Why do I do this to myself? Sewing is supposed to be something that relaxes me, it’s supposed to be my bit of “me-time” in amongst the two young kids, full-time job and building site of a home. So in amongst all that, why do I give myself so many sewing projects and so many unrealistic deadlines?
On the go at the moment I have a dress and swimming costume for myself, a skirt for myself that I started years ago, a proof of concept bag and two dresses for my little girl. As if that wasn’t enough, I wanted to make a sun-hat for my little boy. In my head, all but two of these projects should have been finished by the time the good weather came around – what’s the point of a sun-dress that’s not ready to wear until September! I find the pressure is added because my children are so inconsiderate that they keep growing up! I’m not a speedy sewist, and I could really do with them not growing in-between me measuring them, and having a finished garment. The way I’m currently working though, with 6 projects on the go, it’s quite likely that there will be a degree of growth, and so what I started making with the intention of having “room for growth” could well fit properly by the time it’s actually made.
I have tried to stick to one project at a time, but I just can’t manage it. I tend to be able to stick to actually sewing one project for the length of time it takes me to use up one bobbin of thread (it’s super-simple to change my bobbin-thread, it just always seems like one step too far!) but it’s far too easy to have one project at the tracing stage, and another at the sewing stage, another that needs pinning / unpicking (something that can easily be done while I’m watching a movie for example) and just starting another project because I don’t really know where to go next with any that are already started!
If only I could have the discipline to finish one project before starting another, I would probably find that things went more quickly, or at least felt like they were progressing more speedily. As such, this is my declaration to the world, I am going to finish my dress before I do anything else. I’m then going to finish one of my daughters dresses, and then I’m going to move on to the next dress. I’m not going to start any new projects until I’m down to just three projects on the go. I want to try and ensure that I don’t have any more than 4 projects on the go at any one time, ideally I’d like to get this down to just two projects at a time, but I’m being realistic – I know myself; I will always want to chase the shiny new thing, I just have to try and limit that urge!
