I was watching Peggy Sagers’ most recent webcast earlier in the week and realized from something she said, that lately I’ve been somewhat in a state of paralysis when it comes to deciding what I want to tackle next in my sewing room.
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I’ve been away from home working for a month, followed by a trip to the Seattle area after that, for the sum total of nearly six weeks in all. During my time away I’ve dreamt of diving into all sorts of sewing projects when I returned home, but the odd thing is, once I faced my fabric stash again I found myself overwhelmed in deciding where to begin and determining what was at the top of my priority list. Before I left, I made muslins, fitted them, traced patterns and invested in beautiful fabric. Now I find I’m hesitant to spend time making something only to find it doesn’t turn out the way I hoped it would. What is this about? Do I sew only out of necessity? No. Creative expression? Yes. A blend of all of the above? Yes.
All of this said, when Peggy said “just do it” during her webcast last Monday, I realized I just needed to start moving forward again, embracing the trial and error process anew. So today, that’s what I did. I cut out a pair of yoga pants from the newly-fitted pattern I created after my last muslin experiment and a cardi from a new pattern I bought last Spring. I chose a basic, neutral-colored knit fabric from my stash which will be useful if the new items turn out well, but not hugely disappointing if they don’t. I’m considering this effort “wearable muslins” stage two.
So, now I will take Peggy’s and actually my own advice too, something I’ve told my voice students for years, simply that there comes a time when we must stop planning and just do it. Thanks for the reminder Peggy!
PetiteSewSop 
I’ve been similarly paralyzed lately with my mixed media and altered art (as well as sewing, writing and other creative avenues). I’ve been collecting items and supplies for a very long time, filling boxes, bags and shelves in various hiding places indoors and out. The result was an almost insurmountable mess, and the thought of dealing with it would immediately crush my creativity (which emerges and cries for attention often), and I experienced an art drought. So what I finally did this summer was to use almost all of my vacation from work (we’re talking about 3 weeks) to stay right here at home to plow through, organize all of my art making materials, tools and supplies. This included spending $100 on lidded, clear boxes (best $100 I ever spent) which needed to happen before I could get unstuck. And I hung in there with my resolve, no goofing off, watching TV or surfing the internet. I let usual home duties slip by the wayside (though alerted my husband that my home-maker behaviors were going to practically disappear for awhile). It seemed scandalous at first to use up my vacation like that, but Art is a priority for me, and when I really thought about it I realized there was no better way to spend my vacation days than to make art and creativity more accessible to myself. But it did take a lot of thought and self permission to get to the “Just do it” part. There are many, many things I need and want to do in order to move forward on what’s important to me, and choosing just one huge project (centralizing and organizing all of my art stuff) and actually doing it helped my entire outlook immensely. Once the decision was made, I was able to commit and focus. And now that it’s done I’m motivated to do more.
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I just found your blog and can completely relate! I didn’t even blog all summer! I finally blogged today and think I’m getting back to “normal” where I want to be with sewing Mojo – I call it Sewjo! I’m so glad I found your blog. All summer my husband and daughter told me to get off Pinterest and YouTube and just go make something, no matter how it comes out. I just couldn’t bring myself to invest time in the sewing room, only to come out with something I didn’t feel 100% wearing. I’ve been a fan of Peggy’s for years and have learned alot from her. You and Peggy are right – just do it! I’m committing that I will tackle one project per week this month because I feel so much better when I sew.
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Yay Kim! Thanks for your comments. It’s nice to know there’s another kindred spirit out there.
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