June 2020 – Sew Me Hawaiʻi

When I first started writing this blog it was to be additional exposure for my new on-line business called, yeah, Sew Me Hawaii. I sew outfits and accessories for students or schools of hula. I was newly retired and ready to take on a new project that I could do at home. I have a passion for hula as is stated in my bio and absolutely never tire of making things from the beautiful Hawaiian print fabrics. Therefore, everything I make is made with tropical fabrics. I do believe my first blog was about the Etsy shop, but then it began to evolve. I started writing about things I saw or did in the islands. It started to look more like a travel log. I added poetry, photos of my yard. Lots of pictures of me dancing hula, my time on Maui and the many problems I had when I returned. Both my sonʻs weddings…

Now I am going to shamelessly promote my shop because I realize I have things in my shop that are not necessarily for hula. So, look out for photos that were originally made for hula, but can impersonate something else!

This is an implement bag for the different things we use in different dances, but I think they would make a great beach bag with pockets for a cell, a wallet, a tube of sunscreen, a book, towel and hat, etc. Or, if you have a little one who goes to slumber parties this makes a nice overnight bag.

This is a garment bag, usually used to carry dresses, skirts or blouses, etc. to performances, but they can be used for ordinary clothing as well. They come in a short size or a long size. They are fully lined with the full length zipper. Donʻt you think they look nicer that a plastic bag?

We dance with feathered gourds called ʻulīʻulī. They have a small gourd with little seeds inside that rattle and a top with rows and rows of feathers. These are covers for the feathers to keep them from sun damage, dust. However, I have used them as a bowl cover when at a picnic or at a potluck when the dish is waiting on a table. Or, a wild shower cap!

Of course, I make pā’ū (hula skirts), traditional tops, blouse, bloomers for under pā’ū, pull on “sleeves” to make a traditional top look a little more formal. And, more…

For your mug and muffin or cup and cookie. Helping to keep the crumbs off the keyboard! These are about 8″x10″–just right for a cup of coffee or tea and a snack.

Bring a little tropical splendor to your morning Starbucks…a coffee cozy. I always feel better about not adding to the landfill and they are so much prettier than cardboard!

For those of you who may actually dance hula or know someone that does, I will add a couple of photos of what I do the most…pāʻū and tops for adults and children.

This bright little pā’ū is perfect for a new dancer. She certainly won’t get lost in the crowd!

A beautiful adult hula pā’ū from my Etsy shop, no longer available, but oh so pretty.

Me, doing what I love the most. I did not make this dress. I do sew long muʻumuʻu for my hula sisters, but they are simply too much to do long distance and Iʻm not good at pattern drafting, so donʻt offer dresses in my shop.

Mahalo i ka hoʻomanawa nui–Thank you for your patience.

Last week I marched in a Black Lives Matter protest. Today on Juneteenth I marched against systemic racism. I’ve marched regarding climate change and in the Women’s March last year. Growing up in San Diego until age 17 I had never seen racism until when my family was moving to Hawai’i and we sold our beautiful home to a wonderful black family. My father, sister and I went ahead with my Mom staying back to make arrangements for shipping my sister’s horse, selling personal items and finding homes for special keepsakes. Since we were to be living on a 40ft. sailboat, downsizing was essential. So, my Mom was way out in the country alone when one night she arrive home at dusk to find two men with chains in the driveway threatening her with very racial epithets. My Mom always had pluck and she also had a small caliber gun in the car. When they started to advance, frightened, she shot right through the door of the car which made the men “literally crawl out of the drive”. As far as we knew they never returned, however I never knew if the new family had problems. That was my first and only encounter with racism.

I had been in the islands the previous summer staying with a lovely Hawaiian family who I still consider to be my hanai family (adopted). I was treated as one of the family and learned many of the traditions and ways of living with aloha from them. When we moved over permanently I tried to maintain that attitude. I have now lived in the island for almost 60 years and still have not felt, as a haole (originally a foreigner, now a caucasian), treated differently. We have a special way of living here. We have every race of the world in our islands and somehow we always manage to mostly get along. We do occasionally have problems, but very seldom. And, in my opinion, many of the problems come when haole move from the Mainland and never assimilate. They bring attitudes with them that simply don’t match those of the indigenous population nor of those who adopt the aloha way of life. I find, in my “old age” I have the pluck to say how I feel and I’ve taken to FaceBook and Twitter with a vengence, a renewed sense of activism. Though some will disagree, I find it hard to understand how anyone with any intelligence can stand with the man who calls himself president. From a distance I see our democracy eroding, I see hate. I feel strongly against about all of his policies. We no longer have confidence that our air will be clean, our water will be clear, our land will be preserved. Tomorrow he will put 20,000 lives at risk at his rally along with the people living in Tulsa with an already increase in COVID patients at further risk. He, as usual, is putting politics ahead of people. He find him to be so self-serving that he simply would be unable to side with people above himself.

Last week my sign said Black Lives Matter. But, today my very unprofessional sign held a different message. It said: Cops…Citizens…Communities–Here, We are all ‘ohana.

‘Ohana means family. Police Officers are someone you turn to if you’re in trouble. They try their hardest to keep us safe. When returning to my car after the peaceful rally (all of us masked and distanced) I passed several police officers standing by their car. When I got close, I showed them my sign and one of the cops said, “thank you for protesting”. This is how it is in Hawai’i. We have respect for each other.