You're better than you think you are

Every now and then, I meet someone whom I really admire, and kind of wish I had their capabilities when it comes to certain crafts. It happened again recently. A young girl, perhaps in her 20's,was clutching a piece of cloth, pinned underneath a neatly cut-out piece from a sewing pattern. I love things like that. It's not 'just a piece of fabric'. It has it's place in the world, but not just yet.

She was on the hunt for buckram. Now, although she seemed confident, I got the impression she hadn't used it before. "Do you do a lot of sewing?" I asked. I suppose I had assumed her answer would be yes. She would have fitted in perfectly as a cast member of 'The Great British Sewing Bee'; pretty, a sweet girl, and clearly quite imaginative. After her explaining that she'd done some experimenting, altering her clothes etc, she told me that this particular project was something her father had asked her to do. The way she put it really made me feel a sense of 'pride'; "My dad thinks I'm better than I am"... so he had asked her to make him a shirt, hence her needing the buckram to stiffen the collar. It was such a wonderful phrase. Perhaps I read too much into these things, but I definitely feel that there was this talented girl, who really didn't know how capable she could be, with a father who sees potential and encourages her creativity. We had a chat about how daunting dress patterns are, when you're a beginner and you slowly take it out of the packet, and then realise how enormous some of them can be. But, once you actually just go for it, without rushing yourself, it can often be a lot easier than it first... seams!

So be brave! Don't talk yourself into thinking you aren't capable of being just as creative as all of those crafty folk that you admire. You CAN do it. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, just have fun with it! Not only that, but what have you got to lose?