Worth Doing

When Caine decided that his third bag (after an Everyday Tote and multi-pocketed crossbody bag) was going to be a gigantic canvas tool bag, I knew it was an ambitious project but one that he would no doubt be able to master since his first two projects were so successful. What I did not expect was to witness Caine discover his ikigai, the Japanese notion of finding something that gives your life worth.

Now, if you read the last meager post, you would have found out that we created Askew Goods with only one of us having sewing experience. Initially it seemed that I would be doing the majority of the sewing and Caine would focus on the design and marketing side of things. Watching me in action though, made Caine start to envision himself as a sewist. It might have had something to do with my imprecise measuring skills, my tendency to overly rely on my seam ripper. (We did, after all, name our company Askew. And now you know the reason.)
I would prefer to think, though, that watching me sew allowed him to see that it is a process-centric craft. One where you start with a spool of thread and a cut of fabric and with a lot of patience (and measuring), you end up with your product, or bags in our case. Having a vision and solving the puzzle of how to bring that vision into tangible reality with the help of scissors and needles. And occasionally the seam ripper.

Watching Caine work on this tool bag, it reminded me of how much I enjoy the process as well. I even started using the rulers and tailor’s chalk Caine is always harping on about. It is still an amazing feeling, to work on constructing a bag, to be completely immersed in a project, then to turn it right-side out and have a functioning product. To be able to look over your work and see what you did well and what you can do better the next time. It is all part of that process, from start to finish. Knowing that it is a cycle meant to be repeated until you have something not only worth sharing with the world but worth doing.