i can't imagine that anybody has had a moment where they didn't feel like they caved into peer pressure. i know i have (especially as it pertains to sewing), and it has been more than i'd like to admit.
let me jump into this by telling you a story... one of the first times i felt very pressured with sewing was back in mid-2012. i felt very pressured into buying batik fabric for a quilt because i was pushed that direction by people that like batiks, and i'm not a fan. in the several years that i've been sewing, they haven't grown on me. i have tried different colors, and i have tried using them in both quilts and bags until one day. i went with a group of ladies from one of my local sewing shops down to the portland area, and i actually found a couple of batiks that i did like. i bought a couple of half yard cuts. i have since used 4 of the 10 (2 half yard cuts of 5 different prints) that i purchased. 2 of them went into a bag for me, and 2 went into a nearly identical bag for my mother. why did i like them? what made them different from other batiks? they had very defined prints. they didn't have that watery feeling that i get from most batiks. have i found any other batiks since then? nope. do i feel like i'm missing out by not really liking them? nope. there are literally thousands and thousands of other choices.
did my story sound at all familiar? i bet you have one that is similar to it. of course, feeling pressured to like something goes far beyond types of fabrics. in the world of sewing, you will inevitably come across techniques that work for you and some that don't and styles that you just don't like (clothing trends, color trends, traditional vs modern in the quilting realm, applique, embroidery, etc). i am giving you permission (hey, sometimes it helps to have somebody say that it is ok because you really don't need my permission) to not like something. personally, i think there SHOULD be things that you don't like, and you should be free to say so as long as it is not illegal to do so. in the end, there isn't anything that is preventing you from changing your mind later.
even if you don't like something, it is possible to find something redeeming in the work so that if somebody asks you what you think, you can give an honest answer without rudeness. if it isn't your style, you can still appreciate the time and effort that went into it. if the dreaded question arises, you can simply state that it isn't your style, but wow, that person obviously spent a lot of time and effort on it.
if the issue is that you aren't in love with a specific technique (embroidery, applique, quilting, garments, hand sewing, etc), have you thought about taking a class on how to do it? maybe you just say that don't like it because you are embarrassed to say that you don't know how to do it, or maybe you really just don't like it.
another story for you... i am not a fan of applique. i generally understood principles of how to do machine applique, but i decided that i should take a class so that i could really learn how to do it. the instructor was fabulous, the project we worked on was interesting, and i unexpectedly got to reconnect with a person i had met months earlier at another class. after spending several hours doing applique, i still don't like it, but i know how to do it. it is another skill/technique that i can add to my mental toolbox to be potentially utilized at a later time.
so here's the truth of it all, i like what i like. you don't have to like everything i do (to be entirely truthful, i'd actually prefer if you didn't). if you don't like that i don't like them, that's your issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment