#SewTalk: What to do if I lost my sewing mojo?

Hi Everyone! In #SewTalk Monday I answer questions about sewing – if there is anything you want to know, please feel free to let me know in the comments below and I will answer them on next weeks #SewTalk Monday! This weeks question:

Lately I have been feeling uninspired to sew and cannot find motivation to finish project I started. What to do if I lost my sewing mojo?

I think it’s one of those things we all go through: one minute we are on a “wave” and tackle project after project, then all of a sudden we get stuck and cannot even finish simple garment we started (yup – been there, done that). As with all problems in life, best way to find a solution for the issue is to find the root of why it happened. Based on my own experience, following reasons are most common:

• Life happens. I started a full-time job while I was still in university, so I had a lot on my plate to focus on. Juggling between lectures, exams and starting a career made me limit all other activities to the minimum, including sewing, and I almost completely did not sew for a couple of years (at that time I would make 1-2 garments a year, yikes!). What to do? If you have other priorities that rate higher than a hobby of sewing, your entire focus should be to main importance areas. Don’t worry – sewing is like riding a bike: once you learn it, you will always know how to do it, so you will be able to return to active sewing once things in life get less intense.  

• The project is too difficult/boring and etc. – the problem is with the project, not your sewing mojo. I too had some very uninspiring projects that made me dread even looking at sewing machine and make me want to do anything else but sewing.  What to do? It might not be a popular opinion, but I would advice to put that struggling project away and start something you would enjoy making. Now mind you, I do like to push myself and tackle difficult tasks, however I also know that there are some projects that might kill entire joy of sewing for long years to come, so I’d rather put them aside, make something fun instead and might return to it after some time!

• You’re tired. This year, while I am still at sewing school, sewing is one of my key focuses. It means that try to sew or do something sewing related (like this blog, for example) every free minute that I get and I enjoy it a lot. That being said, I have moments when I come home from work at the end of the week and cannot make myself sew even a single stitch. What to do? Give yourself some time off: trust me, even a couple of hours of free-time does wonders; if I would spend a Friday evening relaxing and cosying up, I would feel refreshed and ready to tackle big projects from early Saturday morning!

• You don’t have an inspiring project on hand. Well, it’s difficult to want to sew if you don’t know what you want to sew; and on contrary – is difficult not to sew, when you have an inspiring project on hand! What to do? Inspiration may not come easy sometimes, so I suggest just search for it! For example, if I feel that I need some inspiration-kick, I would open Instagram feed and look what other sewists are up to; or open Pinterest for some pattern and fashion look ideas; last but not least, I would go to check MimiG, Erica Bunker or GoodByeValentino blogs – these ladies are explosions of inspiration and make me want to run to my sewing machine instantly!

All in all, sewing is a fun hobby to most of us, so make sure to maintain and keep that sewing mojo going!

Best regards,

Julie