Thread Bits is a new series that I'm trying out. Sharing thoughts and ideas about sewing, fabric, and thread. Today I'd like to hear your thoughts on something...
This is a little quilt project I'm working on. I ordered fabric, went shopping for more fabric, cut and pinned, and really felt like I was rolling. Then I started sewing and found that one of my fabrics just wasn't going to work.
The project stalled. The thought of unpinning, cutting new fabric, pinning again, and then hoping that it would all work, well, in the words of Emperor Kuzco, it threw off my groove.
I know that this happens to everyone is some way or another, so I thought we might have a conversation about it. Here's my question:
What causes you to lose your momentum on a project, and what helps you get back in the groove?
Share your answer, read others' answers, and maybe even come back later to see what folks are saying. Who knows? We may all find new ways to keep our sewing, stitching, crafting going!
To get this project moving forward again, I did buy fabric right away, but didn't cut into it. After a while, I finally thought, if I just do SOMETHING on this, maybe that will help. In an afternoon, I ended up unpinning (so fast!), cutting the new fabric (not my favorite thing to do), and re-pinning. I even sewed a few pieces to make sure it was going to work!
ReplyDeleteObviously, I should have just started with some progress instead of letting my discouragement get the best of me.
Mollie,
DeleteThis is such an important note. I feel it applies not only to the craft projects I do (that pillow I had to resew THREE times the other night, but also to my work. I have this job right now that feels daunting All The Time. I keep thinking "I'll get more comfortable in the role soon, it just takes time." But with this job that's not happening, I just keep feeling overwhelmed even though I Know I am capable. So I have to keep reminding myself to just Delve In - make some progress! Otherwise you keep feeling anxious, things pile up...and you can't discover how easy the thing actually is! (or at the very least, how it only gets done and over with if you start doing it...)
Kaitlyn - isavirtue.net
When I run into an issue when I'm making something new, I'm easily discouraged. Sometimes the colors in a cross-stitch design don't work out as I had planned, or I may begin to second-guess myself when I'm stitching a felt project together. Either way, I'm often tempted to scrap the whole idea. I've found the best way to deal with these setbacks is to set the project aside for awhile and work on something else. I also look back on things that I've made and loved in the past. This seems to give me the confidence and enthusiasm I need to finish the original project.
ReplyDeleteI get frustrated with projects very easily if something important doesn't work the way I planned. For getting a project finished, it almost always helps me along if I have a deadline for when I must have it done. A sewing project that I'm making "just because" could take me the rest of my life to finish..... whereas a sewing project that I must have finished in x amount of days or else gets moving right along!
ReplyDeleteWhatever happens, just please don't go throwing innocent elderly people out of windows because they messed up your groove, ok? lol
I promise! I'm more likely to throw a sewing machine out the window!
DeleteI agree with "Anonymous", I have to have a deadline to work to or I don't finish projects. I have quite a few of these unfinished projects hidden away which I will carry on with one day, hopefully. Barbara xx
ReplyDeleteLife is too short to spend time working on a project that isn't working. :) Move on to something else. Whether that means setting it aside to attack later or immediately repurposing the fabric for a new project. I suppose it depends upon the project and if it's something you HAVE TO get done. I just had to push through sewing an authentic Dutch costume for my son. I wasn't "feeling it", but I had a deadline and it was something I HAD TO get done.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got WAY behind on the 50 states stitching club and was debating on just giving it up, I went to the hashtag on Instagram and checked out what everyone else was doing and it pumped me up to get going on mine again :) Of course, if you're not participating in a stitch along this wouldn't really work LOL. But maybe you could find stuff on Instagram or Pinterest that is similar to what you're working on that could help get you motivated again?
ReplyDeleteI have an overabundance of patience and I find that I will not give up when others would have thrown in the towel in frustration. Sometimes this pays off big. Other times it just adds to my sense of failure. But, that patience also allows me to handle the failure better too. I will then step back, do more research or pick up a new project and try to get a success under my belt before I tackle the failure again. If I never achieve my goal on that project I tend to chalk it up as a valuable learning experience. I have a pretty easy going personality.
ReplyDeleteI get excited about projects and jump into them too quickly, meaning I haven't taken the time to think through the best choices. This leads to something not working, getting frustrated, setting it aside, then jumping to another project.
ReplyDeleteYES!
DeleteWhatever hitch has come my way, or bump in the creative road, I have learned to turn off the lamp, close up shop for the day and "sleep on it." This process has worked with positive results through two weddings (three wedding day outfits), and too-many-to-count plethora of other project dilemmas. Sleep on the matter. The right solution and the zeal to see it through to completion will come to you given the patience and the time.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Mollie!
Kelley~
I'm really bad at underestimating the amount of fabric I need for a project - I'm super into buying fabric remnants/buying precut pieces of fabric second hand. When I first look at it I think that I'll have plenty for what I'm planning to do, but after checking and measuring later and realising that I'll have to add another fabric into the mix to make up for it. The only way to get over this is to forge ahead anyway, and even though my fabric doesn't match, hope that I'll love the end result.
ReplyDeleteI am all about the finish. The upside is I usually push through and don't Have many UFOs. The downside is I will push through and make something even if I made a bad design or other decision. I stick to what I started, for better or worse.
ReplyDeleteI live in a crafty world of wips! I often get bored with embroidery or crochet projects and can put them aside for months at a time then suddenly just go back to them. With sewing projects I often lose momentum due to getting frustrated but I go back to them faster, usually after a couple of weeks!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that going back and just doing a little can be the biggest help!! (Something I am trying to do with my little blog too!)
I live in a crafty world of wips! I often get bored with embroidery or crochet projects and can put them aside for months at a time then suddenly just go back to them. With sewing projects I often lose momentum due to getting frustrated but I go back to them faster, usually after a couple of weeks!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that going back and just doing a little can be the biggest help!! (Something I am trying to do with my little blog too!)
If I'm stalled on a project (or in so much pain that housework seems completely overwhelming), I set a timer for 15 minutes or decided to just do 10. If I only work on a project for 15 minutes a day, it gets done eventually. And, if all I can do is wash 10 dishes at least a few get done. Although, usually I end up doing at least a drainer full. Doing a small portion helps me get past the "this is going to take forever" stage or just to get past being overwehlmed.
ReplyDeleteI tell someone, or post online, that I'm working on it.. then I feel guilty if I stall out and don't finish! Public accountability/guilt motivates me :)
ReplyDeleteI get very frustrated when I hit part of an instruction that I don't understand or, more often, find out I missed a step or read the instructions wrong and have to undo part of what I've done. I've found that if I force myself to push through I get over it quickly. If I let the problem marinate it can sit for a very very long time. I also find that I can get really tired of a project by the time I finish it. I make myself finish and then stick it in the closet for a year and then I can fall in love with it again when I get it back out.
ReplyDelete