Incubation in the creative process

This is a pouch. This pouch is made with selected fabrics, selected design, selected zip, selected label.

Today I need 50 minutes to make this pouch ( cutting, sewing, ironing, labelling ).

In reality I started this pouch years ago when :

• - I learned ( and still learning ) sewing.
• - I learned ( and still learning ) plant dyeing.
• - I learned (and still learning ) about material selection.
• - I imagined the pouch and made many prototypes to arrive at the final product.

Incubation is a long process for me. One day, I get an idea and I will nourish this idea only in my mind for many months sometime one or two years. In my mind I draw, select, cut and sew the fabric and proceed every step until I reach the idea, the picture I have of it. I always keep a notebook with me to write down, at any moment, inspiration, ideas.

Then I think of where and how to get the material, this can take also a long time. A few minutes here and there among the thousands of other things that keep me busy along the day. And what about my skills and my tools ? Do I have the tools for it ? Do I need to learn new technics to achieve it ?

Will arrive the moment I have the material and decide I start the prototypes. It is a thing to have an idea in your head, it is another one to hold it physically in your hands. After many tests, I will validate one. Usually once the project is validated, I start straight away to make the product I will offer to sale.

I made a lot of pouches since I learned to sew ( nearly 30 years ago). All these years I made so much wonderful mistakes that taught me to do better.

In 2020, When I started to dye with plants, I quickly liked the combination of colours I could create and from this moment I knew I wanted to make things using them. In September 2021 I released a limited edition of an embroidery and sewing kit using fabrics I dyed. 

This year I make these unique and handmade pouches for you. As the dyeing process requires a lot of resources for a small amount of finished products, these pouches are limited and I can make only few of them per year. Next week I will post an article about the dye process with a step by step from the plant growing to the colourful fibre.

I live with my projects, they are constantly with me, evolving, sometime disappearing, sometime left aside for a distant future. In the article ‘How Do I Refuel’ I listed some activities I practice to refresh myself when a break is necessary. These moments are part of my Incubation process. Have a break and sit for a moment in a coffee shop with a hot drink is part of the creative process.

Last but not least, the creative process is also about you. I validate a prototype when the design, the technics and the material make me happy but also because I think it’s going to please someone else, you.