Me Made May – week 1 & I’m such a jerk
Day 2 – Vogue 8398, Burda 8155
- Day 3 – Moto Jacket & Carl (JJ)
No, really. I keep letting my blog reader get out of control full, to the point where my heart my skips a beat when I see the number climb higher. I signed up for Me Made May, and took two photos last week. I need to finish my Taffy. This stupid t-shirt currently in progress is not up to my liking. It’s a t-shirt, I’ve hacked away at dozens over the years, and liked how they fit. So why is making one from a pattern not to my liking? I’ve been slogging through software tutorials, in pursuit of another creative endeavor, one that has been long neglected.
I keep signing up for more blogland things. I need to stop this habit, out of self-preservation. I’m gonna stick out MMM, because I said I would. But remember the whole 1912 Project? I was so utterly jazzed to sew up some turn of the century garments. In the meantime, waiting for my first pattern to arrive, I got really wrapped up (then burnt out) on Sew Weekly stuff. By the time the email stating the new formula on the 1912 Project reached me last month, I knew it just wasn’t going to happen. Pulling my hat out of that one. Sticking through MMM. Maybe doing a Sew Weekly here or there, as they fit into my current Spring/Summer sewing plans.
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At least you’re still doing stuff! My project work has come to a screeching halt… who would have thought one little top (yeah I’m looking at you, Taffy!) would have had the power to derail me so badly!!
You can do it! .. moving forward slowly is always better than not moving at all :)
Tortoise, tortoise, I’ll keep you in mind friend. I think the simplest of things are so easily over-thought, or rather, because they are simple, we spend a ridiculous time on small details (which can be great for skill learning, or stifling if you let it).
I know YOU can whip that Taffy into shape :)
very cool seeing your jacket out and about in everyday life!!!
MMM doesn’t require photos if they don’t fit into your day and we’ll believe you that you’re sporting me-mades! try not to worry about not being able to take part in all the online group stuff – it seems like there’s always another one coming up…
I wear it non-stop! In fact, an instagramer I’d never met recognized me, which was kinda weird. Gotta stop raising my hand for every single thing. It’s like I’m making up for not being in every single extra-curricular activity as a kiddo or something.
I’m in the same place. After two months of letting my reader get out of control, I finally accepted that I wasn’t going to be to catch up and marked everything as read. For a week now, I’ve been able to keep the #’s low but we’ll see how long it stays that way.
It’s so easy for me to over-commit myself and I’m trying to let myself off the hook when I don’t live up.
Clean slate, I like that. I need to let go of the blogger’s guilt that I mentioned below. We have such an amazing community, and I just want to be a cheerleader for everyone, all the time. Yet need to keep in mind that it simply isn’t possible to read & comment on every single post (or maybe it is… I swear some of y’all manage it!).
Another over-commiter? Shall we start an over-commitment committee? Who’s signing up… we need a president, veep, secretary….. C’mon, commit ;)
Dude, you’ve got lots going on! Don’t stress about it– of course, we all love to see your photos, but it’s so easy to overcommit and get completely overwhelmed.
But I’m so good at it! Ha! I need to fire myself from that job.
Awww, sounds like you need to cut yourself some slack! I mean, internet promises should not rule your life. Maybe you could reduce your MMM pledge to something more fun and manageable? And if the Taffy and T-Shirt are turning out as you wish, maybe it’s time for something fun and easy? (BTW, I think a lot of people have struggled with the Taffy pattern – it seems tricky to have it turn out flattering and just right!)
If sewing and blogging are your hobbies, then they should bring you joy, right? I hope you can figure out a way to make it all fun again! :)
You sound like my mom, and I mean that in the best way possible :D Perfect point… hobbies should bring joy and whimsy to life, not stress or guilt. Taffy is almost done – was waiting on some stabilizer to arrive :)
An overflowing reader totally stresses me out! It makes me feel like I’m not holding up my end of a relationship or something! But I agree with Lizz – when it gets to that point just mark them all as read and take it from there. You’ll probably find your way back to the posts that would interest you anyway! And i hear ya about all these internet challenges. I think sitting them out and just focusing on your own goals is a good idea. Plus its fun to read when someone is doing their own thing!
You’ve perfectly articulated where I was coming from, Sallie. I know I’ll always be able to find interesting posts, projects, garments by others. The stress comes from feeling like a bad blog friend, and hyper-connectivity. It takes time to make, photograph, write, post, and I just want to support everyone, even if it’s a simple “hell yeah!”. I tried explaining this blogger’s guilt to Ryan, but it is ludicrous to him. Maybe it is, period.
Sometimes when you feel obligated to sew/blog it takes the fun out of it, at least that’s how I feel…
Love how your shirt matches your phone. You planned that, right? ;)
Exactly – it’s a fun endeavor! I don’t feel so bad about not posting on my own blog, yet feel guilt if I’m not keeping up with, and supporting, my blog friends.
Hehe… I think it’s the instagram filter, cuz my case is grey in reality. I hadn’t noticed that it looks blue in the photo. I mean, yeah. Totally planned that :)
Wo! Chillax woman. Open up a spreadsheet. Make a list. Not by order or priority. Just a list with everything you need done put in there randomly. Then order it. Then eliminate everything that’s not a necessity. And stuff on your reader is only meant for toilet/ public transport reading. Like an old school newspaper. You know this yea? ;D
I like your data approach! Boy, do I love a good spreadsheet :) But I love you guys, too. Take you to the toilet with me… well, I never!
You, my dear are certainly not a jerk! I love that Ikat blouse! Still one of my very faves!
You sound like you need to pause and smell the roses! I am sure you never say no to anything, am I right? You could say “no” now! Teeheehee!! :-). It will get better, sometimes you just need to pull back….. You are a lovely!! Hang in there!
I’m turning into my mother. Always telling her to just say no!
That blouse is actually a go-to for me! I probably wear it too often, and just now realizing that I should make more tops like that. And maybe a replacement ikat… I have a ton of yardage, and there are a couple snags on my current version.
I feel your pain- I foolishly agreed to make bench cushions for my Bosses mother in law?! You know I’m too shallow to sew anything I can’t wear- what was I thinking? Love your blouse in the first pic. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m any less smitten with the moto jacket. That is still amazing!
The mother-in-law of your boss? You didn’t!!! Now that is insanity. She’d better lounge on and caress those cushions every day, and never with a snack in hand.
If that’s being a jerk, then we’re all guilty!! Hang in there. We will take as much or as little as you have time for!
Nettie, I don’t know how you do it. Kiddos, school, work, sew. Thinking about that stresses me out even more. Are you one of those magic people who don’t need sleep?
I DO need sleep, I just don’t get much! Lol. I can’t even blame the kids. I’ve always been a night owl, it’s a hard habit to break.
I love that top you are wearing on Day 2! So colorful and pretty!
Thanks :) It’s a favorite, and I have so much of that fabric.
Just sew for a set amount of time each day. Balance and moderation in all things :-)
I am speaking to myself also :-p
Oh and I love your Iphone self-ies btw so I’ve pinged this post.
Awww, you are NOT a jerk. Someone needs to do a social analysis of web community and pressure. They probably already have. About the unspoken social pressures, some strangely self-imposed. I sense when bloggers are taking (or in need of) breaks… and I love when they do. It feels very human to me. Maybe there should be a Blog Amnesty month or something. Over-commitment committee–sounds like a Woody Allen joke in the making ;)
I hope your writing is going well!
Somebody should do some research, write up a thesis on that. Not me ;) A total Woody Allen joke, but would he want to be a member of the club that wanted him as a member? (He was retelling a Groucho Marx joke with that one, right? From Annie Hall?)
Creeping along…..
Ha, I tooooooootally relate!! Project-wise I’ve been treading water for months. And at the moment I have been cowering away from wordpress, I dare not look at how behind I am while trying to keep my head above water on the flickr side during MMM. Once it stops being fun, you get to pick and choose and do whatever you want to do. Because the point of it is that it’s supposed to be bringing you joy, not so much added stress that it shuts you down, you know? At least that’s what I tell myself when I can’t remember which project I was supposed to try to find time to work on tonight! XO & we validate your decisions to ax whichever projects you feel like!
I like it when people come and go in my blog reader… it’s always a little bit of a treasured surprise. Which is why I was so excited to see you pop up again recently :) Paul Bunyon, step back.
I love that jacket – and I totally know how you feel! So many cool projects and challenges and sew-alongs out there, but I just can’t do them all! I signed up for both Sew Colette, which is down to the last pattern of the book while I have only cut out the first one (and decided to put it on the back burner until next fall) and Colette’s palette challenge (which I haven’t made a palette for, four weeks into the challenge). And I have around 250 blogs in my reader at the end of each week. This working thing is totally cramping my style… ;)
But honestly? That’s ok. Work is fun, I manage to sew something nice (though admittedly non-too-complicated) every couple of weeks, and even though my blog posts are less well thought out and my comments less numerous than I’d like – that’s alright. :)