Sewn Apart

12/08/2021

12/08/2021

Made this little Dali portrait the week before the show. It was a good challenge as it was my first time quilting a portrait like this.

12/08/2021

Here are a few photos from last week at The Dalí Museum where I was honored to participate in the art show this year! I'm so glad someone was taking photos because I barely took any, was having too much fun talking to all the people and enjoying the lovely evening.

06/01/2021

Current status: 🌼 in bloom 🌸
Creating space in the heart and in the mind to create the world I want to live in. A world where nature and people are valued equally because we can’t live without nature even though she can live without us.
Been reading so much about compost lately and resilient ecosystems, taking what we need and leaving the rest for a later date and time ensuring our future survival and that of our children. Remembering that we, too, are of the Earth, and she always bounces back.
It’s easy to get bogged down with the weight of the world, but that doesn’t mean that we still can’t bloom.

04/22/2021

Happy Earth Day! 🌎🌻🌳
I like how simple Pope Francis put it at the virtual climate summit today, “We must care for nature so that nature may care for us.”
We wouldn’t make it without her. Don’t forget to take care of mom 🌍 today — and everyday — she takes care of us. 🌿

03/30/2021

Hi again. March has been a rough month to say the least. I’m reposting this tapestry because the question still begs to be asked, How many more hearts have to break before we see real change?

How many more mass shootings does America have to see before we see change? The discrimination against the AAPI community is not okay. The femicide is not okay. The random shootings at grocery stores, churches, movie theaters, public places is not okay!
I recognize my privilege as a white person, yet I still fear my safety as a woman in some situation; I also understand that other women fear their safety more. I stand in solidarity with my Asian friends and the greater AAPI community, and I’m looking for ways to be a better ally.

An estimated 40,000+ people die from gun violence every year in the US. According to , gun violence is the leading cause of death for teenagers in the US. That is not okay, either, and should cause alarm in everyone. Why is it so easy for anyone to get a gun? Why do we spend so much time and money on trials showcasing excuses to justify the a hate crime? Who are we really protecting?
The answer isn’t as simple as gun reform and stricter laws, although we NEED them. As a society, there is still a lot to unlearn when it comes to beliefs and stereotypes of Asian folks, as well as the belief that women are temptations and therefore a reason to be eliminated.
I know thoughts and prayers aren’t enough, so I’m donating a portion of the sale from this tapestry to the and a portion to to support their efforts in safety and advocacy for AAPI women and gun reform.

Swipe for a few resources.

Tapestry is 5’x3’ and offers a prayer of hope that the farther away we as a society get from the source of violence, that our hearts can begin grow lighter and more whole, as well.

01/23/2021

I’ve been soaking in all the emotions of this week. Feeling thankful for the shift in air, although it’s more a pause and sigh of relief before the next leg of this journey. America still has a lot of work to do, after all. I’ve got more thoughts on this, but that’s a different post.

I haven’t felt much like posting lately because I miss my Wela. But whether I write about it or not, the fact remains true that my grandmother, who is one of my favorite people, has died. And that’s okay cause it’s a part of life and it’s what happens, it’s what we all do. But it’s a hard transition all the same. It’s one that we have a hard time accepting in our own lives, and a hard time discussing as a society, mostly because we don’t really have healthy coping mechanisms or healthy conversations around grief and loss. It’s only recently that we’ve started to talk about loss as a society in general. Part of that is we can’t avoid it anymore. Obviously, we have the growing deaths due to Covid-19; an increase in mass shootings in recent years; excessive police brutality. It’s heavy, y’all. And uncomfortable. Nobody wants to talk about it. But the only way through it is through it, friends. And if you don’t want to talk about it, may I suggest painting about it instead? Or shake it out and dance about it. Write about it. Sew about it. Go for a walk and move your body, it releases endorphin. Create something over it. But work. it. out. Grief is much too heavy to hold inside. I tried.

I started .apart because I was grieving. It was my guideline, the rubric and requiem. I created for myself a how-to strategy for healing, how to get through grief and survive trauma. All griefs and traumas are different, of course, and there is no right way to process them. However, there are a few surefire ways of healing yourself after a traumatic event. For me, art was one strategy. Bowties were another. Fashion, too. When something dies, something else is born.

I think the young poet laureate put it so eloquently when she said, “That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried.” And isn’t that the point? To grow, hope, and try.

12/14/2020

I wanted to work in the studio this weekend. I tried to. I said I was going to make some art to get through this, but the truth is.. I don’t feel like it. Not yet anyway. And normally I might force myself to work, however I’m trying to have more grace with myself while I’m grieving. So in the meantime, I may or may not be eating my feelings instead. Wela was a lunch lady for decades and probably fed half the neighborhood, if not more. I spent time in the kitchen thinking of her in lieu of forcing sewing. So now I have morning glory muffins and curry lentil soup (not pictured) to fuel that sewing kick when it comes (and it will because your girl can only stay away from a sewing machine for so long). 🪡


  

12/09/2020

Fashion diaries : funeral addition

Wela always liked when I dressed up so I couldn’t imagine going to her service in anything less than my .apart Sunday best. So I funeral but make it fashion. Gold boots that Wela would say, “Ohhhh baby!” to by , pants from , shirt is thrifted, and 80s linen blazer from Tia Debbie’s closet. Bowtie is, of course, by yours truly.

Fashion helped me through the grieving process before, and it did help me. When you look good, you feel good. And when you feel good, you have the power to change. And we all want change, whatever that change may be. We all just want a lift in our mood.

Life is short, y’all. I know it’s not really kosher for us to hug all the ones we love right now, but you can at least call them and send your love. I love y’all and thank you for your condolences.

*Sidenote : I may look fine and smiling in the photo, however, I assure I was a sobbing mess before and as I post this because that’s how grief works. One minute you’re fine and the next, who the hell even knows what’s happening. The waves of grief are deep enough to swim in forever. Fashion helps me make it to the kiddie pool.

12/07/2020

It’s the end of an era… I started making bowties after my grandfather, also known as Welo, died, and that was the early days of Sewn Apart. Last week, my Wela died and now, everything seems different. The world just doesn’t feel right, which it hasn’t felt right all year because 2020 has been assaulting. But for me, this was a curveball that I just did not see coming.
I started creating - painting, sewing, writing, playing with fashion - as an avenue of self-healing after the death of Welo and other loved ones. So I will continue to create now because art is therapy.
I’m so grateful for my grandparents and for the fact that I had both of them for as long as I did. They are some of my favorite memories. 💞
Rest well, sweet Wela. Thank you for everything. I love you forever. ✨

11/30/2020

Well, we missed Black Friday and Small Business Saturday 🙆🏻‍♀️. And we won’t be running any specials for Cyber Monday 😳 . Instead, I have been focusing my attention on and . I spend a lot of time thinking about waste and how to minimize it and lately, we’ve been planning our building facility to enact all those ideas .💡

Currently, we don’t really have a way to recycle fabric, clothes, or textiles; our form of recycling is donating. So we started a nonprofit with another small business that’s all about figuring out how to ♻️ textiles.

➡️ Swipe through the slides to learn more and follow to stay tuned!

Also, here’s more about :
Founded as a global generosity movement, started in 2012 as a way to give back to the community after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. In 2019, over 27 million people donated to a campaign.
The Sewist Society is raising money to create a future without waste. Imagine the possibilities! A recycling hub, community center, and think take all working towards a more sustainable future.