may

A Psalm for the Wild-Built was the perfect solarpunk-hopepunk book to read after Parable of the Sower. I'm feeling much better.

In this issue...

Just one long update

updates

Alteration and mending jobs are picking up as the weather gets warmer. I think people are looking at their summer clothes and realizing that some things could use fixing up. Taking on outside projects forces me to not feel guilty about spending the day in my sewing room, so I gladly accept unhemmed slacks and loose buttons.

For example, I was reattaching buttons on a blazer for someone and suddenly found the time afterwards to sew a button back onto my favorite skirt. Then, I took something that's been sitting in my mending pile far too long and made it into a wearable item!

With sewing, stacking up little wins is what motivates me. I work my way up from minimal effort/small reward (replacing buttons), to larger effort/more satisfying reward (sewing a waistband onto a chopped off dress!)



The new skirt came from a dress that I loved the length and color of. I thought I could get used to the flounces at the top, but surprise surprise, I don't like voluminous shoulders. I got it from the thrift store so I couldn't return it, but I could rework the bottom. So I chopped it in half, used the bodice pieces for a patchwork alligator and scrunchies, and threw the skirt half in my mending box. It had been there for… about three years…

Luckily, I've been trying to get the hang of elastic waistbands. I love how a half-elastic waistband looks on a pleated business skirt (like my Jantzen skirt, which is what I replaced the button on) and wanted to make my straight stitches look nice while stretched and relaxed. I made two pairs of shorts last month to practice sewing down elastic. While I only made two new pairs of shorts, I made maybe 5 waistbands.

The skirt I made takes the cake for a professional looking elastic waistband! It does go all the way around the waist, but it's so even I could could just EAT IT. The stitches look great from the inside and outside. I have two secrets to share about elastic but neither are very helpful.

First, the stitch length doesn't have to be the longest the machine can do. 4mm worked great for me, but your mileage may vary. Secondly, there's no other secret. You have to just practice and practice and practice.

For a while, when staring something new, it feels like you're just watering dirt. And it's easy to give up and try something else when things aren't immediately rewarding. I really felt that at the start of April. Sometimes you have to stick to it and water the dirt every day. Eventually, little sprouts come up and it's easier to get out the hose and put the time into taking care of what is almost a garden. It's slow, almost invisible progress.

Other times, you don't have the stamina to stand there and do what seems to be a pointless task. To build that stamina, you have to build up a few quick wins. Those look different for everyone. And can be different day by day too.

A quick win could be replacing buttons, casting on, casting off, printing a pattern, winding yarn, organizing supplies, et cetera. Those could also be the things you need a build-up of stamina to even think about starting.

The most important part in all of this is cultivating your audacity to try. You think, "I can do this!" and then try. If you learn anything at all, you've been successful! If it doesn't turn out, you think, "I can take what I learned and try again." The Audacity is the shortcut through the hmming and hawing.

Life is too short to waste time thinking you can't do something.