Friday, September 11, 2015

The Sartorial Fox

How hard can it be to make a coat & tie for a toy fox? I thought.

(I'd bought the tie at the Thrift Store––silk, from Milan!––but had to narrow it; even the "tail" was too wide. ["Anatomy of a Necktie"])

Four fiddly hours later [and do not look closely at the seams]: 



Sewing comes with a whole 'nother vocabulary.
The navy blue wool I'd bought was printed on one side with the word FACE. I looked it up, and as you'd guess, the face side of fabric is the "right side", facing front.
Sneax seemed to enjoy the process of getting suited up as Fox Mulder. I think he's going to live with Marz now, where there's plenty of X-Files going on.

I'm loving making clothes for toys. 
Finding toys really comforting myself, I think it'd be neat to tailor them with / for people who could use them.

Just googled around and found a book about the importance for play for adults: Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul.

In an interview, the author, Stuart Brown, MD, said,
" I began thinking about the role of play in our lives while conducting a detailed study of homicidal males in Texas. What I discovered was severe play deprivation in the lives of these murderers. When I later studied highly creative and successful individuals, there was a stark contrast. Highly successful people have a rich play life."
I wonder how I might connect toys and people... Most Americans have too much stuff anyway. 
And sending toys into crisis situations isn't helpful:

An article on "how to help refugees" says aid workers are overwhelmed with donations of clothes, food, and toys––having myself sorted through donations at the Thrift Store, I know how time-consuming and jumbled it is. 

It's better to donate money to international agencies, such as the Red Cross/Red Crescent appeal for Syria.  

I suppose that like most everything I do, my toy connections will be haphazard, small scale, and personal. 
That suits me best.