The Art of Quitting

I ditched the sewing project I was working on for a sewing challenge from the sewing website. I thought engaging in the challenge (pattern mixing) would keep me working on projects and my skills, but I think I realized a number of things:

• 1. I didn’t like the cut of the garment. The ties are above the waistline and hit me funny.
• 2. I chose two fabrics from my collection that were of different weights and stretch.
• 2a. The one was fine and probably the right weight/stretch for this pattern, but having two that are mismatched in stretch is a no go.
• 2b. The other fabric was a poor match for the pattern, probably, and I don’t yet have the skills to work with it. The stretch recovery was poor and needed to be stabilized before sewing.
• 2c. I need to learn to use my serger. And to understand knits better. And to check stretch recovery when using multiple fabrics. And to do some test stitches.
• 3. I wasn’t doing the project because I needed a dress, or because I was particularly excited about the pattern, or because I was particularly excited about the fabric. I was doing the project because I wanted to do the sewing challenge. I was also trying to use only things from my stash, both pattern wise and fabric wise, and while this was an admirable idea, in the context of the pattern mixing challenge (honestly a good challenge for me) this didn’t work with my particular stash.
• 4. That brings us to the challenge and its deadline. It’s a great thing for me to try to build some sort of community with other garment sewists, to learn my blind spots and see how others approach similar projects/problems. The deadline meant I was motivated to get going and keep going. But once I'd missed it, I'd put more constraints on myself than I could execute joyfully.

Ostensibly, I could seam rip apart the unfinished garment, recut the pieces in the fabric that works, re-sew and move the waistline down, and it would be fine? But it's not something I’m excited about. This will go in the scrap fabric bin to be used later, with a note saying what the pattern number was. I hate wasting resources, but I now I have some questions to ask myself before any project.

• Do I really like the pattern?
• Do I really like the fabric?
• Is this fabric a good match for the pattern? Will I need to alter the pattern or how I work with the fabric to make the combo work?
• Will I wear it in the next 6 months? If it is a separate, what will I wear with it? Do I have shoes that work with this garment’s style and color?
• Do I have the skills to work with this fabric? What is its stretch? Recovery? What kind of seam do I need to use? What is the thickness?
• What is the goal of this project? Do I have time to get it done before the deadline? If I don’t make my deadline, will I still be excited to make this project?

That said, I am likely to get stuck in never having the Perfect Project. I’m allowed to have some “fails” that aren’t fails but are learning experiences. It's really fruitful for me to process all of the different fails and have ways of possibly preventing the same issues in future projects.