Why I Love Sewing

February 15, 2016 · by · in Crafty Life, Reviews

Back in 2012 – the year The Hobbit was finally in theatres, and everyone joked that the world would end – I realised I hadn’t made anything for over a year. That’s how this blog started.

Like an echo, 2015 ended a lot like 2012 did for me. It hadn’t been a yearlong break from making, but at this point even a two month break feels like an eternity. Two months of daily progress on something adds up – and you never get that time back. After weeks of intense making all summer and autumn long, my DIY flame burned out. Kaput.

Confession? When I haven’t been in bed at 8PM, I’ve been a film junkie instead. All those years of turning my nose up at unproductive sofa potatoes has come back to haunt me! And yet, the cliche of the brain working when you’re not actively being creative is true. After a winter funk, I’m bursting with ideas.

That’s where sewing comes in. Sewing is good. Like riding a bike, sewing isn’t easily forgotten. At least not for me. Crochet stitches might blur together after a while, calligraphy needs constant practise, and knitting – well, let me just say that your intuitive feel for gauge and tension will be pretty rusty after a long break. Now, sewing? In a way, it’s the perfect crafty combination of man and machine. At least without getting into the complicated stuff like carpentry, where the tools are pretty important. But moving on.

Sewing is the same, whenever and however quickly you work on a project. There’s a meditative (if meditation could be stressful and sometimes nerve-racking) flow to the process of ironing, cutting, sewing, ironing, trimming, sewing…

My goal for the next year is to publish one original sewing each month on the blog for you all to enjoy. Because damn do I need a kick to keep going. For my own creative sanity!

After a break, crafting feels like a dusty old memory box. It’s bittersweet to open the lid and look at the opportunities gone by: missed markets, the plans for Christmas projects, unmade gift ideas, and half-finished seasonal decor that has to wait a year before it can be used. Cudda, wudda, shudda, you know?

And that’s where Love Sewing magazine comes in. My subscription started in November and (cringe with me here) until last week I hadn’t opened a single issue of it yet. Yeah. My DIY bug needs some major TLC here.

But then I saw Love Sewing’s latest issue.

If you’re not familiar with Love Sewing magazine, I’ve been following along since they launched and have a healthy collection of issues I bought from WHSmith. Each issue is amazing: free full-sized patterns, a huge variation of projects, and news and tidbits you’ll actually enjoy reading. And Issue 23 has a back-to-basics guide. “Learn to Love Sewing, your invaluable beginner’s guide”. Invaluable is right. A few easy makes is exactly what I need to get the craft juices flowing.

After buying each issue individually for months I knew I needed to subscribe. So when I was approached by magazine.co.uk to review three magazines of my choice, I knew just the magazine to start with.

Thanks to magazine.co.uk I have my making mojo back.