CREATING HAPPINESS BY USING WHAT I’VE GOT

I have a confession to make… For a phone video stand, I have been propping my phone video camera up onto the slot of a cup base with a handle for a couple years now… because I am somewhat old fashioned; using what I have on hand already… you know, I am one of those Baby Boomers that was taught how to make-do-with-what-you have, and not going out to buy stuff all the time, because after a war – you’d best know how to make do.

However, after doing some introspection, I’m like “Really Shakeenah? Like, you DO realize that they have tripods now for smart phones; they even have a way you can stand your phone up onto the regular camera tripod you have already! All you need to do is go buy yourself one, because this is really not working out well!”

And of course, that is exactly what I did. Time to step out of that ole’ mindset of just making do with what is on hand already … I marched myself on down to the store and purchased a nice set of items to help me with one of my passions – creating videos. These are just two hobbies of mine; Sewing and video editing. When I create, I am in touch with my co-creator abilities and talents and this gets me into a zone that is indescribably rewarding internally.

Once I got home, I opened the box and checked to see if all of my pieces were there as listed. Check! Next, I know I will want to make myself a carrying bag for these pieces; the LED lamp, cords, smartphone frame rig, filters, microphone and remote. So, I enter my Shakeenah Cave, sit down on the carpeted floor, measure the dimensions of the vlogging components, begin making sketches, and then begin looking through all of my saved up fabric from years and years of sewing projects. I find all the pieces I have in mind to use. Check!

OK! So, I am now stepping back into the practice of using what I’ve got already, because I have perfectly good stuff neatly placed and waiting to be used. (Sometimes I can hear them calling me from their positions on the shelves; “Shakeenah, when are you going to select ME for a project? I don’t want to just sit here forever collecting dust you know?” I’m just kidding – don’t call them on me!) I begin rolling up my sleeves, eyes glowing, ready to get to the drawing board… literally, because I have no pre-made pattern (haven’t used one in decades actually – most vivid memory being when I was enrolled in New York’s Art & Design High School, and I made my favorite summer dress, it was sunshine yellow colored and it was out of this world! – a brightening up your day fo’ sure type of dress). I love colors, and mixing patterns, shades and tones in unique ways. Therefore, I enjoyed visiting my room to pick out a few old pieces that need and want to become useful in this next project.

List of major tools required: My cutting board and scissors, sewing machine and thread, red strapping for the handle, interfacing fabrics, outer fabric, inside pockets fabric, a little cushioning fabric I found on the bottom shelf, one 7” zipper that matches nicely with this small outside pocket I plan on adding for the remote, so it won’t get lost inside the main section of the bag. I love mixing up colors a lot, so I know these will work (for me)… however, I do not have any 25” long zippers but, I DO have a huge roll of zipper in WHITE!!! I have used this roll before – for my own stuff, but if I were to make something for someone else, I would only use it for something white. I decided I would use this roll of zipper anyway, because it was given to me by a late friend of mine several years ago when she was getting rid of all of her sewing notions, and I happened to be around at that time and accepted the offerings. (Thank you Marie <3) And after all, the bag is just for me, right?... and now it will also hold some sentimental value for me as well.

Listen, with all of that said – I still had doubts as to whether the reader such as yourself, would like the appearance of this work, and if I should even submit this article. It took me at least 2/3’s of a day from start to finish to complete the bag, but I realize if it had a darker colored zipper it might be looking even better. But I am done with it now, and accepting it for what it is, and hope you too will see the beauty and labor in it as well.

I also took a few little videos of my steps, put it all together into one video and hopefully it will help bring more life to my story, possibly inspiring someone to start creating something they have been holding on to in their minds. My tip is to

1. Use a pattern if possible!

2. If you prefer to, or must make your own pattern, take your time in thinking out each step

3. Be patient with yourself and just enjoy the process. If you are anything like me, you will forget some step, or make a mistake in the sewing process (like when I stitched on the wrong side of the fabric)… Just like the precious life we all have been given; it is a wonderous creation, never 100% perfect, but this body created is here for us to utilize and take care of.

I hope you enjoyed my creation process shown in the video, and thanks in advance for reading, watching and clicking the HEART or LIKE - and thanks for your Support!