fledge capable of flying, from Middle English flegge, from Old English -flycge; akin to Old High German flucki capable of flying,
Old English flEogan to fly -- more at FLY
intransitive verb, of a young bird : to acquire the feathers necessary for flight or independent activity

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Sewing, clothes, kids and love.



I started this post in December, 2008. I just never really had the nerve to say what I need to say out loud. I've been waiting for the powers that be to say something like, "Um, Nancy, we made a mistake. No, not going to happen. Thanks for playing."

This is an announcement and I'm not terribly comfortable announcing it. Oh, it's good news, for sure. It's just that, well, I suffer from a bit of underconfidence. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, if you don't do anything, you don't do anything embarrassing. On the other hand, if you don't do anything, you don't
do anything. Which is a bad thing.

The six people who actually read this blog know what I am about to announce anyway, so it's not much of an announcement. But announce I will. Here goes:

I was asked to write a book. Title:
Sewing Clothes Kids Love. A book about sewing, clothes, kids and love.

And I said yes.

And I wrote it.

There. I said it.

Now, just forget I said that until it's published.

And then buy the book.

All right, all right, let's back up a bit. Yes, I have written the manuscript for a book about sewing for children. To be published with Creative Publishing International. Now, let me make this very clear: I might be the hands for this book, but YOU--and you and you and you over there and you hiding over there...YOU are the
heart of this book. This might be my baby, but Sabine Pollehn is the mother (not the best metaphor; I'll have something better for the book). This book will be comprised of inspiration, ideas, patterns and the joy of creating clothing for your very special little someone as started by Sabine Pollehn. There are plenty of also-rans (yours truly included) and I love them all. But Sabine was the genesis of this kind of creating children's clothing.

And then I want to also somehow capture the story of how much the creative talents of
Nic and Maiga and Jeanette and Claudia and Diba and Sanna and Chris and and and and*...have organically and spontaneously added new spice to this stew of ideas (still not a great metaphor: I've saved any good writing for the book). Farbenmix and studioTANTRUM/Fledge really is the old Stone Soup story: Everybody adding a little bit to nourish the creative endeavors of thousands. I truly hope this book documents the phenomenon.

But then there will also be a lot of real value in this book. I get it: The economy. Luxury and non-essential purchases are being dropped faster than Jennifer when Brad saw Angelina walk on set. So there will be a
lot of bang for the buck. Lots of projects and sewing patterns. And goodies at that! No duds. No napkins, I promise. The value of the patterns will very likely well, well exceed the cover price. I've been reading reader reviews on Amazon for sewing and crafting books. I'm paying attention. Pretty pictures is one thing, but something to really sink our sergers into is what a lot of you want. But the book will be beautiful. How do I know? Well, for one thing, I am contractually obligated to produce beauty. It's right there in the wording of the contract. Seriously: I put my name on the dotted line to create "beauty". So far, I've pursued beauty, but now I'm contractually obligated to capture it. Have I? I think I have. Very likely in more, but in three particular instances, for sure, I'm confident that there is something beautiful. What has been beautiful is the support and contributions and enthusiasm of many people. That's for sure. I've tried to weave together a tapestry of talent.

I'm not very comfortable with self-promotion. Either you like what I do or you don't. And I'm good with that. Mostly. But, really, between you and me, what I truly want is for you and everybody to do something creative and expressive and do it with love. If I can facilitate that in some way, then I want to do it. I hope that is what happens with this book. I envision this to be a book for beginners, absolutely, but I am not leaving the more advanced sewists with nothing to do. Wait until you see what we have for you. There are many lovely, lovely absolute beginner books and I think they have done an excellent job of introducing sewing to the many, many people for whom the craft of sewing has skipped a generation. My planned book is for those of you bitten by the bug and wanting to see how far you can go with your rotary cutter. Several design will be brand-spanking new. Several will be existing designs revisited and revised. This book will be an opportunity to really go in to detail of using these types of patterns and the different techniques we like to use to construct the garments.

And yes, there is every intention to publish it auf Deutsch. I think it needs to go Dutch, as well. Japanese? Oh, yeah! One step at a time. That's part of the reason we decided to do this project with this publisher, because they are very internationally present.

So why a book? Well, first off, the book came to me; I didn't go to it. In a world of go-getters, I suppose there must also be come-to-them-ers. And much of the time, I would count myself in the second category. And since the editor and publisher passed my test, which is basically recognizing that this style of handmade clothing design for children--despite our amateur ways, marketing naïvité and dogged independence--is a good thing. Some people just "get" it. If you get it, I don't need to explain it. If you don't get it, I can't explain it. Well, I'm going to have to be able to explain it. But I will to pry those pearls of wisdom from my oyster-shelled thought process ("oyster-shelled thought process"? I'm glad my editor is a good one. I need it.).

Thing is, I know I could do this. Well, I could do this with a lot of help from Sabine and a few others. As has been the case all along.

My manuscript is off. The patterns have been designed and drafted. The photographs have been taken. The editors are going over it with a fine-toothed comb this very instant. I did the very best I could. I put a lot of thought into it, Sabine put in a ton of beautiful work and I really hope we did a good job for you.

Am I missing anything? Is there something you'd like in a book?

Better metaphors: check.

*
and and and and and and and and and and ...


Guck’ mal da: Bereits im Dezember ’08 habe ich mit dieser Posting angefangen. Seitdem habe ich’s mir nicht zugetraut, diese Bekanntmachung, ähm, bekannt zu machen. Ich habe darauf gewartet, von den höheren Mächten zu hören, “Also, ‘schuldigung. Unser Fehler, Nancy. Wird nichts. Aufwiedersehen.”

So sehr angenehm sitze ich mit dieser Ankündigung nicht. Es ist gute Nachricht, auf jeden Fall. Aber nicht ohne große Verantwortung—euch gegenüber.

Die sechs Menschen, die dieser Blog in Wirklichkeit lesen wissen bereits, insofern ist dies nicht die grösste Ankündigung. Aber bekannt geben werde ich. Also:

Ich würde gebeten ein Buch zu schreiben.

Und ich sagte ja.

Und ich schrieb das Manuskript.

Das war’s. Nun vergiß dies bitte…bis eben das Buch erscheint und dann dieses dann kaufen.

Okay, okay, fahren wir doch ein Stückchen zurück. Das Buch wird “Sewing Clothes Kids Love” heissen und wird 1. Sewing, 2. Clothes, 3. Kids und 4. Love beinhalten. Dies wird durch Rockford Publishing, Creative Publishing International veröffentlicht.

Nun möchte ich in einer Sache ganz klar sein: Ja, ich habe das Manuskript geschrieben; ich bin die Hände, aber das Herz dieses Buches liegt bei DIR und dir und dir und dir darüben und auch dir dahinten in deiner stillen Ecke. Das Buch ist mein Baby, aber Sabine Pollehn sei die Mutter (nicht die verständlichste Metapher; das gute Schreiben hebe ich alles für das Buch auf). Das Buch wird u.a. Inspiration, Ideen, Schnittmuster (ja, Schnittmuster) und die Freude ans Nähen für die kleinen lieben in Deiner Welt nach dem Phänomen Sabine Pollehn/Farbenmix darstellen.

Dennoch habe ich versuch die Story hinter diesem Phänomen darzustellen, in wieweit die Talente von Nic und Maiga und Jeanette und Claudia und Diba und Sanna und Chris und und und und und und*… organisch und spontan neue Gewürze in die Farbenmix Suppe gebracht haben.

Und es kommen die Schnittmuster. Es werden sowohl bekannte Schnitte neu besucht und revidiert also auch ganz neue vorgestellt. Für beide Jungs und Mädls (wobei Mächen sind zwangsweise überrepresentiert, aber Jungs sind auf keinem Fall vergessen). Uns war wichtig, daß das Buch vom guten Wert ist. Alleine die Schnittmuster werden den Buchpreis seinem Geld wert sein. Einiges mehr, sogar. Ich habe auf Amazon die Bewertungen von Nähbüchern gelesen: Schöne Bilder sind nett, aber vielen wollen auch feste Mahlzeiten, etwas für die Nähmaschinen zum richtig Anbeissen  haben. Wir haben eine breite Palette an Projekten: Sowohl Anfänger als auch für Erfahrere. Aber schön wird das Buch auch. Wie weiß ich das? Weil im Vertrag stand in der Tat das Wort “beauty”. Ich habe bisher versucht Schönheit nachzugehen, aber ich bin jetzt vertraglich gebunden auch Schönheit zu produzieren. Ich habe schöne Designbespiele, schöne Models, ein professionelles Editing Team … insofern ist ein schönes Buch möglich. Ich habe bereits Schönheit in der Unterstützung und im Enthausiasmus der Beteiligten erfahren. Ich hoffe, diese Schönheit wird im Buch übertragen.


Ich hoffe sehr. Herbst soll’s soweit sein.


34 comments:

mizoal said...

ich freu mich drauf!

lg
anke

Vicki said...

:0)
I'm so happy for you!
I've admired your patterns for a long time, I just have a couple of them which I had to sew up for little girl friends because I used to just have boys. I have a baby girl now and I'm excited for making her redondo skirts and such in a couple years. Anyway I'm pretty sure I will buy your book, I bet it will be awesome and I can't wait to see what's in it.

Missy said...

Hooray! I can't wait to sink my serger into some of your great ideas.

blessings,
Missy

willow and moo said...

Excuse me madam, you have forgotten one important detail...WHEN WILL WE BE ABLE TO GET OUR HANDS ON THIS BOOK????

I need to know how long! I'm not a patient girl. I can't wait to see it!

nik und lou said...

oh, nancy,
wie spannend !
ich lese schon länger still Deinen Blog und bin immer begeistert von Deinen Fotos und den Texten. Beste Voraussetzung also für ein Buch !

Freu mich schon auf den herbst !

LG Inga

Unknown said...

Dear Nancy,
that is FANTASTIC news. Congratulations to you and THANKYOU!!
Can't wait to buy!
xoxo Andrea

Sanna said...

Liebe Nancy,

ich freue mich sooooo sehr auf dieses Buch.
Und ich bin mir sicher: Auch wenn es zunächst in englischer Sprache erscheint, dass es uns deutsche Nähmuttis nicht vom Kaufen abhalten wird. *lach

Liebe Grüße
Sanna

Twisted Fabric said...

Wonderful news. What will be the size range of the patterns?

I can't wait to get my hands on your book.

Klasse-Kleckse said...

Ich freu mich - für mich, für alle, aber ganz besonders für diejenigen, die daran beteiligt waren!

Es ist sicherlich ein Meisterwerk geworden.

Gruß Uschi

★BUNTIG_Svenja★ said...

.♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.
...das will ich aaaauch..;O)

freu mich ....;O)

liebst
svenja...;O)

Chris said...

Girl, I'm soooooo proud of you !!!! I'm absolutely certain you did a very good job !!!

I wish I could give you a hug in person now, but since this isn't possible, a cyber-hug has to do :O))

XOXOXO, Chris

Kymarami said...

Wie wunderbar,
ich freue mich jetzt schon auf deine tollen Fotografien!
Ach wer es doch schon Herbst!
Ganz viel Erfolg wünsche dir und den anderen Beteiligten damit!

LG Linda

crisl said...

oh nancy !!

das ist ja sowas von wundrvoll! klar für dich,aber vor allem auch für uns alle,die wir deine schnitte und deine fotos und deine ganze art lieben!!!

vielen dank dafür ich freue mich irre darauf!

lieben gruß und hey,eeetwas weniger bescheidenheit!!!

crisl - die auch deinen blog liest!!

Sarah said...

Congrats on the new baby finally being out of the bag (if not out in the world)!!! I know I'll be pre-ordering as soon as they let me. Thanks for making this for us!

die Komplizin said...

Oh ich freu mich schon sehr auf dieses Buch und besonders auf die schönen Fotos von dir.

GLG Dana

ZWERGENSCHÖN said...

congratulations, mother of feliz, erschafferin von mädchenträumen gross und klein ;-)
ich freu mich mächtig auf das buch...dank fm bin ich in das mysterium NÄHEN gehüpft und hätte das noch vor einem jahr nie und nimmer geglaubt...jetzt...trau ich mich ganz bald...an das grösste werk...DEINER FELIZ!
oooooooh ich wünsch mir glück...und dir natürlich auch...zu deinem BUCH!
love, silke

Frileluna said...

Liebe Nancy!

Auch ich freue mich schon so auf dieses Buch. Ich musste es mir auch gleich heute bestellen. Die Freude so ein schönes Buch in den Händen zu halten und sich in ein Märchenland voll schöner Bilder zu verzaubern lassen ist einfach schön.

Ganz liebe Grüße von Frieda

Wondermommy said...

I'm so happy to hear the book is happening! I can't wait until it is published. We love what you do! You are an inspiration!

mooi hoor... said...

Whoopee - ready! Well done Fledgie. Are you ready for the book tour ;))

P.S.: Of course I can't wait to see it!

*Sweet*Caroline* said...

Can't wait to hold it in my hands!!
Congratulations!!

Sabine

Atelier Eigenhandig said...

Herzlichen Glückwunsch ! Ich freue Mich. Kann kaum warten bis es da ist.

Liebe Grüße aus die Niederlande von Janny.

princesstomato said...

'bout time you let the world know! i am so proud of you!

Steffi said...

Congrats,Nancy!I can´t wait to see your book...

paulapü said...

herzlichen glückwunsch liebe nancy!!! ich bin gespannt und aufgeregt.
glg maiga

anjana said...

Nancy!!

You are something else, I am so happy you did it!!

I should have known the book had something to do with sewing, that is so great!

Congrats to you, I know it'll be a hit.
I have to wait til Feb 2010 to get it? I WANT IT NOW!!!


XOXO

Anjana

lissilulu said...

oo oo oo! I think I am one of the 6 that read your blog! :o)
But alas I didn't know you were writing a book.
Yay for you and I can't wait to see it--I am so addicted to designing little girls clothes it's embarrassing.
still wanting to make my little skirt design into a pattern for sale and just cant get started.

Congrats!!!
Lori

blueberry said...

HERZLICHEN GLÜCKWUNSCH! Auch wenn ich nicht besonders gut nähen kann und (noch) keine Kinder habe: Du machst echt wunderbare Sachen und dein Buch wird bestimmt total toll :)

Werde es bestimmt für eine Zukunft mit Nähmaschine und Kindern kaufen *g*

Liebe Grüße und genieß diesen Erfolg!
blueberry

nic [luzia pimpinella] said...

du glaubst gar nicht, wie sehr ich mich darauf freue....

kann nicht schon herbst sein?
xoxo...

nic [luzia pimpinella] said...

sorry...

herzlichen glückwusch natürlich an dich, nancy...

obwohl... vielleicht... herzlichen glückwunsch an die WELT, die so ein tolles buch bekommen wird! =D

Kristen said...

fantastic news & very well deserved! sorry I have been lax in my blog reading & just found out now...life gets in the way.

I can't wait to get my hands on this goody!!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
The Enchanted Square said...

I just found your book and made my first piece for my daughter. Thanks for making such inspiring patterns! http://theenchantedsquare.blogspot.com/2010/03/sewing-clothes-kids-love.html

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