UPcycle Designer Doris P. Eagle

Welcome to my passion. My name is Doris P. Eagle and I love the life I live. I live in La Misión, Baja California. Every day of my life I’m blessed to create in paradise. From my sewing table I look out the window to see an ocean view. I’m disabled with epilepsy. Maybe I am enabled with a brain that views the world with endless creative possibilities.

I call myself “Sew happy!” I am a seamstress and designer in the local community. Long ago I studied and received a degree in design. Today, I offer emergency services for alterations and mending.   I find pleasure in what I create for a variety of reasons. Days when physically I need to stay in and rest, I can create with needle and thread.  Geometrical patterns, colors, texture, fibers juxtaposition to create beauty in adversity. Like painting, sewing is tactile. You can hold and feel these items. Creating through sewing takes away my fear of mistakes. I view design errors as small losses. In the big design picture, bits and pieces attach together to create texture and beauty.

I smile as I create.

I’m a scrap addict. This mental disorder started with quilting. Each small colorful bit of fabric had a possible place in my future projects. After 10, 20, 30, 40 years, the bits and pieces grew to containers full of future creations. I found they worked well for making pillows with an easy 5 sided pattern. Then, I was introduced to an eye glass case made with a closure using measuring tape.

I decided to start whittling down my hoard. I started using so much of my hoard, I needed more fabric. I found using old clothing that was ill fitting or stained worked great. Free fabric, Yippee! So began my obsession with the project of repurposing and reworking clothing.Friends donate sweaters, tee shirts and whatever needs to be out of their closets.  In 2016 I was living with a family member who asked me to make thunder shirts for her dogs.

Oh my, I was smitten by the cuteness and practicality of these shirts for dogs. I have now created hundreds of dog sweater shirts. I find myself smiling as I create. I live with my dog. I create what I like and what brings joy to my heart.  Soon, I’ll be sixty. I realize my life is filled with joy. Taking tossable items, and giving them a new beginning. I’m blessed living in beauty and possibilities one stitch at a time.

Turning Tears and Fears Into Joy and Satisfaction

My 50 years has gifted me the experience and knowledge to manipulate fabric. Turning tears and fears into joy and satisfaction. Several years ago I started approaching my life with internal questions. Letting go, moving forward and accepting limitations. What’s my passion? Where, What, Who, Brings joy into my life? For nearly my whole life I have hoarded fabric. For nearly forty years of this life, I have apologized for my creative mess. Just now I am realizing the power of the knowledge that I have obtained. I have stopped apologies for doing what I love, instead, today, I smile.