Anthems and Nonsense

Do you ever hear a song that sounds sort of like an anthem and even though the lyrics may be terrible it's catchy enough that the chorus kicks in and you shout it at the top of your lungs?? Well I do. There is something therapeutic about it. Almost like, no matter what it is I'm saying right now, it expresses a certain emotion, usually not at all related to the lyrics (at least for me). This week the song is We Are Young by Fun and of course they are playing it like every 5 minutes on the radio. Don't judge. If you are having trouble trying to conjure up a song you may have felt this way about a popular one is Here I Go Again on My Own by Whitesnake... although this whole tangent might apply more to those who secretly have always wanted to be a singer in a band and don't have the vocal abilities (me).

So that is not at all related to sewing but it was on my mind so I decided to share. In my sewing world this week I had some frustrations with my machine. I got all geared up to try and make this bag, The Weekender, that I pinned on Pinterest a while ago.

I got out my materials which included this brown and white decorator fabric, costume pleather, and some scraps for a possible liner which is not included in the original tutorial.

I started cutting and even though I read through the directions at least 4 times, of course I cut it wrong. 5 inches to short and not enough fabric left over to do it again :(

So I decided I would just modify it a bit. I usually count on my first try at any one pattern as being a prototype so this doesn't bother me too much. Then as I continued to read through the instructions I just felt really confused and there were no pictures to really show certain things and I like to see it not just read it, it's how I teach myself new techniques. So I just decided I would do it the best way I thought and take lots of pictures and make my own tutorial inspired by the bag.

Fast forward to me starting to sew and I can't get my tension right. ARGH! I fiddle with it for awhile, but I was also sewing at Miranda's and didn't have all of my stuff with me. So I decided the best thing for my sanity was to pack it in and finish it at home.

So tune in next week for my first ever (inspired) tutorial...

Holly

How do you unwind?

How do you unwind after a long day of work, carpooling, errands, etc.?  I prefer to sit down at my sewing table and work on various projects, gifts, etc.  I prefer to keep the TV off, and crank up some tunes.  Usually I spend most of said "sew-time" searching for a tutorial of the project to be made, then when I find one/few, I get stuck perusing the blog or site where the tutorial resides.  Many a time, my rabbit hole of looking at cute tutorials leads me to start pinning the pics of the projects I want to do someday on Pinterest, or getting ideas for totally different projects altogether.


When it's all said and done, I need to conciously tell myself to focus on the project at hand.... and then I sew.  And once I'm started, I don't want to stop.  I'd rather keep going on a project until 2 AM - it's like an adrenaline rush, and the importance of the time of night (or early morning) goes by the wayside.  My latest project & oh-so-incredible-first-time-feat was actually make a piece of clothing.  Not like a one size fits all apron, but a dress... from a pattern.... that was to be worn... for an audience... and to be finished in... 3 days!  It was quite an endeavor, one for which my fellow Monday sewing ladies called crazy. Yet, I did it!  My costume dress came out great and I am so excited that it turned out well.  Plus, now I'm no longer afraid of venturing into a new world of sewing and crafting my own clothing/costumes. I'm hoping someone caught a pic of me wearing it, otherwise I'll lay it out and snap a couple soon.

Oh, and back to the original question at hand: "I unwind by spooling up" as my boyfriend so wittily described.