Re-storing a Lost Sewing Mojo

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About two years ago I began to teach myself how to make garments using the internet, book resources, YouTube videos, and detailed sewing blogs.  I was determined to learn, and nothing would stop me.  Growing up I learned some things about sewing clothes, but they were all pretty basic.  The skills were more focused on quilting than garment making or home decoration.  I had always wanted to learn how to make clothes, but never really had the time or opportunity.  After joining the army, getting married, and deploying I was so starved of everything creative that sewing moved to the top of the list. 

This was further motivated by my desire to make clothes I loved that would last for years instead of a season, and a husband who wanted me to be a whiz with a sewing machine.  I used to be quite the clothes horse.  Most of my paychecks would go to more and more clothing or shoes, which is kind of embarrassing to admit.  When I deployed, the only clothing I wore for a year was my physical fitness uniform and my combat uniform.  After coming home, everything had changed.  It really hit me how fleeting fashion, music, television, movies, etc. is.  I lost my desire for frequent shopping, and gained a desire to only wear things I really enjoy and feel lovely in.

That turned into a search for clothing styles that I felt were timeless.  Enter in: vintage fashion extravaganza!  Not really, but it was a lot of fun looking at pictures of vintage clothes and patterns for the styles I wanted to wear.  I still do this, and in particular look for those lovely little details that make vintage clothing so charming.  I started collecting ideas of the kinds of garments I wanted to make, and then set out as the fearless adventurer on my journey to finally make them.  Let's just say, everything is always going to turn out perfectly when you're planning out what you'll be making, but once you finally begin making things...well...they don't always go as planned...much to the dismay of said adventurer.

I was sewing at this intense rate of almost a garment a week; sometimes less, sometimes more.  Sew alongs were my favorites just because of all the pictures, videos, instructions, and pacing recommendations.  Despite all that, burn out was inevitable. 

Then Mr. Hopeful deployed, and I really lost my sewing motivation.  I did a couple projects, but I just couldn't bring myself to keep it up.  I then made a deal with myself that I needed to finally clean out our office/sewing room before continuing with any more sewing projects, and that only resulted in me losing all desire to sew because of the state of disorganization that room had become.  I've decided that as I spend regular time working on my cleaning baby steps, I'll begin to attack that room with renewed vigor, but I'm not going to stop sewing until finishing up that room.



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Now that Mr. Hopeful's back, the bug has re-bitten itself, and I'm praying for it not to burn out like it did before.  This time I want to pace myself, and one of the things I'd like to include is doing regular mending and home decoration projects, which I think are just as important sewing skills as making garments.  I'm thinking about doing a rotation of after a garment, doing a 're-fashion,' mending, or home decoration job on a few of the pieces that need it before starting another garment from scratch.

There will be two garments I will be focusing on come October to re-ignite said sewing mojo.  One is the Peony and the other is the Anise, both by Colette Patterns (pictures are in this post, and links under the pictures), and sew-alongs are being hosted for them as well.  I wanted something that would go nicely with Fall weather, and I would like to make them so that both can be worn together or separate.  I'm thinking of venturing into the territory of wool for at least one of the sew alongs as I have some lovely wools, but have been debating how to use them.

I can't wait to get started to finally restore my lost sewing mojo as it was something incredibly fulfilling for me before I got out of the habit.  This time I just need to watch myself to prevent it from getting completely out of hand like it did last time.  Along the way I want to do posts that go into the books (most important  part, hah!) used, inspiration, my selection process, etc.  If there's anything specific you want addressed, then please let me know as I'd love to research other things that I might not be as familiar with.