Sewingplums

I haven’t written anything here about planning for some time, but I’ve just been taking a ‘sew your own wardrobe’ class which ended with advice and examples on making written notebooks with specific plans for your wardrobe and future sewing.

And there are all those stylists and indie pattern companies which sell printed or free-gift pdf books for writing out your sewing project plans, with one page per project. They’re often not loose-leaf so you can’t even mildly change your mind. And they never have space to record what I think is important.

Oh dear, I can’t work that way at all.

One of my difficulties with sewing plans is I’m a ‘100 ideas before breakfast’ person about what I would like to make.
Also I’ve found in real life if I start on a plan, I wake up a week later to find myself doing the complete opposite (I gave up on making New Year resolutions for this reason some time ago – according to my notes here it was in 2013).

(And I was amused to hear a talk which said recent research shows if you tell people about your goals you’re less likely to reach them ! Though I don’t think that applies to written goals. It’s thought the reason is when you tell people your goals you get the same sort of enthusiastic feedback as you were looking forward to getting when you’ve achieved the goal, so that uses up some of the incentive – you can celebrate without actually doing anything 😀 )

I have managed to train myself to write my ideas down, instead of actually starting projects and then changing my mind, which began to be ridiculous –  a home full of boxes each containing a pattern and notions, and a huge fabric stash.

The point at which I realised I had to stop starting projects was when I organised all my ‘to make’ pile into project boxes, and so was face to face with the fact it was beyond helpful. . .

Each of those 12 drawers is a separate project. There are also several project start-ups which are bulkier so have an individual tub.

I now have a computer full of ‘make next’ lists instead.  Each time I take a sewing or wardrobing class I end up with extensive ’make next’ lists.  My ‘make next’ list from the most recent class contains about 70 items. . .  (Meg McElwee’s Mindful Wardrobe class, thought provoking.)
And my lists change so often, I find it much easier to use word-processing rather than a paper notebook/journal to record them.  These days I find myself coming up with a new ‘make next’ list every morning  😀

I’ve also found it a great help to be secure about ‘my personal style’, so I’m not rushing after other people’s wardrobing lists and ‘develop your sewing skills’ pattern lists too !

By comparison, my actual sewing is very slow. So my focus needs to be on enjoying making, rather than on getting an ideal ‘me made’ wardrobe.

I’ve found it helps to have a good RTW wardrobe, so I’m not under pressure to make anything specific.  So I can just settle down to very slowly making items I’m fairly confident I will enjoy making and then using 😀 My making is best done in a ‘follow what I feel like doing now’ way, pre-planning and prioritising do not work for me here.

And I’m also a quilter, and enjoy using my embroidery machine. Have just fallen for yet another Block of the Month quilt, but have managed not to purchase. Unmade BoMs made another big pile in my previous home ! Long list of embroidery machine quilts I’d like to make too. . . My embroidery designs folder is also huge. There too I’m now managing to buy designs for a specific project rather than scooping up every design I like the look of. Like patterns, they’re a good low-cost option for a little treat 😀 I’ve never been a compulsive shopper for clothes, but patterns, fabric, embroidery designs all need restraint I’ve had to learn ! Now I’m making lists on my computer of what catches my eye in those categories too, instead of buying.

Well, that’s my approach to recording sewing ideas and choosing between possible projects.

But, although this sounds like the opposite of what I’ve said so far, once I start working on a specific project I do find it essential to make a detailed list of each step involved in making it, especially any step that involves changes in tools or processes.  Those lists are on my computer too.

’Sew the shoulder seams.’ Looks like a simple small step but – hmm, how many different sub-steps does that involve – pin, baste, test fit, alter, repeat, stitch, finish seams, press – and there are changes of tools used and/or position in sewing space between each step.

Also I note my progress in detailed ‘e-diaries’ rather than on paper.
So my sewing records are all on computer.

The organisers of the wardrobing course I’ve just taken are staunchly hand-written-paper-journal users. Ah well – that course has made me think I’m unconventional in an unconventional way. . .

Also ’sewing’ as the focus of my hobbies doesn’t just involve ‘making’.
What about all those very enjoyable ’sewing related’ activities which don’t get any making done : watching sewing videos, surfing pattern sites, reading sewing books, reading pattern instructions, changing patterns, blogging about sewing technique and about how to use my embroidery machine. Wandering between all those certainly is not planned. . .

There are other aspects of my life which are better sorted out on paper rather than computer.  When I was working and writing research papers, I had to integrate complex ideas and the first step was to work out how they fitted together.  I used hand drawn diagrams with many arrows to show connections. Using diagram-making software on a computer may be good for showing business plans, but I find it very much constrains creative thinking.

And when I have deadlines I do much pre-planning and prioritising. But for fun hobbies, definitely not.

So what best to do to support my sequence of activities does very much depend on specifics of the task.

Best Wishes for finding your own way through the ever-expanding maze of possibilities for sewing, planning, and making records of both.

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This entry was posted on March 1, 2020 at 10:26 am and is filed under style and planning. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.