In my non-literary life, I spend a lot of time sewing, often using vintage patterns, sometimes vintage pieces of fabric, and sometimes both. A recent creation of mine was featured on The Sew Weekly, to which I am a regular contributor. And I was happy to receive a nod from the lovely Jody at Couture Allure, who was the source for the vintage flapper dress pieces that made their way into my 1920s dropwaist dress.

I did a lot more blogging about my sewing on my previous blogs, but I thought I’d mention this particular project as a jumping off point for a new feature I’m developing called Destination Lansing. In 2013, I will do a weekly blog post highlighting the many things that make living in or visiting Michigan’s state capital a treat. One of those places will be Potter Park Zoo, where I recently wore this dress. Why would someone wear a flapper dress a la The Great Gatsby to a zoo? Well, it will all make sense if you read this.

And though F. Scott Fitzgerald was not from Michigan, he was born in the midwest, so there’s a loose tie-in there with the real purpose of this blog (to champion the region and, eventually, feature more content of Michigan authors, books set in Michigan, and my own literary efforts, which are ongoing but as of yet mostly private).

Beyond that, sewing occupies a prominent spot in my next work in progress, so it’s not completely unrelated to my writing. Anyway, I guess since this is my space I don’t really need to justify what I decide to write about here, do I?  😉

As the rottenly hot summer winds up today and cool autumn begins tomorrow, I anticipate the return of my poetic muse (who rarely visits in the summertime) and I’m looking forward to sharing the beauty of this bittersweet season with all of you.