My obsession with sewing is getting in the way of some things, like mowing the lawn and writing blog posts. Luckily, my husband doesn’t mind when I do this–he just accepts periodic obsession with one thing or another as part of the woman he married.

Way back when Sam was first born, I was obsessed with reading every book on child-rearing that was ever written. That was understandable, right? I hadn’t been around small children much at all–and I was a new mother wishing to do EVERYTHING right. The books helped a little. Good instincts and a solid support system helped even more.

Then there was the knitting obsession. I knit everything from wash cloths to bags to sweaters…and read every magazine and book on the subject that I could get my hands on.

And then, when my shoulder/neck pain problem flared up, I took up photography and took pictures of my kids, of course, but also things like my toes and specks of dust.

Next came bread baking. Actually, that was an old obsession that just reasserted itself in my life. I tried new (to me, at least) techniques, such as no-knead doughs and maintaining a starter for months on end. Fun! But that one padded the thighs a little too much.

And here we are at sewing. I can’t express to you how much I enjoy grappling with something challenging–devouring all the information on the subject that I can find and trying to do it myself–even if it involves many, many repeated failures. It’s hard. It’s discouraging at times. But dogged determination and persistent hope presses me onward. After such intense struggle, success is nothing short of exhilirating.

What have I been working on during this period of blog silence? Well, I’m trying to custom-fit a t-shirt. I’m preparing to start on my fourth version–and it’s sooo close to my idea of the perfect tee…one that isn’t too tight and isn’t baggy in the wrong places, like the underarms. I’m planning a future post where I talk about how I created each version and show pictures of the results. It’s been a fantastic learning experience for me.

Then, I’ve also been quietly working away at some jeans. I don’t want to say too much, because I’m afraid there’s going to be a horrible fit problem with them–or some other disastrous feature–and that I won’t want to even acknowledge their existence later on. But, as challenging a project as that has been–it’s also been very fun. I LOVE topstitching. It’s like drawing–with thread. So very much fun I put birds on the pockets. Oooh! I can’t wait to show you that detail. If the jeans suck, I’m cutting out the backside of the pants and framing that. HA HA!