Get in the Right Mindset to Start Your Next Sewing Project

In January, we promised to take you on a sewing adventure—because we believe sewing is an adventure. Last month, we shared ways to recharge your sewing, and this month, we encourage you to explore your current mindset when it comes to your creative practice. The theme for this issue is Mindset, and as you work on your sewing this month, pay attention to what you’re thinking about your craft.

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What’s your current mindset?

Think about a project you are currently sewing or planning—or just starting to dream about. How do you feel when you think about that project? Are you feeling excited and inspired? Or are you feeling a little unsure or overwhelmed? Do you wish you simply had more clarity or motivation? Jot down what you are thinking.

Then, browse the resources below to help you explore your mindset. They are organized by how you feel right now because your mindset directly affects how you sew. This month, some incredible makers share creative ways to frame your sewing mindset—and we also included links to some of our favorite articles from the Seamwork archives.

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If you’re feeling adventurous

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If you’re feeling overwhelmed by ideas

If you have so many ideas that you can't take the first step, see if you can build some routines into your sewing to narrow your focus.

• Can a routine help you prioritize your creative practice? Read Making Time for Creativity: from issue 44.


• Play with a capsule wardrobe that uses your most-worn garment for the season. In this month’s issue, Farrah designed a spring-inspired capsule using the new Benning dress as the focus.


• Read this guide to Finding the Optimal State in Sewing to learn how to seek flow in your practice, from issue 40.


• Follow these 5 tips to just get started and see where your creative journey takes you.


• Set a goal, and if you don’t know where to start with that, read some sewing resolutions from the Seamwork Community back in January 2020, before quarantine.

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If you’re afraid of failing

If you’re not starting your next sewing project because you are worried you might fail, here are some gentle guides to resist those thoughts.

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If you’re in a sewing slump

If you aren’t sewing because you’re feeling tired, uninspired, and without creative energy, you need a boost.

• Read Finding and Tending Your Creativity from issue 39 of Seamwork to learn two ways to find and tend to your creative mindset.


• Read Jenny Rushmore’s article, How to Get Your Sewjo Back from issue 20, for a quick plan of attack.


• Read about how Wallis rediscovered her creativity by sewing a pair of hot pink leggings and learning how to roller skate. From issue 74.


• Get 5 Tips for Sparking Creativity in issue 72. Michael wrote this article to share how he gets creative with his 9-year-old daughter, but there’s no reason you can’t use these techniques with yourself!


• If you’re in a slump, maybe that’s where you are supposed to be right now. Read Letting Go of Productivity Shame, especially if you feel like your need to be productive is weighing down your creative life. From issue 67.

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If you want to connect to something deeper

If you would describe your mindset as curious, social, sustainable—take time to identify your sewing values. What you make is important.

• Read the first part of Emilia’s series called Degendering Fashion, starting in this month’s issue. Emilia seeks to explore the origins of gendered language in fashion and reject how fashion is tied to gender.


• Lori is back this month with another maker interview—with Tracie, the founder of Quarter Digs Co., who just took a risk and started a home goods business during quarantine. Tracie uses her creativity to heal from grief after she lost her husband of 20 years.


• Get inspired by Megan’s story about how repairing a button made her realize just how powerful it is to reduce, reuse, and repair.


• See if you can connect your creativity to the more spiritual or magical parts of your life with Christi’s guide to creating talismanic embroidery for your garments.


• Go on a ready-to-wear fast and see how this changes your relationship to sewing. Read about Addie’s experience here.

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If you’re feeling joyful and excited about sewing

If you wrote down a bunch of positive words when thinking about your current sewing mindset—that’s great! All you have to do is nurture your creativity, and it will only keep growing. A while back, we asked you to describe when you knew that you fell in love with sewing—in just one sentence. We rounded up dozens of our favorite answers in I Heart Sewing from issue 63. If you ever need to be reminded of why you sew, read it. Here’s my favorite quote about why sewing is so great:

“All at once, it fulfills my desires for creativity, skill-building, problem-solving, ambition, productivity, and living a more ethical lifestyle—as a bonus, I always look awesome.”