a favourite movie

Lots of movies leave me feeling empty at the end.  Even if I enjoy the movie, I don't feel moved, or impressed, or challenged, or inspired in any way, shape or form...  Baz Luhrmann is a crazy Australian film guru who directs movies in a manner that stretches the imagination, the emotions, and propriety.  What I especially love about him is that he pushes the boundaries of everything from genre to tastefulness, and at the end of it I find myself breathless, exhausted, and fulfilled in a way lots of movies fail to fulfill.

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In case any of you didn't know, one of my other passions is sewing.  My favourite thing is to find a ~something~ that particularly inspires me, and build an entire outfit for one of the kids around it - a piece of ribbon, some beads, a colour... and a whole outfit is pulled together, from shoes to ties to hairpieces.

About the beginning of November, Madisyn came to me, hopped up on my lap, and asked, "Hopey?  When are you making our Christmas dresses?"  As I sat looking at about 8 album t be caught up, and tonnes of work for the Workshop and he January announcements, it was feeling kind of pie-in-the-sky-ish to me, imagining having he time to sew...

When I'm sewing, my favourite thing to watch is Moulin Rouge, a fabulous Baz Luhrmann movie that mixes drama, romance, and lovely Hope-brand comedy with modern music in the most amazing way, managing to find a way to infuse everything from The Sound of Music to Madonna and Queen to the Beatles and ABBA and the Police into a movie set in 1899, in the infamous night club called Moulin Rouge, located in the district of Montmartre in Paris, France.  (When I went to France, Montmartre was a must-see for this bohemian.)

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I learned today that for me, there is healing in sewing.  It's food for the soul.  Its a different creativity than picture-taking,  in that I have something tangible and physical to touch and smell and feel afterwards.  And since I've been feeling relatively disconnected from my family for the last several weeks, having a special request to make  Christmas outfit was positively alluring.  And when on our way to the movie store through the mall we happened across some $26 chocolate-coloured leather Mary Jane style Buster Browns marked down to $8.99, with an additional 30% off at the till, I was off and running....

Truth be told I had been in a bit of a snit over not knowing if I'd have time to sew the girls' annual Christmas outfit (the boys have long since outgrown Mama's cheesy ties and vests and elastic-waisted pants...) but I figured, "The hell with it - I will MAKE time..."  And so, inspired by the lusciously cheap footwear, I dug through the fabric cupboards (I have two fridge-sized cupboards full of fabric I've collected over the past 18 or so years...) and pulled out some wonderful brown plaid for a-line yoked skirts, a swath of brown velvet with swirly gold patterns and honey-brown fun fur for capelets, and some swanky pink satine lining, and after finding matching pink, brown, and gold ribbon in the Oceans of Notions tower, I was off an running.  The capelets and skirts are sewn, save for a bit of trim that needs to be added, plus matching fun fur muffs.  I'm running them through the washer; when I get a chance, I will most certainly have the girls model their outfits for you...

Now, go watch Moulin Rouge.  If it can get me to sew two skirts, two lined capelets, and a pair of coordinating muffs in 2 hours, maybe it can help YOU get all productive wrapping gifts or some such nonsense... Sewmouse, if you happen to read this, try it while you're uilting.  I swear, it makes a girl more productive...  (Looking at Ewan McGregor for a couple of hours ain't so bad, either... no worse than spending two hours watching Nicole Kidman strutting about in corsets, boys...)