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| Crochet projects and original photos by Kim; collage enhanced with AI using ChatGPT for BellaArt Creates. |
Hey friends! How is your day going? I hope it’s wonderful.
Well, today I’m talking about taking inspiration from something and making it my own.
I don't know if every crafter does this, but I have a feeling I'm not alone. I can be walking through a store, watching a video, looking at a photo, or simply noticing something around the house when a little voice in my head says, “I can make that!” And just like that, my crafty brain is off and running.
The funny part is that I may not know exactly how I'm going to make it yet. I may not have all the right supplies. I may not even work in the same craft that was used to make the original thing. None of that seems to matter in those first few seconds. My brain has already started taking the idea apart and rebuilding it with the supplies and skills I have.
That's one of my favorite parts of being a longtime crafter. After years of working with paper, yarn, fabric, felt, dies, inks, thread, and all kinds of crafty tools, I don't always look at an object and see only what it is. Sometimes I see possibilities. I wonder whether I could sew a version of it, crochet something similar, change the colors, make it smaller, make it larger, or combine an idea from one craft with techniques from another.
Now, saying “I can make that” doesn't mean I think I can make everything! LOL! There are some projects that remind me very quickly that other makers have skills I do not have. I can admire their work without needing to recreate it. But every now and then, something clicks. I can almost see the steps in my head before I've touched a single supply.
One of my favorite examples happened a couple of years ago, before BellaArt Creates even existed, when I was creating under the name Kim's Crochets. I came across a YouTube video showing how to crochet a baby girl's dress. I don't remember which video it was now, but I certainly remember what happened when I watched it. I thought, “I can make that!”
So I did.
Then I made another one. And another. Before long, I had crocheted an entire collection of little dresses in different colors and styles. I even bought a baby doll just so I'd have a model for photographing them, and of course, I crocheted a little headband for her too! Eventually, I took the dresses to a craft fair, where a lovely woman bought several of them. Looking back at that collection now reminds me how one little spark of inspiration can send me off in an entirely new creative direction.
Below are a few dresses from that collection. It was just one pattern but I dressed it up differently for each dress. Some dresses had no sleeves and others did and some I added collars and ribbons/bows. I made a total of 14 baby girl dresses.
Click here to see the full collection.
Sometimes the attraction is practical. I may see something I like but want it in a different color, size, fabric, or style. Sometimes I already have supplies in my stash that could work, which makes the idea even more tempting. And sometimes I simply want the fun of figuring it out. The challenge becomes part of the project.
That doesn't mean my version will look exactly like the inspiration. Actually, I don't want it to. Once I begin choosing my own materials and making my own decisions, the project starts changing. A color gets switched. A detail gets added. Something gets left off. I discover an easier way to do one part or decide that another part isn't necessary at all. Before long, what started as “I can make that” becomes “I can make my version of that.”
I think that's an important difference. Inspiration can give us a starting point without taking away our own creativity. The fun for me isn't copying every detail. In fact, I never want to copy an inspiration piece. I want to put my own take on the project. Inspiration is seeing an idea, letting it spark another idea, and then finding out where my hands and imagination take it.
And yes, sometimes my crafty confidence gets ahead of my actual ability. I've had ideas that seemed perfectly reasonable in my head and became much more interesting once I actually tried to make them! That's part of creating too. If the first plan doesn't work, I can change direction, learn something, laugh at myself, and decide whether I want to try again.
The best part is that the phrase “I can make that” keeps me curious. It makes me look at ordinary things differently. It reminds me that supplies don't have only one purpose and that skills can travel from one kind of craft to another.
So the next time I see something and that little crafty voice starts talking, I may make it, change it completely or discover that I absolutely cannot make it the way I imagined. LOL!
But I love that after all these years, I can still see something wonderful and think, “Hmmm...I can make that!”
Sometimes the attraction is practical. I may see something I like but want it in a different color, size, fabric, or style. Sometimes I already have supplies in my stash that could work, which makes the idea even more tempting. And sometimes I simply want the fun of figuring it out. The challenge becomes part of the project.
That doesn't mean my version will look exactly like the inspiration. Actually, I don't want it to. Once I begin choosing my own materials and making my own decisions, the project starts changing. A color gets switched. A detail gets added. Something gets left off. I discover an easier way to do one part or decide that another part isn't necessary at all. Before long, what started as “I can make that” becomes “I can make my version of that.”
I think that's an important difference. Inspiration can give us a starting point without taking away our own creativity. The fun for me isn't copying every detail. In fact, I never want to copy an inspiration piece. I want to put my own take on the project. Inspiration is seeing an idea, letting it spark another idea, and then finding out where my hands and imagination take it.
And yes, sometimes my crafty confidence gets ahead of my actual ability. I've had ideas that seemed perfectly reasonable in my head and became much more interesting once I actually tried to make them! That's part of creating too. If the first plan doesn't work, I can change direction, learn something, laugh at myself, and decide whether I want to try again.
The best part is that the phrase “I can make that” keeps me curious. It makes me look at ordinary things differently. It reminds me that supplies don't have only one purpose and that skills can travel from one kind of craft to another.
So the next time I see something and that little crafty voice starts talking, I may make it, change it completely or discover that I absolutely cannot make it the way I imagined. LOL!
But I love that after all these years, I can still see something wonderful and think, “Hmmm...I can make that!”
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