So Many Options

With so many pattern options in our store, you’d think it would be easy for me to choose my fourth pattern in my series of twenty, but I have been so indecisive!  Picking out a pattern has become a painstaking process.  I scan the patterns first until one seems to jump out at me.   Once I remove it from the wall where it innocently hangs, the scrutiny begins!  I question the fit of the pattern.  Will this look good on me?  Will it be flattering?  Will it make me look pregnant (which I definitely am not)?  Will I look like a little girl in this?  How much fabric will it take?  How long will it take me to finish it?  Will I actually wear this if I make it?  Usually, I then decide another pattern may be a better option so I pick up another pattern and start the entire process over again.  It really is silly when I think about the amount of time it takes me to make a decision about something so trivial and small compared to the other choices we have to make every day in our lives. Many people don’t spend that much time even deciding a candidate in an election!  I watch most of my customers go through the same process day after day.  What is it about picking out patterns that paralyzes even the most fashion confident?  What keeps us from taking a chance on the patterns we aren’t so sure about?   

The answer is this:  Sewing requires two things most of us don’t have enough of…time and money.  We want to be sure our effort was worth it, and the money we spend on fabric won’t go wasted.  Sewing isn’t a necessity for most of us, it’s just a hobby, a hard thing for some to justify in these tough economic times.  I wish we all had extra time in every day to sew all the things that inspire us on Pinterest or create the things we imagine we could as we stare in our closets for something to wear.  I wish we all had extra money to buy as much beautiful fabric as we desire guilt free!  But alas, this isn’t the case.  With full time jobs, children to care for , houses to clean, laundry to wash, dogs to be walked, bills to be paid, and all the other tasks that require our attention, we have very little time to have a hobby.  So when we make time to sew, it has to count.  That’s why the pattern has to turn out for us.  We are sacrificing time and money for a little creative fun! 

So what is my fourth pattern?  I decided to sew the pattern I like the least in our store! 

Why would I do such a thing? I want to remind myself that just simply taking the time to sew and create is worth the effort, no matter the outcome.   The result is not guaranteed in sewing, but how you feel when you allow yourself to spend time doing something just for fun is.   Maybe I’ll find I’m talented and creative enough to make even the worst pattern look good.  We’ll see.