Good habit of the month: One project at a time

This is a cool habit to work on, I don’t think it’ll work for me though because I don’t have a fabric store close to me so it’ll be silly for me to drive all the way to buy fabric for one project each time. I also like to have extra fabric at home so that if I’m inspired to make something I can go to my closet and start the minute I want to!
I wish I had a close fabric store, it would make my sewing life a lot easier!

This is a good habit for me this month as I tend to get easily distracted as well. This year I am trying to stay on course one project at a time and only shopping from my stash, except notions. But now before I enter the fabric store I have to have a list in hand with EXACTLY what I need. No straying from the list. I am trying the same thing at the grocery store – those unneeded cookies or fabric will not enter my house. This month at least ;)

I’m totally like you! In fact, I’ve come to realize, that maybe I enjoy the process of acquiring the fabric as much as using it. I’m trying to be better at “shopping my stash”. BTW, I just bought your book and I love it.

You’ve just described my habits exactly. I keep telling myself that there will be other nice fabrics and plenty of ideas to come down the road, but the stash growing is definitely outpacing my sewing speed.

I tend to do the same thing. However, I have a dry erase board by my sewing table that has my project list. As soon as I get home I add them to my list so that I do not forget about them. Do they always get made, no, but it has increased the number of them that do get made substantially and decreased the random fabrics in my stash.

I so wish this was a problem but the scant number of fabric stores in a 70 mile radius from my home sell so little half decent dress fabric that its a problem even finding something to make the project I do intend doing, let alone fabric for imagined projects!! I do have heaps of patterns though in the hope that one day I will find fabric to make one of them.

I see projects on the internet, blogs, magazines, tv shows…you name it, and I get excited and then begin ying all the things it will take to make the project. One of my neices told me she thinks I like the hunt more than I like the sewing. Before Christmas I made the decision that 2013 is the year I actually enjoy the sewing. Your article is very timely, and I’m so glad that I am not the only person who does this. I love getting your emails every day – thanks for being so generous with your time and talent.

Yes. Though I ‘m usually a two-project girl- one that require more attention, like sewing a top or a quilt, and one that I can do while sitting with my husband watching tv- I was cleaning the craft closet and found many too many works in progress. LOVE this habit (and good to hear I’m not alone! )

I’ve just recently started only going to the fabric store for notions that I don’t have in my stash, in an effort to reduce impulse buying. The cruel fact is that it takes me much less time to park, hunt for fabric, stand in line to get it cut, pay and drive home than it does for me to churn out a project. You’d think the wait in the cutting line alone would dissuade me as in “I have x projects languishing in the wip box! Do I *really have time* for this?” but I still add to the fabric and pattern stash. Then sale coupons seduce me and I’m back to where I started. A large stash!

This year my res-sew-loution is to keep to two projects at a time. For every new project do a wip project. Only buy fabric if I have a pattern already in the stash. And. gulp. maybe just maybe only buy fabric if I have a pattern that has been tested. For now, I have been okay with going only for notions and I have to work on avoiding sales. To really *think* about these res-sew-lutions before I get things cut/purchased.

If this can cross over to the home life, then I will ease into no more new things to clutter the house. IKEA and Container Store are making a bundle off the penchant to own and hoard. Instead of my countless storage boxes, I should do the above. And really clean and purge the closet. For every item sewn, one can go to the donation pile.

Easier said than done but great that we are hashing this out! :)

I often have too many ideas at once and don’t get to them. And, more often than not, sewing for myself is interrupted by a sewing need for one of the kids: pajamas and clothing in general for my 3 year-old son in particular, since he has no hand-me-downs (all other kids and cousins are girls), or sewing for my 12 year-old daughter who is spouting at a weed-like pace and has the height for women’s clothing but not the body and isn’t interested at all in fashion. Occasionally I am inspired by fabric in the store or by something I find online, but usually I’m trying to play catch-up to all my back-logged sewing for myself.

To help me stick with what I have I try to avoid going to the fabric store unless I need thread or buttons, and I’ve tried to organize my projects into bundles with all the things I need (fabric, pattern, zipper, buttons) together so that I can avoid the need to go out in the middle of a project. It sort of helps, since it keeps me out of the local JoAnn’s but it doesn’t keep me from browsing online….

The other reason I don’t finish projects is that I get frustrated/depressed at the fit. Like I’ve been trying to get the fit right on the Jasmine ( I need an FBA) but 2 muslins later it doesn’t seem to be working out well for me. I had to put it aside, which kills me, since I really want to make it. Maybe I’ll take it up again later in the year.

I’m a binge sewer, so I actually do think that I am more productive if I accumulate all the materials so that when the mood strikes, everything is ready to go. Last June I needed matching zippers and it took me until October to get around to buying them. So I try to have a stash of pre-washed fabric and lining, I buy matching thread whenever it goes on sale, and I keep an assortment of invisible zippers around, bought in bulk from zipperstop.com. But I do prefer to cut and sew just one project at a time.

HOWEVER, my stash is ridiculous. Last year I bought 40 pieces and used 25 pieces, and that’s a big improvement over the previous two years.

I have a similar problem. I often start buying materials for patterns I’ve only drafted about halfway or haven’t drafted at all! So I get it in my head that I’m going to do all these great projects and then when I go to do them I realize I need to tweak some things. It’s kind of anxiety-provoking too because I’ll be in the store trying to think abstractly about some to-be-realized projects and debating how much I need, when I could just get what I had planned to come for!

I do the exact same thing, with the addition of putting off working with the fabrics I like the best for fear of messing up the project (although less of that as I realize that I’m finally getting the hang of this construction and fitting bussiness). This year I’m trying to make a point of using up some of my stash, even the stuff I worry about ruining. Maybe as second run-throughs of patterns though, haha.

It took me a lot of determination and exercise to stop multitasking. My rule of thumb: Don’t start a new project (meaning stop buying additional 10 metres of fabric, patterns or beautiful button etc) before you finish one! I stopped when I realized that my stash is bigger than I can sew in many years. But also, that the fabric I purchased in the past does not always correspond to my current taste. You know what happened when I stopped this bad habit? My bank account feels healthier and I feel richer:)