A Story About A Skirt, A Handbag, Friendship and Longing

Some stories are simple to tell. I thought this one would be too. The simple version goes like this: CurlyPops made me a fabulous handbag out of a skirt, and you can read all about it over here. However, there's a great deal more to this story, much of which only came back to me this morning. Pull up a pew and I'll tell you a tale.


I bought this skirt in 2005 at an op-shop. I was shopping with Ms L and my friend Jane. I don't know what possessed me to go into an op-shop because at the time I didn't even like op-shops (I know!). I thought they were smelly and full of junk, and I was one of those people who assertively proclaimed "I can never find anything good in op-shops". I can only suspect that it would have been Jane, a keen op-shopper, who lured Ms L and I in.

I was searching at the time, and not for thrifted treasure. Something was missing in my life. There was a longing, a wishing, an aching that had been with me for years, and yet had no name.

So, in this op-shop, on this particular day, I came across the skirt. And I instantly knew that it should become a bag. I remember declaring that I would purchase it and make a bag. In fact, not only did I declare that I would make a bag, but that I wanted to make a living from my creativity and that this bag was the beginning of a dream. I knew in that moment of clarity that I wanted to be a "famous sewer".

I took the skirt home, put it in the cupboard and there it stayed for over 2 years. The longing stayed with me through all that time too.


Fast forward a couple of years and the skirt that was destined to be a bag has finally come into its own. The longing has been named and I am on the path to making a living from my creativity. Whilst I am not, nor do I intend to become a "famous sewer" my dear friend CurlyPops certainly fits the bill. It's almost as if all those years ago I was given a glimpse of my future, all muddled up in symbolism and mystery.

As I popped the bag over my shoulder this morning and headed off to work, these are the memories that came to me. Memories of friendship and longing, of finding treasure and glimpsing an unknown future.