Enjoying the Creative Process - Yes, finally the dress done! Your Weekly Report from SewingArtistry! 💃

Published: Fri, 02/11/22

Basic

February 11, 2022

So a long time in coming but finally finished. And the long time in coming is not due to any creative process. It's due to being backed up with clients and life duties after being out of commission lately.

But this wasn't that hard to finish. As a matter of fact, it went really fast as I had already done most of the work before.

Walking into your studio and thinking,

"I want to make something. Now what would that be?"

That's almost an engraved invite for the blocking-monster to come and with a big voice say,

"Like what? ...huh? ...can't think of anything can you? ...well, how are you going to make something if you don't know what to make? ...yada, yada, yada."

And before you know it you're out the door so you don't have to listen to the blocking-monsters! I don't blame you.

But how about you walk in your studio and think,

"Gee I want to do something for me!"

And then you have some concrete steps to follow to say,

"Hey, let's look at a bunch of stuff, and then let's see what we can do with those ideas and then let's work with some ideas."

And boom before you know it, you not only know what you want to do, but you are a long way toward knowing how to do what you want to do.

That's so much easier than fighting the block-monsters. And what makes this even better is that these are proven steps analyzed, researched, and utilized by huge multi-million-dollar companies that look at all the latest information and research on how to build more creativity in their companies. There is no reason we can't use this and that's exactly what I did here.

Even with gargantuan interruptions, (getting down with the virus and then catching up with my schedule, that caused me to feel stupid and completely incompetent when I was sick), I could still pick up right where I left off, and start up knowing exactly what my next step was going to be.

Here's the amazing part. Because these are clearly defined and concrete steps, they remain describable and relatable even if you stop and go throughout the process.

Honestly when have you been able to say that about a creative process you've done in the past? I have to write everything down or else it evaporates out of my head overnight. But because this process is so clear, objective and relatable, it actually makes the process of creating fairly clear.

This may be in part, that the process doesn't try to do anything else other than offer the steps to creativity. That sounds a little too simple, and for a complicated process like creating, it doesn't sound like it would work and certainly doesn't sound practical. But because the process talks about the steps, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - it makes the process so much easier to accomplish.

These researchers have really figured out how to do this in the most economical way possible. I've seen a lot of self-help info online talking about staying motivated, tracking your progress and setting goals and frankly this sounds like work to me. It also sounds boring.

How about a process that skips all that boring stuff and only has the icing. THAT'S what I love about this process of creating that starts with gathering resources and finishes with a real live garment. It's so dang simple that it looks like it might be fake.

From Burda 12/2016 #112 (basis for core pattern) to Vogue 1660

Vogue 1660 is a Marcy Tilton pattern and I loved it - the minute I saw it I thought this was really cool. It's got all that artistic-ness that I love so much about her fabrics and her patterns.

But the truth is that Marcy and not only completely different in sizes, but totally different in shapes. She's a consummate Apple and I'm a devout Hourglass (with Pear hips). That means that her shoulders are huge on me and her hips are really small.

But when I take my fav core pattern and adapt it to the cute little number on the left, well this is what happens.

Immediately - I love the line and the movement in this garment, but I also love the silhouette. That silhouette has worked for me over and over and over - no matter what I do to this pattern, it works, here it shines!

The one thing that's still a little iffy here is the collar.

What's left to do is to make sure that the collar is stabilized at the right point, which is the roll line. I wasn't really sure where that was going to be so I simply did a fitting, mark it with a pin and then take out the stitching above that line, and I'm done.

I'm also not sure about the buttons. I would REALLY love to have something very funky there.

As a caveat, this took me a whole day to do, not the basic construction and assembly, but working out the cute little "V" vents on the hem and messing with them waaaaay tooo long. This is exactly what happens when I haven't been sewing for a while and get to sew something a little extra for myself. And the details here are so much fun to mess with.

So have some fun with your creativity and don't let it get you down. Following these wonderful steps can help you get in touch FAST and with a lot of fun with your creativity and not only enjoy the process, but for me, it's one of the big thrills of my life.

I know, I need a life outside sewing, but there it is!!!

For the first of the year, after things have settled down, time to start thinking about new projects. But what to do? Here you are with all this time and BAM! Your memory and creative juices have all dried up. Why is that?

Where do you start?

It's all about Steps...
It's not that hard, and it's not that big. Let's take this in steps, and just like any big project, when you break it down in to steps suddenly you see how to go about doing this.

Easier as you go along...
The fun thing here is that as you start, it's slow, but as you get going, it gets easier and easier, and finally when you get close to starting your project, you're so pumped it's hard to stop!

As usual these are all offered separately, and at a nice discount, but an even bigger discount for the whole package. If you have some of these already, no worries, cause you don't have to get it again, that's why I do these all at a discount.

Inspiration - this is a great guide on getting you through blocks, explaining what they are, and it includes the new "The Artistic Process" which is more up-to-date information and guidelines for whipping your creative juices into action.

Arranging Your Studio - is just as vital as those steps toward creating your project. Without the right environment, it can be a real task to keep going. With the right environment, you will naturally feel good about your space and want to be in it creating.

Time Management is key for getting through this process without going down those time-steeling black holes, and again corporations have studied this up the wazoo, and there's no reason we can't use their techniques and methods to make our precious time spent as well as possible.

Sketching - This is like an artist's cheating secret. With sketching it's so easy to work through one design after another, after another.

My Favorite Inspirational And Idea Books - There is nothing like great books that are filled with ideas that become your go-to resource books. As well, it's great to understand the concept of creating and what we can do to better create - here's my list of these books I have used for decades. Some are out of print, but the used versions are just as good.

The Whole Creative Inspiration Package is here. This contains all these resource from the SewingArtistry Library as well as some bonuses - like Space Dynamics in better designing your studio space, lists of my favorite inspirational and idea books, list of my favorite inspiration and idea books which will really get your creativity juices running and some other gems.

As usual these are all at 20% discount but the Inspiration Package is at a further discount with extra goodies.

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Enjoying the Creative Process - Yes, finally the dress done! Your Weekly Report from SewingArtistry! 💃

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