Tuesday 29 December 2015

Is it a quilt? Is it a bag? No it's a UFO...

With the end of 2015 drawing close I've been reflecting on this year. Last Christmas I received Tilly and the Buttons sewing book for Christmas and began my journey into dress making. Since then I have learnt a lot, failed a lot but also created some clothes which I adore. I also received a tapestry kit to make a beautiful Felicity Hall clutch bag. I have been completing tapestries for a while now and have some lovely cushions so this is by no means my first yet a year later here it is...
It's not that I don't enjoy completing it. If anything I become slightly obsessive about it when I start. However, something else will then take my attention and it will lay untouched for weeks or months.

New Years Resolution Number 1: Finish the clutch bag.

I'd like to say that this was my only UFO. Sadly, there are many more. I completed a quilt for my bed a few years ago. It was actually what got me into sewing and why I bought my first machine. I loved it and completed it in the summer holidays (I have six weeks off due to being a teacher). I decided to make a smaller quilt which would be nice to have on the sofa on cold evenings. I spent hours cutting, piecing it altogether and teaching myself how to free motion quilt. All that is left to do is to sew on the bias binding...yet it has laid in a cupboard untouched for a year. It's not that I don't love it but some how I just can't motivate myself to finish it.

New Years Resolution Number 2: Finish the quilt.

Sadly clothes don't escape becoming UFOs. many of my UFOs are items which I discover to be failures on the way...poorly fitting or bad fabric decisions. But then there are the others...such as this full circle skirt. I like the skirt and the only reason it remains unfinished was that the zip went in poorly and ripped. I needed to buy a new zip. However, in this time gap my mind has wandered onto something else...something new which seems more exciting.

New Years Resolution Number 3: Finish the successful items of clothes.

All of my UFOs have a key theme...I become distracted by something new...a new patterns, piece of fabric or even craft itself. I may need to have a new rule; no new items until the last one is finished. But then again, maybe that's too many resolutions for one year. How do you combat ending up with piles of UFOs?

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