My mom always says that I’ve been a rebel. “Depi’w te piti, ou toujou REBEL!” (Translation from Haitian Kreyol: Since you were little, you’ve always been a REBEL! You have to put HEAVY emphasis on “rebel”. Kreyol is as much about what words are emphasized as it is what is being said.) I don’t know if it’s the Pisces in me. Or the spirit of my feisty grandmother maybe but I’ve made a turn toward not letting a lot of the recent heaviness boss me around. What do I mean?

There’s a lot happening in the world. Most of us are still in isolation and practicing social distancing as a result of the COVID pandemic. Right in the middle of dealing with and managing that, George Floyd was murdered by police officers in Minneapolis, which inspired daily protesting worldwide for justice in his name and in the name of the many many many Black men and women who have been killed but had no justice rendered for their murders.

Being a Pisces, I tend to come off hardened. But I’m so hard only because I’m so soft. I absorb A LOT! So my way of dealing with Corona news was to diminish exposure to too much news and speculation and fear projection by diving into my sewing and limiting time on social media and staying off of certain communication apps. I was managing pretty well by ignoring a lot. Once the George Floyd news emerged, there was no ignoring. I felt heavy. Tired. Sad. Heartbroken. Helpless.

I can’t ignore being Black and proudly a descendent of Africa by way of Haiti. Yesterday, a friend said, “I love being Haitian! What a treat!” My friends and I regularly say, “Man, I love being Black!” I appreciate being able to enjoy this privilege and having counterparts who feel the same. It boggles me that my very existence bothers some people and is hated by others. I don’t understand how the color of my skin makes some think that I should be treated differently. That I’m thought of as lesser than or unworthy. It’s sad and scary that it has to be argued that #blacklivesmatter. It’s sad and scary that even saying #blacklivesmatter is seen as inappropriate by some. These thoughts are only the surface of what is tumbling thru my mind, heart and spirit day and night. So much so that I can’t sleep. And anyone who knows me KNOWS that I can sleep. I can win awards for sleeping. Don’t call me before noon on the weekends. That’s still sleeping hours normally. Now I find myself wide-eyed at 4am with no zzzzzz’s in sight.

But so many blessings are happening right now as well for me and I found it hard to enjoy. I stopped sewing, not wanting to bring this negativity to my meditation practice (aka sewing). I couldn’t enjoy and celebrate my blessings. I shared this with friends and they said, “Your joy is also a rebellion! Your joy is part of the fight!” So in that light, this heavy will not be the boss of me!! It will not be the boss of my joy!! I will feel and let myself process but I will also reclaim my time and be joyful and celebrate and find space to get back to my love of sewing and creating because that brings me joy! I’m lucky enough to be healthy and in a position to even have this so I will honor it.

To that point (to relate it to this post and sewing and style), I’ve never been much a fan of traditional fashion rules. They will not be the boss of me!

@sewchronicles, who I follow on IG and religiously follow for updates and inspiration, posted the flyest robe a few months back!

Giving very much “Granpa’s Robe” vibes!! I loved it and told her I’m going to make the exact thing so that we can twin!

The pattern is Kwik Sew 3644.

The fabric is from Minerva Crafts’ Orient Express Collection Cotton Fabrics.

This was a pretty quick and straight forward project. I’d never done piping before and that wasn’t bad or hard to do at all!! I made this back in February as I waited for pieces to come in for my Cecile Bahnsen Coat dupe. I was on self quarantine while I was recovering from a cold but the spirit so moved me and I needed to make SOMETHING. I was super nervous about the piping but I dove right in and so happy I did!

I had plans to take super cute pics while on vacation in either Mexico or Antigua but………COVID. So I took some self portraits at home.

Sigh. They were……..ok. They didn’t HIT so I sat on the pics. I was out shooting another project and remarked to my friend helping me with pics, “I have this robe I want to shoot but I can’t wear it out.” His response, “Why not?” **thinking face emoji** YEAH!!! Why not?!?!

Won’t be the boss of Daphney!