Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Cut Anxiety

I don't know what it is....but I haven't done one thing to my "Spring Fever" coat! I mean pass assembling all of the pieces and mentally reviewing the sewing steps in my head ~ I have done nothing! What is wrong with me? I know that I want to have this coat on my body when the car service picks me up on Monday morning (early Monday morning) to take me to the airport! So why haven't I started this project?

Besides being a natural procrastinator and working better under pressure, I think I have cut anxiety! Not the anxiety that if I cut into this piece of wonderful fabric that I will ruin it, but the kind of anxiety where you are just anxious about taking that next step. See I can see the finished garment in my head. I have read the instructions again even though I have made this particular jacket twice before. I have even mentally gone through the sewing steps in my head so I have a good idea of how I want to construct the jacket. But there is this sense of needing to take a deep breathe before I start that is stopping me in my tracks!

I have left work on time both Monday and Tuesday evenings so that I would get home in a timely fashion and could start working on the jacket. Monday I got home and finished a novel I was reading. Last night I got home and watched television. Both evenings I looked at the fabric. I touched the fabric. I rearranged the fabric and then I went and did something else. Something that wasn't producing a garment!!!!

As I was coming to work this morning, I realized that this isn't the first time that this has happened to me. And my mind knows that I have a full day and a half to work on this garment and finish it before I need to wear it. So I am going to take a deep breathe. I am going to do some other things that I need to do to prepare for the trip. And I am going to believe that as always I will come through with a quality, wearable garment in the end.

So, do you experience a form of cut anxiety? If so, how do you shake it? Or does it stop your sewing in its tracks?

5 comments:

  1. I think that you've either been reading my mind or I passed my cutting anxiety on to you. I've been procrastinating on my RTW inspired jacket for what seems like an enternity.... I even started several other projects (one success, one muslin that requires some alterations, and one failure project due to bad fabric) just to keep from doing my jacket. Last night I finally put my mind to it and just started cutting the pattern, then I started getting excited and went ahead and cut the fabric. Now I can't wait to sew and see what I've got - unfortunatley I need to pick up some interfacing and some thread before I go any further.

    I hope you get over your anxiety - I'm really looking forward to seeing your coat completed. I think it is going to look fabulous when it's done.

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  2. Carolyn you hit the nail square on the head. I totally get cut anxiety and it stops me dead in my tracks. Fortunately with help from virtual and real sewing friends I'm working through it. Learning some new techniques, and producing much better quality, better fitting garments. Thanks for your blog and the thought provocative questions.

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  3. Carolyn,

    I understand completely what you're saying. I have some beautiful fabrics in my stash, that I don't want to cut into for fear of making a mistake, or not being happy with the garment when it's finished, or waiting for a "better" pattern. But...what's the point of holding onto the fabric, unused? It's not like I could take it with me (funny image just came to mind - me wrapped mummy-like in all my unused fabric upon my death...there isn't a big enough coffin for all that fabric! lol).

    Anyway - I'm coming to the conclusion that I bought the fabric to USE, that in every endeavour there are wadders, and, most importantly, THERE'S ALWAYS MORE FABRIC TO BE HAD!!! So cut away, Carolyn, cut away - you'll have a beautiful green coat you'll be so very proud to wear!

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  4. Yup. Me too. How many wonderful fabrics have I got that I'm afraid to cut...waaayyy more than I'd like to admit! It doesn't stop me dead in my tracks, though...I just fill my sewing time with other, simpler projects from more ho-hum fabric. (like stacy)

    But I really do want to sew that nice stuff...and I will, I will, I will... ;)

    I'm sure your green coat will be an inspiration!

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  5. been there too....
    I always dream about how great the stuff I sew will fit and how slim I will look and so on... Sometimes I'm dreaming more then sewing.

    I discovered that I don't fear cutting, if the fabric was more a second choice ( like, the colour I wanted was sold out but I wanted that kind of fabric, so I took a more o.k. than a great colour ) or cheap. So I really started making muslins to check the fit. I hate making something for the trash bin!

    If I really have a sewing blockade, I make supereasy like a T-shirt or a tnt-pattern. That usually helps and it gives me a good feeling, when I used up some stash.

    But I really think, that your coat will come out faboulous

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