Less thinking, more screaming!

I just read this on Burdastyle.com in an interview with Susan Wasinger: 

Every crafter encounters a sort of writer’s block – or crafting block, if you will – how do you continue to get inspired and work through those blocks?

For me this is when my head gets in the way of my hands. If I have spent too long imagining or envisioning something and have gotten all invested in it turning out some specific way. Sometimes, that rigid idea makes me hesitant to put my fingers to fabric, as though the reality will break the spell I have woven in my head. It is almost an apprehension. I find that making the first cut with the scissors can sometimes break that impasse, as can taking that first stitch. Especially if you hold those first stitches lightly, and imagine you can take them out if you don’t like where they are going. Starting off with a sense of play and adventure seems to get around those blocks. Get your hands involved early, even before your head has a chance to decide exactly what it wants. That seems to help release the tension that gets in the way of us diving in and swimming in a sea of creative juices.

I have to say that this really resonated with me. I often (always) get stuck procrastinating even starting a project (this blog, for instance) because I don't want to mess up and I only want to do it once. Can you say anal retentive perfectionist?? What should be fun, ends up being a major stressor. When the projects pile up, it becomes debilitating. It just goes to show that my new motto "less thinking, more screaming", coined on our last ski trip (thank you Amanda), once again wins out. Does anyone else have trouble psyching themselves out? What do you do to overcome it?

New topic: Is anyone else out there pissed because Old Navy discontinued their line of underwear? The hipsters were/are quite possibly perfect. Future project: copy panties using sports mesh I got from my mother in law. It's been on the books for a while, but I've got so many other projects on the go, it's fallen by the wayside. 

That's all for now.

Finally...

There's been a lot sewn since my initial post, but I've been so busy/lazy that I haven't posted anything else. So, I'm pretending this is new year's and I'm initiating a resolution: at least one post a month. Seems easy enough. Here's April's:

Recently, I've given up sewing for myself to sew some costumes for a theatre group I belong to, and I'm almost done the first costume assignment. I'm a slow sewer, or more like, it takes a lot to get me motivated when I'm not sure what I'm doing, because I don't like making mistakes and having to do things more than once (can you say "type-A"??). RESOLUTION #2: enjoy the process more. As I learned on our ski trip back in February; less thinking, more screaming—I'm really going to have to make a poster for that.

Not only was my procrastination dragging this project out, but take a look at the pin tucks I had to make on this baby:

Much drama to get this done. First there was the issue of the pintuck foot that didn't fit my machine... or my mom's machine... or my sister's machine... sigh. But, since the twin needles I had were fairly wide anyway, I tried just sewing with a regular presser foot spacing the tucks the 1/4 inch, or to the edge of the foot. This worked out, except that I was supposed to adjust the bobbin tension, which was an impossibility on my machine. So I sewed those sonofabitch tucks anyway, and just got them done—eventually.

Now, all I have left is the buttons and a serged hem on the skirt:

Which I swear I will complete today.

Next up, besides a couple of couch pillows I've also been putting off, is this delightful blouse I've had my eye on:

Many reviewers on patternreview.com have noted the boxy shape, and I'm not sure what it will look like on me, but I'm planning to add some sort of waist shaping and hoping for the best. I've already picked up a couple of fabrics. One as a practice, and one as the final, but as I usually do, I've picked up two lovelies that I'm not really willing to give up on a wadder, so I'll just have to find some other muslin. I'm leaning towards the purple for the finished blouse, and no, that's not the fabric that's distorting the print, that's the actual print. I thought it would lend itself well to the drape from the knots. 

One more thing... I also picked up some great vintage patterns:

I don't think the two sixty's dresses will be particularly flattering to my more athletic body type, but I'm itching to make the seventy's dress (Simplicity 8025) as either a short dress or a shirt with no sleeves (the green version). 








UPDATE ON THE RACHEL COMEY BLOUSE: 
What a wadder!!! I was going to try to see if I could somehow make an sba, but the drafting here is way beyond my experience. I recently came across a blog that featured a similar design, and the drafting behind it. If I had more time/patience/interest, I'd research it further, but I don't, and I'm fine with that. At this point, I'm sticking to a philosophy of creating more success than failure with my sewing.