sunday thoughts

Somewhere I read (if you know where, remind me please) that the extreme perfectionist is someone who can't even start anything, as this person is aware that nothing she/he does will ever be sufficiently good to get out to the world. I feel this has been my way since my early twenties, and I can state with knowledge of cause it is not a nice way. This goes way beyond procrastination or insecurity, this is heavy really. But from the moment I read it I believe I began shifting my insides, maybe slowly but certainly (firmly).

* it is HARD to write about delicacies using a language different from your native... as much as it is a joy to experiment with it *

I feel in the last couple of years I grew braver and more confident about myself to accept error and failure in ways these wouldn't get me down to the point of stopping me completely (or making me quit my endeavors). But when this started to change I was still kind of away from sewing affairs, and then pregnancy and now baby. My current struggle is really with finding time to sew. There's obviously a certain load of insecurity, that keeps being fed by all those beautiful super productive skilled fast seamstresses on my instagram account, but that is working more as a reminder that sewing is a good activity for self care and for building confidence.

But well, I keep bringing myself back to my plans and go one day at a time, currently taping pdfs print-at-home for 4 projects: a Hudson pant, an Ebony tee, a Kabuki tee and a Mary trousers (I want to sew up a few trousers and decided to try these first as a suggestion from @sewingpolarbear, as they seem to be not so complicated to fit, and I  like the style). In this first batch is also included a Zinnia skirt, that has been printed and tiled and glued for a long time. 

Obviously I see the inconsistency on stating I have no time and simultaneously putting up a list of 5 projects, but I think I might work better going a little bit here, a bit there and sewing one thing soon enough to be able to follow up with the other. I suppose this doesn't make much sense, and I cannot really explain how this acts on me, but it's more or less the same operation I am trying to perform with putting up this blog: I feel it is a way to commit to my plans. Because this blog is alive I have to sew stuff to put here and feed this space; same way, if there's a small project pile on my cutting table I'll have to push myself to go about and finish them. At least diminish that pile.

Wellll... let's see how this goes.

For the moment I will just link two texts that I want to leave close to my own reach, and if you are reading this, you might find them inspiring as I have.

One is from Heather Lou from Closet Case patterns, a woman I have a huge crush on ♥️ and admire A LOT for her approach about sewing, about life... Also, I think she develops the best best patterns. I have read this so many times, and she is just right on spot there.
p.s.: After I published this I restarted reading a great book by Elizabeth Gilbert about creativity, that is on the same line of thought of the article by Heather Lou. I super recommend it, it is great to think about creating and risking anything new on any aspect of life. And she is such a good writer, this is such an easy read.

The other is from Rosie Martin, (a blog post she published this past week) who I also admire immensely for her sense of style, uniqueness and for her personality. She is always bringing up such interesting ideas and thoughts, and her book is genius. And the reflection she brought this week is on track with much of what I have been thinking.

Maybe these aren't really related, but this is how I work, so... there you go. 

If you're reading this far, please comment on any relevant topic that might resonate with you... do you struggle with your own perfectionism? Do you find it hard to create time to work on your sewing, or is it already solved for you? Do you think about the meanings of me-made clothing and the future of society and comunity? What are your sewing plans for now?

 Thanks for reading,

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