Top 5 Reflections/Inspiration

In the next installment of Gillian's Top 5 list making, the Top Reflections & Inspirations of 2012.

I clearly missed the memo about how this was to be done before the start of 2013. :)

Reflections:

1. Fabric fast - no fabric purchases since April. Fabric gifts from other people weren't allowed either, and neither was I allowed to buy fabric for other people. Nope. I had to go cold turkey.

However, this was surprisingly less difficult that I would have thought. (Shopping with the sewing buddies was the only time I was seriously tempted - there was a remnant at LA Fabrics that would have made the most amazing purple skirt in the world. I did a bit of pouting then.)


2. I did a rough count, I think I sewed between 20-25 pieces in 2012. That's significantly down from previous years. On the one hand, I'm ok with the number. On the other hand, I wish the number was slow because I'd completed something time-consuming and show-stopping.

3. I have an inherent tension between wanting to sew easy things, and wanting to sew more complicated things. "Huh, Reethi?", you ask? Let me explain.

I've a crazy busy life. There's the full-time job, of course, but there's also a pretty active social life,  weekly trivia with friends, a large social beer group I run, French class twice a week, a family I like and see often, a house that is not new (built in 1938) that requires time and attention, a new quilting pattern company thingy, and of course, most importantly, little Biscuit.

Squeezing in sewing in the middle of all that is often a challenge (one I love - I love sewing!). Therefore, when I do manage to get a bit of time, I often want instant gratification.

However, the clothes that get reached for, again and again, are those that fill wardrobe holes, and these are often not quick and easy. I desperately need raincoats, lined woolen pants, suits for work, etc. I'd be insanely proud of myself if I made all of these.

In 2013, I need to reconcile these two divergent desires.

4. Blogging vs. sewing: Not many people read my blog. Occasionally, I'll wish I had more comments, or some such thing.

And I love the sewing community, I love seeing what you are doing, I love meeting people through the blog and all that. But - if blogging didn't exist at all - I would still be sewing.

At the end of the day - I want to be a sewist. Your comments are treasured, each and every one of them, but they are the icing on the cake. It makes the cake sweeter, but cake's pretty awesome all by itself. Whenever I'm wishing more people commented on a post, or some such thing, I need to remember to stay true to what I really care about.

Ok, I'm breaking the rules, I only have 4 reflections.

Inspiration: 

Sheesh - how do you do inspiration? Everyone on my blog list to the right inspire me. A lot of other people whose blogs I haven't added to my reader inspire me. (I procrastinate a lot.)

I do tend to be especially interested in sewists that face similar challenges to me - work a full time job in an unrelated industry, and sew in spare time. 

Instead of picking 5 people, I'll pick 5 recent projects that made me gasp. This is in no means exhaustive, and not in any particular order.

1.  Clio's leather jacket. I want to steal it.
2. Carolyn's leather and ponte knit dress. (Hmm. A theme. Perhaps I should sew a bit with faux leather?)
3. Amanda's black and white jacket. (Ok, there's definitely a leather trim trend here.)
4. I'm not even going to try to narrow it down to one of Carolyn's 65(!) creations for the year. I want every single thing she sews. (Ok, if I were forced to pick just one thing, maybe the red dress.)
5. Not sewing related - but everything CrazyAuntPurl says gets me thinking. (Yes, that wasn't a recent project.)

I'll do Goals tomorrow? This post took forever to write! And will probably take forever to read, if you are still reading. :)