Resolutions

Well, I am a bit late, but since I almost never make New Year's resolutions (lots of March 20th... June 2nd... anyday resolutions, though!), this is as good as ever. No pictures, since my laptop died after Christmas (too much marzipan?), but I hope this will be rectified soon.

I read a lot of sewer's resolutions, and was equally impressed and overwhelmed. I know that if I resolved to sew more, or more complex garments, sewing would start feeling like a chore, and since I purposely took it up again to take my mind off some stressful situations, that would be counter-productive indeed .

Even without concrete resolutions/goals, last year I sewed much, much more than I ever had or than I'd expected. So, here's my first resolution:

1. Keep at about the same level of productivity.

Last year I sewed a lot for my children, and I'm starting to question whether that is the best use of my time and energy. Yes, I absolutely enjoy the creative freedom and cuteness factor in sewing kids' stuff. But, without counting, I'm pretty sure I made much more for them than for me. Which wouldn't be so bad, but they grow out of it so fast, and I don't. So here's resolution the 2nd:

2. Limit sewing children's stuff, ideally to one outfit per kid per season, or special occasion wear.

I am plodding on with the jacket, excruciatingly slow, since I haven't quite gotten into my usual daily/weekly rhythm again. Usually, I reserve at least one morning a week while the kids are in Kindergarten, about four or five hours, for sewing. At night, I'm often too tired/can't be bothered to pull out my sewing stuff/takes too long until the kids are truly asleep, so I sew only one or two nights a week. When my one morning of sewing gets eaten up by other stuff, like this week, I hardly sew at all, fall out of the rhythm, forget where I was at, get intimidated by starting up again. I hope to solve this by implementing this resolution (shamelessly stolen from Summerset, no less):

3. 30 minutes of sewing a day, on most days.

Unlike the children's stuff I sew, my garments often stand alone, either by type (dresses), or because I sewed a color/pattern I loved without looking at the rest of my wardrobe too much. Don't get me wrong, they're usually wearable, but not as mix-and-match as the rest of my wardrobe. So, to get the most out of my sewing I make this resolution (actually I made it sometime late last year, which is why I'm sewing the jacket from gray fabric!):

4. Sew more mix-and-match garments, either by sewing neutral colors, and/or simpler patterns, and/or several garments planned as a wardrobe.

So here we are. January 7th and my resolutions are complete. I wish you all a year of happy and successful sewing!