I'm not a huge believer in New Year's resolutions, but I had an epiphany this week while rummaging through my sewing room. Which, unfortunately, is mostly closed these days, both because we have cats (and I don't want them stepping on or eating pins and random bits of thread) and because I just haven't had time to work on anything.
(Okay, and because my sewing room also becomes the Christmas room in December -- the place where I stash presents, wrapping paper, empty Amazon boxes, etc. And it's a small room -- the size of a walk-in closet -- so it's not really fun to sew in there with all that stuff. The downside of having a small house, I guess.)
So I was cleaning out the Christmas stuff and finding all this nifty fabric I'd forgotten about (look, green-and-black-striped sweater knit! Glazed linen! Ultrasuede!) and wishing I could instantly transmogrify it into wearable garments and going WHY CAN'T I JUST SEW ALREADY and I DON'T HAVE TIME TO TRACE OUT PATTERNS AND DO A MUSLIN and THIS PATTERN IS TOO COMPLICATED.
And then I realized that I was really panicking about that last one, and the little voice in the back of my head was saying, "...and what if you try, and mess up that lovely fabric, and then it's gone and you're screwed?"
Because that's the thing: It'd be a waste of time, money, and lovely fabric. I HATE THAT.
And then I went HEY, DUCK, YOU'RE STUPID, because:
1) I tend to go for modern stuff (no frills, interesting shapes, black + brights), and
2) I already have clothes like that in my closet, some of which are wearing out, and
3) they fit and I like them, so just TRACE FROM THOSE ALREADY, JEEZ.
I don't know why I'm worrying about potentially messing up advanced Vogue patterns when I can just trace out the simple V-neck Nau dress in my closet in the color I don't quite like, and make it up in a color I do like. And no tracing and no muslin because it already fits, so that solves the time problem. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, as they say.
So that's my goal (not resolution) for this year: To finally sew up some of the lovely fabric as stuff I'll actually wear, and not to stress about it. I hope it works.
(Okay, and because my sewing room also becomes the Christmas room in December -- the place where I stash presents, wrapping paper, empty Amazon boxes, etc. And it's a small room -- the size of a walk-in closet -- so it's not really fun to sew in there with all that stuff. The downside of having a small house, I guess.)
So I was cleaning out the Christmas stuff and finding all this nifty fabric I'd forgotten about (look, green-and-black-striped sweater knit! Glazed linen! Ultrasuede!) and wishing I could instantly transmogrify it into wearable garments and going WHY CAN'T I JUST SEW ALREADY and I DON'T HAVE TIME TO TRACE OUT PATTERNS AND DO A MUSLIN and THIS PATTERN IS TOO COMPLICATED.
And then I realized that I was really panicking about that last one, and the little voice in the back of my head was saying, "...and what if you try, and mess up that lovely fabric, and then it's gone and you're screwed?"
Because that's the thing: It'd be a waste of time, money, and lovely fabric. I HATE THAT.
And then I went HEY, DUCK, YOU'RE STUPID, because:
1) I tend to go for modern stuff (no frills, interesting shapes, black + brights), and
2) I already have clothes like that in my closet, some of which are wearing out, and
3) they fit and I like them, so just TRACE FROM THOSE ALREADY, JEEZ.
I don't know why I'm worrying about potentially messing up advanced Vogue patterns when I can just trace out the simple V-neck Nau dress in my closet in the color I don't quite like, and make it up in a color I do like. And no tracing and no muslin because it already fits, so that solves the time problem. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, as they say.
So that's my goal (not resolution) for this year: To finally sew up some of the lovely fabric as stuff I'll actually wear, and not to stress about it. I hope it works.
DO IT!! Whenever I try to think of something to make based on patterns etc. I look disappointedly at my stash and get tempted to buy something (even though I have loads of fabric). I think it's great to get inspired by your fabric and come up with plans to make it in to something that you can enjoy. Nothing I've made I've been 100% happy with, but there's not much I don't wear, so I think it's better to just get chopping!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I feel the same about the stuff I've made, but it's true -- I wear just about everything.
DeleteGoing to start chopping today. Thanks!