My Wish List

So, you know, world peace and enough food for everyone, kindness and compassion and good health for all and an iPad on every school desk.

But let’s say all that is taken care of–what else do I wish for? I don’t make actual Holiday Lists because we don’t do the whole gift-giving thing and haven’t for years. I definitely don’t need any more stuff. Oh, my, nononono. But I grew up an only child, just the tiniest bit spoiled at Christmas, and it’s still fun to imagine what I’d put on my Wish List if I kept one and *if* there were actually a benevolent old guy for whom money was no object and who had elves to do all the assembly work, not to mention having some help with the whole delivery-and-set-up issues. And, oh, yeah: if space were not an issue. At this point in my life, I’m dreaming of things that would kind of require I have a whole nother building set aside just for them.

So on my list, I’d put:

–an industrial sewing machine, one of those that will sew through layers of leather as if it were nothing. I want to make some leather bags out of recycled leather, but I do *not* want to do any of this heavy-duty sewing by hand. It would need to come with an operator, since I don’t want to have to get used to yet another sewing machine.

–a butcher block table that’s wide enough and long enough to spread out the entire garment pattern without having any of it hanging over the edge and without my having to shift and move, shift and move. That would be a luxury, indeed. In fact, let’s have three of these. You know, for working on three separate things at once.

–some sort of thread organizer that’s Perfect. I do not know what this would be, but I’m sure there is one: I want all my spools of sewing thread to be organized by color with their attendant bobbins and with space to add new colors without having to shift everything to make room. And while I’m at it, I would like it if the bobbins were auto-renewing, so they’d fill themselves and I wouldn’t even have to think about it. This system would be protected from dust and from the inquisitive paws and teeth of Clarice, the youngest cat. It would be out of the way but instantly accessible, with every color (and of course it would have every. Single. Color) they make.

–also a perfect needle organizational system, so that needles are arranged by kind and always go back exactly where they belong and never, ever get lost in the carpet or bedding. Tiny GPS implants, maybe.

–half a dozen more dress forms (I told you this would require space). I have one, Ricë, but I could use some more because I work on more than one project at a time and hate having to keep re-dressing her when I switch back and forth. Besides, they could keep each other company at night, and maybe they’d come up with fitting solutions while I slept.

–a selection of scissors in every room in the house. Good ones. And there would be something that prevented them from being removed from their room. So if I tried to take the shears out of the sewing room into the living room, the sewing room scissors wouldn’t go through the door, but there on the other side, waiting for me, would be the living room scissors. I have no idea if this would turn out to be just a tiny bit annoying, but maybe it would solve the problem of all the scissors disappearing and then suddenly showing up, all together, in a drawer in the bathroom. Or maybe the scissors need GPS implants, as well.

–perfect light. In every room. Light that’s perfect for sewing and hand-stitching, photography and reading. I wouldn’t have to turn things on and off and wouldn’t have to adjust lamps. The light would always be just Perfect.

–elves. Or minions. Studio assistants of some sort. These would be invisible and silent and would never be in the way, but when there were odious jobs, like ripping out seams or gathering skirts or stay-stitching or basting or any of that stuff, it would magically be done. I could leave a total mess, and when I came back, everything would be perfectly organized but still within reach. Ahhhh. . . .

 

So those are some of my pie-in-the-sky wishes. If you could have anything, what would *you* wish for?

PS If your studio is the site of your wishful make-over fantasies, you might like Chapter 8 in my book, Creative Time and Space. Peeking inside other people’s creative spaces is always a good place to start.

Ricë is the author of Living the Creative Life, Creative Time and Space, and Destination Creativity. She also blogs at The Voodoo Cafe.

 


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