Amelia Draws

During the last year or so I have been throwing my heart, head and hands deep into an old and always passion of mine – clothes. Namely, cutting them up then shaping and sewing them anew.

Okay, sewing might be a stretch – let’s use the word assemble or diy or cobble together. We will definitely not be using the word tailor.

A local opportunity shop clears its racks on a Sunday because on Monday the remainder will head to the overflowing Shein store in the sky. At this Opshop one can fill as big a bag as one wants for $4. I make sure to bring a very big bag and I grab everything remotely looking like it might fit me. I figure I will make something of it and generally, I do.
To be honest I feel as if l am rescuing them – these little moments of human creativity, experience and story. Rescuing them from the waste. The waste inherent in their glut and the waste they heave upon our dear Earth.

I love clothes, always have. I have adored every dress-up box I have ever met. I made clothes for my barbies, paper dolls with little outfits for my younger sister, twisted scarves, tucked tee shirts. I drew my creations for my whole life, became good friends with the op shop fairy and eventually went to fashion school in my twenties

And, in all that time… I never learnt to sew. I mean I know how, I just really suck at it.
I was supposed to learn in fashion school but despite hours spent at lunch practicing with the teachers, straight lines continued to elude me.

This morning on the bit of the internet that still functions I discovered a bird I had never heard of until, very happily, now – the Tailorbird.

(and if i could get the link to work I would send you to the tailorbird little wikipedia page instead l will encourage you to head there yourself)

The tailorbird is a sweet little thing in greens and yellow. It has little orange legs, a small plump body and a tail that flicks up behind it. Now, not to diminish the little birds other qualities what really caught my fancy was its nest. This bird builds a wonderful tubular nest by sewing large leaves together then building a small grass nest tucked deep in the shelter of the cone.
When I say sewing I really mean sewing. Using either plant threads or spider webs the bird pierces the leaf with its beak then threads the fibre through it in criss cross patterns to cinch and bind the structure.

On discovering this I was beyond delighted, because it’s beyond delightful!

But, it is also because l love when ingenuity claimed by humans shows up in animals. It’s a nice reminder that we are not quite as special and unique, us humans, as we make out.

I was also humbled, because as delightful as that little bird is, I have been out sewn by it, by a bird. The real tailor.