Curiouser and curiouser

I am in the process of running some kind of circus. It's a one-woman show, but I bet it's entertaining. The story line?

Oh, only my slow demise into insanity.

For those of you unaware (which at the moment I am fairly sure includes no one that reads this), I am a final year fashion and textile design student.

By December, I will have (hopefully) a 6-piece collection fully made and walking down a catwalk.

And yet somehow I manage to think I need to take on more.
Never say No...yes?

Competitions. I love entering them, as they give me some kind of satisfaction. Having your work accepted by someone other than your family (well, my family are very open with their critiques, and will more often than not tell me when something doesn't work), and in some cases paraded in front of many people you don't know, makes me feel like I'm a part of a network. My competition is no longer just myself, but a whole gaggle of other frantic home sewers. And let's face it, in a world where consumerism pumps out thousands of garments a second, where else would wearable art creations manage a stage?

Searching the net 3 weeks ago, my friend and I came across a competition that looked like it had been designed purely for me. Alice in Wonderland themed, Art U Wear. Brilliant.

Not quite so brilliant was the due date, 3 weeks from when I came across the comp. No worries, I told myself, You can do it.

What followed was a two week insight into what the next 6 months of my life are going to be like.

Social Life? Nil.

Eye sight? Poor.

Ventures outside my house? Are you kidding? See this handcuff? Yeah it joins me and the sewing machine you're looking at.

And what an emotional roller coaster.

First, the colours didn't dye as I wanted.

Then, the design stopped working for me.

The skirt took days to stitch together. And then the small patchwork pieces would fray and come apart from each other.

My dog found it nice to sleep on.

And about 1.2km of thread were used up. A few more kilometres were covered every time I ran out of thread and had to run to the shops to buy more.

But somehow, I still don't know how, I came out the other end, a dress in hand looking nothing like I'd planned, but a dress all the same.

What I also came out with was a realisation...

I actually love doing this stuff.

I got an email today from a lady who edits a textile magazine. In it she asked me to enter another competition.

And you know what?

I think I will.

The show must go on.