When a Selfie Ain't Enough

How many of you fellow sewing bloggers can relate to this story in New York Magazine about the difficulties of employing your partner-in-love as your photographer-in-chief?

For the most part, the boyfriends/husbands in question (the photogs are all male in this story) seem to enjoy being part of a creative project and are eager to support their other half's ambitions. And for the bloggers, it just makes sense; you need photos all the time, so why not enlist the person you love to be with most?

But what do you do when you break up? (And how do you keep your blog photography from coming between you?) Those questions aren't really answered in this article (sorry if you ran there hoping it was a service piece), but it's interesting to consider.

My husband is accustomed now to snapping pics for this sewing blog, but the process is not without its struggles: I get a little nervous about having my picture taken — particularly outside on the streets of NYC, where I feel like all my neighbors are gawking and wondering what we are up to (we don't exactly live in the most scenic, selfie-worthy borough). So I don't like to linger too long in one spot or draw too much attention to myself. Meanwhile, Ryan will often start shooting without checking to see whether in fact his settings are correct or if the pictures even look good or are in focus. I want him to try different angles and check to see whether the lighting is working, or whether I need to turn toward it. He just wants it to be over. I'm not going to lie: we argue nearly every time. 

But without his help, what would I do? I guess set up a tripod and get a wireless remote — and feel even more self-conscious about taking pics in public! Of course, if we lived elsewhere we'd likely have a yard or some space in our home with good lighting, so all this would be moot? 

So for those of you who employ your significant other as a blog photographer, how do you keep things civil? Any tips you can share with the rest of us?

I'm on Facebook! ("Like" me if you like!)

I've been on Facebook for years, but only just finally created a Facebook page for my blog. It didn't really occur to me how important it was until I noticed how I almost never miss a post by those blogs I follow on Facebook. (In particular, I find it hard to keep up with Wordpress blogs, because they don't show up in my Blogger feed. Also, my time for blog-reading is limited, so I appreciate the ease of seeing posts all in one easy-to-read-on-my-phone place). So to help those readers who may not be blogger members themselves stay connected, I created a Facebook page. "Like" it and my posts will appear in your feed, so you never miss anything!

I Will Follow You...Follow You Wherever You May Gooooooo

Hey friends and readers,

The past two weeks I've really been enjoying getting to know my online sewing friends again after a summer-long hiatus on blogging and reading. Seeing your finished projects always opens my eyes to possibilities and patterns I hadn't considered. For example, without you people, I wouldn't know about all these amazing indie pattern company — Victory, Salme, Figgy's, among them. Nor would I know about where to buy cool knit fabrics online (Girlcharlee.com; thank you Lisa G.!)

I read and appreciate all of my readers' comments. And I try to follow all of your blogs in return, when I can find them. So if you have a blog and I'm not yet following it, please let me know in the comments section. I comment as often as I can (though every other time I try to comment on a Wordpress blog, I have to change my password because I can never remember it! Modern day problems...).

Thanks for reading and making,

Suzanne

Running in water

I have had only two recurring dreams throughout my life. In the first I am able to do the splits, which always leads me to believe, upon waking, that I actually can do the splits. That up until now, even through all my years of ballet as a child, it was my own disbelief in my abilities that kept me from being truly flexible. But, of course, I am not flexible and never have been. I cannot do the splits - no matter how hard I believe.

In the other dream I am trying to accomplish some task but minor obstacles and the accelerating march of time conspire to keep me from getting anything done. For example, I'm waitressing and my table orders four lattes, which take me so long to make that the customers have left by the time I return with their drinks.

That's how I feel this week: like everything I need to do is taking me far to long to finish.

Part of the problem is multitasking, which I've long thought to be an admirable skill, but now I know is just a bullshit word for "unfocused." After reading the chapter on "unitasking in A.J. Jacobs' "My Life as an Experiment," I realized what I thought was multitasking was just doing shitty job at a bunch of different thing all at the same time. Now if my husband starts talking to me while I am trying to get through an automated phone system, I hang up, listen to what he has to say and then tell him to call TimeWarner and ask why our bill went up $9 this month. (Seriously, did they think I would not notice? Maybe the old multitasking me, but not the new, totally focused me).