I am distractible by nature. Everything seems to get my attention which really means I’m not putting my attention where I need to. This was happening with my sewing too. I never knew what to project to focus on next. Picking a project became a big deliberation usually settled with impulsively starting a project without the planning it could have benefited from. I thought I needed a list of what sewing projects I was going to do. I even numbered them for what order to follow but I found when it came time to do the next project on the list I wasn’t all that interested. Worse were the times I would make a garment that I never wanted to wear, not because it didn’t turn out but because it just wasn’t me.
This year, as I challenge myself to be my own boss, I am realizing more focus and structure is needed for sanity and productivity. I’ve noticed that adding focus and structure to my life is not impeding my creativity as I thought it may but rather it’s helping me to clearly distinguish between what is merely a distraction and what is worth pursuing.
I recently had an idea worth pursuing that has brought some focus to my sewing. It started with a favorite distraction of mine, magazines.
In school we were required to tear out images from magazines of clothing that caught our eye. The idea was that we would flip through these images for those times we needed some design inspiration. Maybe we would borrow a collar detail or a color combination or perhaps a seam line or technique or maybe just flipping through our collected images would get the mind focused back on fashion design.
It wasn’t design inspiration I was looking for when I tore through a few different fashion magazines and catalogs recently. I was looking for focus of what it was that I liked not what I thought I should like. You know the “what makes me, me” that we all spend way too much time contemplating in high school and then forget to redefine as we age and take on different roles.
I ripped out pages with pictures of garments, colors, details that intrigued me. The kind of clothes I would consider buying if money were no object and my lifestyle was full of travel and parties as well as family and work. Then I tacked them to my cork board in no order. When space ran out on the board the images spilled onto the wall. What I noticed when I stepped back was pretty enlightening. I saw a lot of print fabrics, woven tunic tops, skirts, shots of bright colors, classic shapes and boxy shapes. So, this is what I like (this season, at least).
Now, when I sew something, I tell myself, it better be like something on that board. Don’t go sewing a vintage 40’s style dress, there isn’t anything even similar to one on the board (unless I do it in three different Stella Jean like prints). This way the board has made me a little more focused. The images remind me what it is I should be spending my sewing time on. They remind me what it is that I really like. I am enjoying the focus. It’s less decisions I have to make. Not making decisions gives my mind more energy to be creative. Now I’m wondering if this method will work in the kitchen for that dreaded question, “What should I make for dinner?”
