Ever worked on a project only to hit a wall over and over? Not in the sense that you have lost the creative muse but in that you just seem to mess everything you try up. You do? What do you do when that happens to you to get beyond it?
Let me show you what I do when my sewing gets to me.
Not all the clothes I sew for my dolls turn out right the first time. Hardly any of them do in fact. As relaxing as sewing is to me it sometimes comes with a lot of frustrating goofs and messes. When that happens I turn to making something I know turns out right nearly every time. It gives me a creative outlet without the frustration problem. A calming craft.
So when I find I have hit the wall with a current project I turn to making one of these.
Let me show you what I do when my sewing gets to me.
Not all the clothes I sew for my dolls turn out right the first time. Hardly any of them do in fact. As relaxing as sewing is to me it sometimes comes with a lot of frustrating goofs and messes. When that happens I turn to making something I know turns out right nearly every time. It gives me a creative outlet without the frustration problem. A calming craft.
So when I find I have hit the wall with a current project I turn to making one of these.
The lace dresses are made onto tiny body suits in t-shirt material. The other two are straight t-shirt material that has been mixed to match pattern wise. They are simple for me to make. Better still I can cut out all the fabric or lace I need in any number of combinations to have back for the next time. They take up very little space and only a small portion of my supplies.
Now I won't say I haven't learned a thing or two while making these. I decided back in 2014 to teach myself embroidery to add detail to my work. Since these are about, I won't say are, the smallest clothes I make for dolls they seemed the perfect thing to test on. The blue dress and the black and white stripe skirt one feature tiny chain stitches around the collars, the waist and on the skirt edging of the blue. The other has what is called a blanket stitch on the edge of the skirt. Here is a close-up of chain stitch.
Now I won't say I haven't learned a thing or two while making these. I decided back in 2014 to teach myself embroidery to add detail to my work. Since these are about, I won't say are, the smallest clothes I make for dolls they seemed the perfect thing to test on. The blue dress and the black and white stripe skirt one feature tiny chain stitches around the collars, the waist and on the skirt edging of the blue. The other has what is called a blanket stitch on the edge of the skirt. Here is a close-up of chain stitch.
Surprisingly both stitches are rather simple to do and look great in single thread at this scale. But it can get tricky not to add another layer to that detail work when you've managed to work out the one stitch. I've learned since then embroidery details can be a little addictive. Here is what I mean by that.
This dress for my Picco Neemo, Heather, has chain stitch, lazy daisy, laced running stitch and the french knot stitch. I was only going to add the chain stitch to this one but I had just learned the other stitches and thought I would give them a shot on this dress. An embroidered design can take a simple drop waist dress from plain to cute in no time flat.
So what is the point of this?
My point is that even a wall can offer some creative outlet if you work with it. I wish all my projects turned out right the first time, but they don't. I am far from perfect and simply put have no desire to be perfect. These tiny dresses started out as away to get beyond the frustration but took on a life of their own. Sooner or later even your basic crafts can turn in to a favorite craft for decompressing.
The trick to finding yours isn't to give up but pick up an old trust worthy project again. Even if it is something you've made a thousand times before. Just having something turn out right can go along way to getting beyond that wall. Never more so when you can add to it and make something different.
On the plus side, you'll likely end up with something to sell from it. I will be putting a few of these on Etsy this weekend.
Enjoy!
So what is the point of this?
My point is that even a wall can offer some creative outlet if you work with it. I wish all my projects turned out right the first time, but they don't. I am far from perfect and simply put have no desire to be perfect. These tiny dresses started out as away to get beyond the frustration but took on a life of their own. Sooner or later even your basic crafts can turn in to a favorite craft for decompressing.
The trick to finding yours isn't to give up but pick up an old trust worthy project again. Even if it is something you've made a thousand times before. Just having something turn out right can go along way to getting beyond that wall. Never more so when you can add to it and make something different.
On the plus side, you'll likely end up with something to sell from it. I will be putting a few of these on Etsy this weekend.
Enjoy!