Red Fielder
Pattern: Fielder Top by Merchant & Mills
Fabric: Linen and ribbing by Merchant & Mills from Stitch Sew Shop
Sewn up: Fall 2019
This red linen sweatshirt only exists because I won a sewing raffle! Stitch had a Me-Made-May event this past spring where they were raffling off a beautiful bundle of Merchant & Mills gear – every me-made garment you wore into the shop earned you one raffle ticket! I was planning to go straight from choir rehearsal, in my usual uniform of RTW jeans and a me-made top, but during a lull on the risers I calculated that I could double my raffle chances if I stopped at home and put on my York Pinafore instead.
Upon arrival, I was told I could also get credit for my tote bag, which the shopgirl recognized as something I had made in my beginner sewing class. So I had three tickets in that little raffle jar with my name on them. And guys, I won! Good thing I went home and changed. 🙂The prize was the pattern for the Fielder, and my choice of linen and ribbing (plus some pretty gold pins and scissors!). The shop had just gotten in so many colors of fancy laundered linen, and I spent a candy-store-esque hour browsing and mulling over my selections.
I decided on the red linen (officially named “demon scarlet”) and the brown striped ribbing, thinking it would be a funky combination and make a linen sweatshirt feel a little more like my style. I finally sewed this up a few weeks ago and it’s my new favorite! I like that it feels a bit classier than just a sweatshirt (thanks, linen!), and also that its origin is an old-fashioned bit of luck!
This red Fielder has unofficially become my “Artist Date” top. I’ve recently been reading The Artist's Way, which has been on my list for a long time. It’s a sort-of self-help book for creatives, aimed at helping you unlock / unblock creative possibilities for yourself. Two cornerstones of the program are the Morning Pages and the Artist Date.
Morning Pages = output: three sheets of handwritten scrawl about anything on your mind, never to be read again, done first thing in the morning, every morning, as a way to remove distracting noise from your brain early in the day. Artist Date = input: weekly outing with just yourself to check out anything inspiring in the world that will fill your inspiration tank. No buddies allowed! Just you, taking in your environment.
I’ve only gone on three Artist Dates so far – a Milk Carton Kids concert, a wander through a local art supply store, a day trip to visit Matisse at the Baltimore Museum of Art*. And this red top, because I finished it right as I was beginning to try out these new routines, and also because the brightness of the red feels festive to me, has become my unofficial go-to uniform. I have worn it all three times.
I have found it a bit funny, and out of the ordinary, to get dressed up every week to go on a date with myself out into the world to take in something beautiful. But so far I am really loving the ritual, and intend to keep treating this demon-scarlet-red-raffle-linen sweatshirt as my Artist Date companion.
*Side Note: Did you know the world’s largest Matisse collection is in Baltimore? And that Matisse is the grandson of textile manufacturers, and that he collected fabric in his youth even before he had any money? No wonder his painted ladies have the most beautifully-patterned dresses and are sitting in rooms of similarly dazzling rugs and wall hangings!
Postcards from my dreamy day / Artist Date in the Matisse galleries at the Baltimore Museum of Art!
~ Photos by Lizzie Epstein - thank you sister!!
Drawing process reel: closet floor photo, pencil sketch, digital drawing.
