I have spent this festive period enjoying time with my family and lounging around reading sewing blogs and eating too much. In doing so, I’ve noticed that lots of bloggers are doing their version of a best and worst of 2016 and plans for 2017 posts.
I considered doing a round-up of 2016, but in all honesty it feels rather egotistical, as I’ve not made any projects that haven’t been a success – I have a load of unfinished objects, but I don’t have any completed makes that I’m unhappy with – there are some that I would tweak slightly with the next make, but all are being worn on a regular basis, and for me, that’s the measure of success. Personally I put this level of success down to the fact that I spend so long (way too long) thinking about what I am going to make, that by the time I actually put needle to fabric, I know it is going to work and be worn.
As for 2017, I have been thinking about what I’d like to make, and although I’ve given this a fair amount of thought, I’ve not yet really come up with any concrete ideas. What I do want to do though, is to face my fears. I have a relatively large (and growing) fabric stash (future post alert) but in that stash, I have a load of materials that for one reason or another, I’m scared of making into a finished item. For most of these fabrics, it’s because I’m really worried that the finished item won’t look as good in real life as it does in my head. As such, the much loved fabrics sit around looking forlorn in my fabric drawer, just waiting for the moths to find them. I know these materials aren’t made from unicorns tears, but they just feel too precious or scary to be made into an inadequate garment.
As such, I have made what might be a rather rash decision! I have decided to choose 5 of these fabrics, and if they’re not made up (or projects haven’t been started) these materials will go on the fire on the 1st January 2018! See what I mean by rash?
What this does mean though is that the pressure of making something perfect from these materials is now off. There is no “one day I’ll have the skills to make a perfect garment” I either make something from them this year, or they get destroyed. None of the materials I have chosen are expensive, and although it’s probably not possible to find the exact fabric again, I would be able to find something similar, so now is the time, 2017 is the year when I face my fear of imperfection. Live life for the now my friends, life is too short to wait for “one day”.
I intend to make more than 5 items, but I have decided that I must use these fabrics from my stash. Do you have any fabrics in your stash made of imaginary unicorns tears, or is it just me? What are your sewing resolutions for 2017?
