that you’d never really want to leave it? Maybe everyone else hasn’t found their passion but I’ve found mine and these are just the things I have to do to make my dreams into a reality.

Calm before the storm...

My love of sewing goes beyond any hobby. My love of teaching my craft goes beyond any work book or lesson plan. My joy in creating the built world goes beyond anything that I have ever felt in my life. In everything I make, I find consistently that the joy is always there through the discovery of handling new fabrics, building patterns that work, helping clients reach their goals.

Sewing is not a dying art to me. I make money with it. I pay my bills with money that I have made making patterns, cutting fabric, and sewing together all kinds of products. Sewing is the most flexible industry for growth and I believe it will be the job that will help turn around the crap-ass state of affairs in our country. Anyone can sew if they are willing to learn and I will be the one to teach them. Give me an outlet, a machine and a willing victim and in no time I’ll give you a line seamstress able to be employed in a sewing shop.

This is what I was put on this earth to do.  I am not getting out easy. I not only expect a challenge, I welcome it. I belong in a position where I can help others through my sewing knowledge. My passion for sewing is deep and I won’t quit being weird to you so love me anyway. Support me as I grow this business. I am going to change the world, I just know it.

I’ve said it a million times, I just want to work and make people happy, and so that’s what I’m going to do.

xo Adrienne

Thanks for indulging in my ridiculous titling of this personal essay ;) 

And, yeah, I said "crap-ass." It's the truth and you know it. Forgive the language lol