A Time To Sew

Quilting gives me the heeby-jeebies. I have made a few quilts, but each time the experience is the same. I joyfully set out to pick my fabric, spending ~~hours~~ ~~days~~ weeks looking for just the right thing. Then I’ll decide on a design, then cut my fabric out, and commence to sewing said pieces together. And at first it’s great…I sew away, and there’s something magical about seeing my first couple of rows come together. But every single time I quilt, it doesn’t take very long before I become more and more consumed by slight imperfections in my seam allowances. I’ll be stressed out when things like corners and points don’t match up 100%; and this obsession usually nose-dives into me putting my project away for days (or weeks…or months) before I get the courage to pick it up again. And in the spirit of honesty and full disclosure, I don’t really put it away, away. Most of the time, it winds up in a pile on my cutting table or hope chest and it adds to seemingly ever-present clutter in my sewing studio. If I’m honest, I crave organization and a clutter-free environment, but I’m just not there yet. But I digress. Back to quilting anxiety.

I guess most would probably say the cure to quilting anxiety is to practice, practice, practice, and your seams will become more precise. Or somethinhg like “Sew these two squares together and measure the size afterwards”, blah, blah, blah. I mean no disrespect to those of you who have mastered this craft, because, if I’m honest, I wanna be just like you one day. But for now, I’m just not a person to sew a bazillion little seams with the sole purpose of trying to master a perfect quarter-inch seam allowance.

But, it’s okay, right? Here’s my totally newbie take on perfection paralysis, and what I plan to do on the quilt that I’m stalled out on making for this very reason:

JUST KEEP SEWING

Who cares if it’s a little crooked? You’d be hard-pressed to find a garment/item in a store that doesn’t have minor imperfections. Perfection is for the birds. Now, I should probably insert a disclaimer here stating that there is in fact a time when a seam ripper is your best friend. If you’re sewing along and don’t notice that your seam line has drifted a half an inch in the wrong direction, obviously that will need to be fixed. But at the end of the day, a little dab of crookedness here and there ain’t never hurt nobody (as my mama would say).

Besides, isn’t there something charming about imperfections? Being able to look at something and tell right away that somebody made it with their own two hands? I’ll never be able to attain perfection anyway…so why even stress myself out trying? That’s my goal…to not put so much pressue on myself, and strive to enjoy the process more. If you’re like me, maybe you should try it too.

So, as it turns out, my dear husband isn’t so fond of my latest choice in bedtime garb. You see, when the Air Force changed their uniforms awhile back, we were left with a whole stack of brown t-shirts. And, not willing to throw them away, I kept them and began sleeping in them. Not exactly sexy or even remotely feminine. So, sweet as he is, he began to tease me about my sweet brown pajama shirts. Not to be outdone, I set out to make some girly pajamas; and having recently purchased Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross at a DEEP discount (50% off), I knew exactly what I wanted to do. The Pajamas for Everyone pattern fit the bill perfectly.

I had to modify the pattern a bit, since the fabric requirements stated in the book were off by quite a bit, but since I’m a shorty (5’2″), I figured I could shorten it with no issues. So I cut the medium, then reduced 2 inches from the waist area, and 8 inches from the legs. Granted, this was in desparation to use the fabric I bought, so I wouldn’t have been so agressive in shortening them if I had extra fabric. AND, as it turns out, I had to modify the design a bit to account for my shortening the pattern. I wound up having to add length to legs, so I used some excess fabric left over after I cut around my pattern pieces.

Next time I won’t shorten the waist part, either; I had to finish the waist using elastic thread in my bobbin. I sewed several rows around the waist area smocking style…which turned out fine; just not what the pattern specified.

Overall, a good pattern, and one that I will make again. And I’ll take pictures another time.

{Now, if only I can figure out what to do with those brown t-shirts. I wouldn’t dream of discarding them!!}