After many late nights, gallons of coffee, and 7 seam-rips later, I have finally finished 4 UFOs.
I know, you'd think there would be more than 4 with that many cups of coffee and seam ripping.
Let's take a look:
Cousin Kathy's curtains:
Trust: When someone will let you cut their $50/yard fabric. Believe it or not, this one project took the longest. The valance and panel are actually separate pieces tacked together. When we were measuring for length, she wasn't sure what she wanted. By tacking, she can go in later and adjust the panels to be lower or higher.
Pretty birds! Since her home faces a wooded area, these curtains weren't so much for privacy. They were meant to just frame the window and bring in more color. I personally LOVE how the sunlight illuminates the pattern.
Random pillow: I made these two quilt blocks years ago. At the time, I was just learning how to piece detailed quilt blocks. I can't imagine how long it would take to do an entire quilt from this pattern.
Free motion stippling with the Big Foot. LOVE the Big Foot - hands down, the best darning/free motion foot.
Couldn't help myself. I just had to throw in a bright yellow vinyl for the backing.
Funky Scarf: This project was an example of loving fabric too much to cut it. Originally, I just purchased a yard and hemmed, but I really felt it could use a few details.
Silver metallic thread for a bit of sparkle.
Shredded the ends for a little bohemian vibe. Fraying the fabric by hand took a bit of time, but was well worth it.
Rolled hem on the serger with nylon thread.
Fix holes in socks for the dog. I can always count on my Grandma for unusual projects. She hides dog treats in the socks, then knots the end closed. Her dog goes nuts ripping apart the sock. I suspect I'll be doing this again in a month. Thankfully, the poodle doesn't care how pretty it looks.
Can you guess which sock got mixed in with the laundry?
I have to admit, this first 'set' of projects was an eye opener for many reasons. As silly as it sounds, it was kind of emotional. When you have a deadline, every mistake is amplified. Every task appears to take decades. There's 'enough time' and 'no time at all' simultaneously. Perception and reality are so far off.
So, you're saying I couldn't make an exact replica by tomorrow?
I think many of us sewers and crafters get stuck in this cycle and it's the reason we rarely finish anything.
If you 're wondering, "Who the heck cares? It's not liking anyone is keeping track." Eh, here's the thing... 75% of my sewing projects are something I'm making for somebody else or something that is for the house/family use. So, people notice. And then they text. And email. And talk to my mother.
You know how every family has a member or two that's good at something, and thus are exploited for free use of those skills and services? Maybe you have a cousin who's a mechanic, so everyone wants him to do oil changes. Or Uncle Bob is a doctor, so you call him whenever the kid's temperature goes above 99.0 F, even though he's a G.I. doctor and hasn't looked at pediatric medicine since med school.
I'm the family seamstress. Not one other family member dabbles in sewing. And apparently our skill in demand. For example, one of these projects was for my cousin Kathy - awesome lady. Hadn't seen her in 12 years, but at a family reunion someone dropped the "S" word, and a week later I got an email about sewing curtains. I'm not even sure how she got my email, but apparently she is one heck of a detective.
The purpose of My Sewing Pledge was to: 1. Get people off my back about their items, and 2. Prove that I really can finish projects (I've been getting a lot of eye rolling when I bring up new projects). And, to be honest, IT FEELS AWESOME! At first, my eyes were twitching from the shear amount of work, but once I handed over those curtains, I felt phenomenal. Like, "Oh yeah, I'm a gettin' things done!" When I realized I actually had a Christmas gift finished BEFORE Christmas, I felt like Wonder Woman.
I know a lot of people laughed when I mentioned getting these things finished, but it's not impossible. Set a goal and try it. Maybe not all your projects, but a simple, "I'm going to finish 1 Christmas gift a week starting today". With goals like that, you might actually enjoy the month of December.
It's not so much about not having any unfinished projects. It's about creating a challenge that makes you feel accomplished in the end. It's amazing how GOOD you feel. It's about standing back and saying, "Yup, I did that. And I am so awesome."
Nothing quite brings more pride than being in awe of an item you made. Especially, if it brings a sense of positive disbelief.
Negative disbelief, on the other hand, sucks.
