truth #3 - yes, there will be somebody that notices the mistakes you made

the third truth, somebody WILL notice your mistakes, can be a difficult obstacle to overcome (especially if you are like me).

i can't even begin to count all of the times that i've had somebody say oh, don't worry.  nobody will notice your mistake.  LIES!  the truth is that yes, some people do notice those mistakes.  they probably just choose not to tell you that they noticed.  please note that i said SOME people.

in the case of many mistakes, they could be explained away as a design decision.  hey, that happens.  sometimes a mistake can lead you to something you actually would have chosen if you had known.  as an example, i made a wallet about a month after i started sewing.  the wallet turned out great (except for the awful handwork i did to close up the turning hole), so i decided to make another one a few months later.  by that time, i had much more experience reading patterns.  while re-reading the pattern in preparation for wallet #2, i noticed that i accidentally omitted the top stitching.  i decided to try out the top stitching on wallet #2, and i hated it.  i ripped it out immediately.  i actually prefer the wallet without it, so now it has become a design decision.

another type of mistake that happens is a flaw in the construction.  even people with decades of experience screw up things sometimes.  when i was at sew expo in february 2013, i listed to pati palmer of palmer/pletsch fame tell us that she had just put the sleeves on a jacket backward.  on many occasions, i have turned to my trusty stash of seam rippers to help me out of a jam.  if you sew, you will inevitably rip.  nothing wrong with it at all.  however, not everybody will take the time to rip out an error or something that just looks sloppy.  

there is also a whole other set of mistakes that can be explained away as inexperience, laziness,  or as apathy.  when i look at the first few things that i made as compared to what i produce now, i cringe.  however, i am willing to cut myself a teensy tiny bit of slack for those items.  i was inexperienced, and i still fall into that category as i try totally different types of items (i'm sewing a few garments now instead of the quilts and bags that i started with originally).  as an example, a few months ago, my husband and i were out at a local restaurant having breakfast.  from ACROSS THE RESTAURANT, my husband noticed a lady carrying a bag that either she had made or one that had been made for her.  he didn't notice it because it was a nice bag, he noticed it because the workmanship was just terrible.  (to further explain how terrible the construction was, i should tell you that my husband does not really sew.  he does tinker around with my vintage sewing machines because he likes all things with moving parts, so he understands the mechanics of it.)  i would guess that it was the result of inexperience, but it wasn't a novice level project.  i could look at the bag and almost see where it a went terribly wrong.  so, perhaps it was apathy or ignorance.  some people just don't care what their work looks like.  personally, i try to always do high quality work.  i quite enjoy the questions from random people asking me where i bought something and my only answer is that i made it.  it's a pretty cool feeling actually.

finally, i can't forget to mention the mistakes that are frequently caused by not pressing something.  as much as i hate pressing, it really does make big difference.  i'm not talking about just a wrinkled shirt.  it's more like problems with the points of a collar not being sharp or terribly wrinkled fabric when you are mid-project.  i hate it, and it feels like a colossal waste of time, but it really does make a difference.  press your fabric, press your blocks, and press your pattern pieces too!

i have heard other people comment on a flaw in a classmate's sewing right behind their back which is not cool.  how about maybe getting off of your butt and ask the person having trouble if they have tried a different technique that might improve the issue. 

in the end,  we all just need to decide how many flaws we can have to still have a passable garment/quilt/bag.

truth #2 - quilting isn't just for old ladies

ah, truth #2 - quilting isn't just for old ladies seems to be a hard stereotype to break.

quilters come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, genders, and ages.  they also have styles that range from stark, minimalist, modern quilts to newly completed quilts that look like they have been handed down through generations.

i'm rapidly approaching 40, i am happy to call myself a quilter.  i tend to heavily favor modern fabrics over reproduction prints (this is probably the understatement of the year), but i'm just as happy with making some of the traditional pieced quilt blocks as i am with designs from the the modern quilt world.  i like, appreciate, and understand that the two styles can exist together.  unfortunately, this isn't true for all of us.  there will be more on this subject later.

fortunately, i live in an area that has a pretty good amount of shops that offer classes on quilting.  when i go to the shop that carries more modern fabrics, the class attendee demographic skews lower (people in their 30s and 40s mostly).

i do not want anybody to get the impression that i am ageist.  i really don't care if i'm in a class with an older group as long as they are nice and don't look down their nose at me for using less traditional fabric.  i have met some incredibly cool ladies in those classes.  chronologically, they probably do fall into the old lady category, but they certainly don't act their age.  many of the quilters that i know are just happy to be around other folks that have a common interest.  it is a pretty inclusive group.  i also have friends that are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s that are making quilts.

the bottom line is this... quilting isn't just for old ladies.  like all hobbies/passions/whatnot, it is incredibly important to cultivate the interest of people that are new to the quilting world no matter how old or young they may be.

p.s. here's a list of some of my favorite quilters/pattern designers/fabric designers:
julie herman of jaybird quilts
tula pink
camille roskelley of thimble blossoms
vanessa christenson of v and co
elizabeth hartman of oh, fransson!

truth #1 - sewing is not an inexpensive hobby

ok, the misconception that sewing is an inexpensive hobby makes me laugh.  how many hobbies are really that inexpensive?

i thought so too until i realized the truth.  here's my story - i woke up one morning and decided that i wanted to learn how to sew.  yes, seriously.  so, i googled for local sewing shops and found one just a few miles away from my house that sold machines.  i dragged my long suffering husband to the shop with me where i thought i should sign up for a beginning sewing series class (4 weeks, 4 projects) before buying a machine.  that is where my black hole money pit sewing hobby started.

my quick love/obsession for sewing led me to an inexpensive machine that did little more than produce inconsistent stitch quality.  for a person like me, that is utterly unacceptable.  after a week with that machine, i made my first real investment in a decent machine.  now that i had a sewing machine, i HAD to get all of the other essentials.  needles, fabric, thread, a ruler, a cutting mat, rotary cutter, scissors, pins, and the list just keeps going.

the more that i sew, the more that i buy.  the more time that i spend online reading about sewing, the more i buy.  i buy higher quality tools, including fabric and thread, because i have come to the realization that sewing isn't a phase.  i also spend money to attend classes because it helps me to improve my skills.  all of that adds up, and it adds up quickly.

if i actually added up the amount of money that i have spent on sewing, i would probably throw up and pass out.  if i actually added up the amount of time that i have spent on sewing, i wouldn't be surprised.  sewing is more than just a hobby.  it is my passion, and i take it seriously.

so, if you are thinking about taking up sewing or if you are new to sewing, the truth it is that it isn't cheap.  you don't have to buy the best of anything, but i would probably recommend to buy the best that is within your budget.  can you thrift store it?  yes, but i can almost guarantee that it will still add up more quickly than you expect.

now you know the truth.

is it the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

i'd like to take the opportunity to say thanks for reading this blog because i probably won't remember to say it later.

as i was working on a quilt today, the idea for this blog popped into my head.  so, here are some answers to questions that you might be asking yourself.

• will it be the most heavily researched and time tested technique filled information that you will find online?  nope.  
• will it be littered heavily with my opinions?  yes, absolutely.  i am writing this based on how i see things.  it is my personal truth, so your mileage may vary.  
• do i think of myself as any sort of journalist?  HA!  no way.  this blog just gives me a way to say what is floating around in my brain as it pertains to sewing.  i have no illusions that i have excellent writing skills, but i do tend to spell things properly.  please also note that i tend to write almost entirely in lowercase letters.
• why are you writing this? BECAUSE I CAN.
• is this the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?  i have no clue.  this is the beginning of this blog, but this is also the end of the first post.