Doctor T Designs

The crazy busy season has started, so I haven’t had a lot of time to work on any sewing/crafting things this month. This monthly review will be pretty short in terms of accomplishments, but it does feel good to have somewhere to document things I have been contemplating for the future.

Sewing Progress

Sewing progress this month was non-existent. It was another month busy with travel, but also some unexpected house issues have been filling up a lot of time and depleting a lot of energy. It would be nice to say that will be over soon, but the reality is that it probably won’t be resolved for a few months.

I had considered participating in the Pattern Review Sewing Bee this year, but my travel coincided with the second round, so it didn’t seem like it would be worth the stress knowing that I wouldn’t really be able to fully participate or move beyond Round 1, and I really didn’t want to participate in the first round and potentially take a spot from someone who could be fully dedicated to the challenge this year. I’m enjoying seeing what everyone is making, but there is definitely a different feel to the Bee when you are a participant rather than just a casual observer.

So, overall, there really hasn’t been much of any sewing at all this month. I’d like to think I will be able to change this over the next few months, but as of now I think my slightly crazy schedule won’t let up until well into summer.

Sewing Delays

Pretty much all of life feels like delays to creative projects right now. Which isn’t to say it’s all bad, just that I’m at the point in the year where I need to focus on other priorities.

Finished Projects

Nothing this month.

WIPs & Upcoming Plans

So, I have a lot of ideas for projects but they all seem to be on the back burner. I’ve got several blog posts in the research and writing phases; most are deep-dive sorts of writing I haven’t had the time to commit to since I had the ideas to write about these topics the past few months. In terms of actual sewing projects, I’ve got several patterns in various stages of progress right now, but not any cut fabrics to start on sewing for final projects. For next month I could go back to making more undergarments, go back to puzzling over button down shirt sleeves, or make a fun dress that I half thought about cutting out (twice!) from some leftover stretch velvet. Or I could do something really crazy and think about options for participating in the Pattern Review Wardrobe Sudoku contest. I’ve done this type of contest once before and it’s actually quite fun, if very time consuming and intense (but in a different way than the Bee). While I think that (realistically) I’m not getting 10 garments sewn in 2 months, I also think that going through the creative exercise of putting together a wardrobe sudoku plan could be really fun and really helpful with overcoming some current glaring deficits in my existing wardrobe. It’s hard to say what sort of time commitment I can give to this project, but it might be something fun to play with, even if it’s just sketches and dreaming, and not something I actually have the time or ability to complete within the timeframe of the actual contest. Regardless, what happens next month remains to be seen; if nothing else, the craziness of January and February have been forcing me to take one day at a time and just deal with the most pressing issues. So, at this point, any sewing projects that I complete this year I’m going to consider as a bonus, and everything else this year is just going to be prioritizing hanging on for the ride.