Recently, I’ve been enjoying some random blog surfing and finding some interesting new blogs to follow. I’ve been inspired by many and glad to see so many others learning to sew or improving their skills.
The common theme right now seems to be people questioning their abilities and/or idiosyncrasies.
So here’s a little encouragement for all my fellow stitchers, seamstresses, costumers, sewists, seamsters, and crafters:
Remember: you can’t will inspiration and you can’t force creativity (those who knew me in high school will recall this was one of “Brooke’s Rules”)
You will always be your own worst critic.
Being a perfectionist is how artist types are wired – trust me, it’s a normal side-effect of a creative brain, and I’ve never met a crafty person in the professional world who isn’t a perfectionist in some way. You aren’t weird. =)
There will always be at least one little thing you wish you had time to do or fix when you have a deadline (even if it’s a self-imposed deadline!).
There will almost always be a never-ending pile of unfinished projects and you will always want to add new projects to your list.
When you get frustrated with a difficult project, put it down and walk away for a while.
Everyone who sews, no matter how experienced, will need encouragement to stick with it periodically – being creative is HARD!
You will learn at least one thing from every person you work with and from every project you do.
There will always be those people who just don’t understand your need to create (but never forget there are plenty of others who completely get it!).
May your scissors always be sharp and all your thread stay tangle-free! Happy sewing & crafting!
And here’s a video I found inspiring, hope you do too:
“There will almost always be a never-ending pile of unfinished projects and you will always want to add new projects to your list.” Thank you! Thank you so much for writing that because this is so me. I can have two dozen projects lined up and I keep adding to them. The list never dwindles it just keeps getting bigger. I thought there was something wrong with me. My mother does one at a time and she won’t even think about the next project until she finishes. Me; I think about the next project while I’m cutting out the first.
I can only do the “one project at a time” when I’m working in a shop – but my personal projects are always a never ending list. When you like to create, you can’t turn off your brain. =)
So true, I use to enter my garments in county fair exhibits. I stopped doing that because the pressure, I put on myself, to be perfect got to be to much. Sewing was no longer enjoyable. Now, if a seam is a bit uneven or threads haven’t been trimmed it’s ok; I can move on.
Custom Style 
Excellent thoughts, Brooke! And all so true…
Thanks for posting this! I am a perfectionist and my own worst critic, eeek!
“There will almost always be a never-ending pile of unfinished projects and you will always want to add new projects to your list.” Thank you! Thank you so much for writing that because this is so me. I can have two dozen projects lined up and I keep adding to them. The list never dwindles it just keeps getting bigger. I thought there was something wrong with me. My mother does one at a time and she won’t even think about the next project until she finishes. Me; I think about the next project while I’m cutting out the first.
I can only do the “one project at a time” when I’m working in a shop – but my personal projects are always a never ending list. When you like to create, you can’t turn off your brain. =)
So true, I use to enter my garments in county fair exhibits. I stopped doing that because the pressure, I put on myself, to be perfect got to be to much. Sewing was no longer enjoyable. Now, if a seam is a bit uneven or threads haven’t been trimmed it’s ok; I can move on.