Being virtually sociable

I confess that I don't read a whole lot of other folks' blogs (even though, in my professional life, I actually *do research* on craft and sewing blogs....go figure). A lot of the time I start reading what other people have been doing, and I get impatient, and I need to go make things myself to relieve the feelings of dissatisfaction I get from having idle hands. Every once in a while, though, I poke my head out of my crafty turtle's shell, and I sample a bunch of blogs in one sitting. This week, I was inspired by the Free Fabric Friday contest assignment at the Sew, Mama, Sew blog: all I had to do to enter was name a craft or sewing blog I like (I named Mama Urchin). The payoff (since I know I won't win the fabric....) was that I found out about a lot of blogs I hadn't seen before. (I'm not one of those in-the-know gals, really....).

Anyway, the one that really caught my fancy is Nikki Shell's Wardrobe Refashion. I liked the idea of her blog so much that I signed The Pledge and enlisted for a two-month contract. Here's my pledge:

I, Seis Manos, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 / 4 / 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that my thriftiness brings! Signed, Seis Manos.

Of course, I feel a *little* cheesy about doing this because, with the exception of underwear, tights, and t-shirts sporting witty messages, I almost never buy new clothes for myself. I'm no purist, as I've made abundantly clear in other posts.....I just find the experience of trying on the poorly-made, ill-fitting clothes available in stores to be one of the most joy-killing wastes of time in my world. (Really, I can't think of many things that are more depressing, and I felt this way before I became my current XL self. Now I just have the skills to act on my inclinations).