How to Stay Excited About Your Sewing Queue

Show Notes

• Larkin


• Negroni


• Sloan


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Podcast Transcript

Sarai
I'm Sarai.

Haley
And I'm Haley.

Sarai
And this is Seamwork Radio. Welcome back to Seamwork Radio, where we share practical ideas for building a creative process so you can sew with intention and joy.

Today, we're talking about how to stay excited about your sewing queue. We're going to cover how to choose your next project, and then a process you can rely on for keeping your queue interesting.

All right, let's get into our icebreaker for today, which comes from Jenny D. And Jenny asks, “Do you sew for your husbands? If so, what make have they loved and what was a fail? And Haley, do you sew a lot for Charley?” I'll let you start with that one.

Haley
Well, I have sewn for Eric, and I do sew for him on occasion, not regularly, though. The last thing I made for him was a Larkin bomber, and it was also practical because he was modeling for the photoshoot shoot, and our sample sewer fell through, and so I had to sew it.

But I have sewn for him. I've made button-ups for him and pull-over sweaters and things like that. The thing is, is that Eric does not really care about clothing that much. It's very much an incredibly practical thing. The simpler, the better. So it's just not really time well spent to make clothing for him most of the time. And he doesn't acquire new clothing very often. He's very inspirational in that way.

So I don't sew for him often, but I do. But when he does wear the things I've made for him, he brags a lot about them. So he gets major brownie points. And he always wears his Larkin when he needs to have his picture taken or something for work.

Sarai
That is cute.

Haley
For Charley, at this age, they're just growing so fast. Sometimes it feels hard to justify sewing all of her stuff. She wears a ton of hand-me-downs. I'm really grateful that we get that.

I sew whenever we have a special occasion, I do sew her dress for that. She was a flower girl recently. I made her a dress. I always do her Halloween costumes.
I reserve it for more special things. And because of that, she sees sewing as this really treasured special thing, and she's really started recently to show a lot of interest in it. But the cutest part is that she doesn't call it sewing with an S. It's zowing. “Mama, will you teach me how to zo? Mama, what zowing machine is that?" It's so cute. She really wants to learn how to “zo.” I mean, whatever she's interested in, I will support. But I can't help but keep all my fingers and toes crossed that she will become a little sewist.

Sarai
A little zoist. That's cute. I like making kids stuff, but yeah, it's not the most long-lasting. Yeah.

Haley
Do you sew for your niece?

Sarai
I did when she was a baby. I made her a lot of clothes when she was a baby. Her birthday's coming up. I was thinking about making her some stuff, but I ended up not. She's growing so fast. It's hard. But I think I might... Her mom sews, too. My sister sews. She's got a lot of clothes.

I don't really sew for Kenn, to be honest, for some of the same reasons that you mentioned Haley, but also because I tried to teach him how to sew, and He did. He made a bag, and he made a Negroni shirt with me, with my help. He did a pretty good job. Of course, he pointed out all the flaws, like all of us do, but he didn't really stick with it or continue.

I figure if he wants something him made, he could pick up the sewing machine and I'll show him how to do it. But I haven't really made him stuff. I have knitted him some sweaters, and I did have one that was a fail. And Jenny asked about fails. It just came out way too big. And that's the thing with sweaters is fitting can be really tricky.

I don't think I had as much experience with it back then when I made it for him. So it came out really large, and I don't think he still has it. It was really oversized.

Haley
I remember helping Kenn with this sewing project at one point. I think he was cutting out a Negroni or something. And instead of cutting the interfacing on the fold, he cut two mirrored pieces. And he was like, “What do I do?” I was like, You can still use it. And he's like, “Oh, cool.” He just happened to be in the sewing room at the same time as me.

Sarai
I wish he had stuck with it, but it wasn't for him, and that's fine.

Haley
He probably knows so much more about sewing than the average person.

Sarai
Yeah, he knows a lot about it, I'm sure. He knows the lingo. That's for sure.

Well, thanks for the great question, Jenny. I love that one. And if you have an icebreaker for us and you want to leave it for a future episode, If you're a Seamwork member, you can go to seamwork.com/go/icebreakers, and you can leave it there. There's a thread on the community where we collect them, and we'll probably use it in a future episode.

Let's get into our topic for today. Let's say that you planned out your sewing, you set up a sewing queue, you have the best of intentions, but then sometimes you can still get stuck even after all of that planning work. Today, we're going to share some tips for continuously balancing your sewing queue so it always feels fresh and it always feels full of momentum and really inspiring for you.

Haley, tell me, what's next in your sewing queue?

Haley
Why do you have to ask me such a hard question? I can tell you what I just cut out.

Sarai
That's not a hard question. It shouldn't be.

Haley
I’m going to have a baby in a matter of weeks. So I honestly haven't thought much past the projects I have cut out right now. I just cut out a Bestie Bag from Blackbird Fabrics. It's like a crescent bag. And I cut it out like a scrap of the heavyweight denim we used for the Parker jacket with a gingham lining. It's going to be so cute.

Then I also cut out some top-secret upcoming Seamwork patterns. Actually, I do have a little bit of a plan. I'm cutting a few easy, low-mental overhead sewing projects. So when I'm on maternity leave, if I need to escape to my sewing room and do something that makes me feel like a whole human and not a milk factory, I can go sew a couple simple seams and just things I don't have to think really hard about.

Those are the projects I have on my sewing queue right now. But I'm also setting those aside with low expectations of myself just because of my life season. And as everyone knows by now, I don't like cutting. So I was like, if I get that out of the way, removing a major obstacle for myself.

Super smart.

Sarai
Yeah, it is very smart.

Haley
What about you? What's next in your sewing queue.

Sarai
I have a few projects on deck right now. The one I was going to sew, I'm still waiting on fabric. My fabric order was canceled unbeknownst to me, so I had been waiting for it, and I guess they were out of stock and didn't tell me. I'm going to be sewing, I think, probably next to the Sloan dress in a Japanese cotton with this really pretty flower print on it. I'm really, really excited about that. That's going to be a fun one.

Haley
I love pattern. That'll be great.

Sarai
Yeah, me too. It's going to be really nice for spring and for summer, I think. Well, I have a lot of stuff in my sewing queue right now, and it can just be hard to figure out what to sew next, especially when you have one of those fabric orders canceled.

Haley
Yeah, what are you... Speaking of challenges, what is the biggest challenge that you face with your sewing queue?

Sarai
I think for me, the biggest challenge is not getting distracted by a million other ideas because there's just so many, and not just clothing, but I want to make stuff for the house. I want to make presents for people.

There's a lot of stuff. We talked about sewing for kids, and I was thinking about sewing for my niece's birthday. Didn't end up doing it. But there's a lot of other ways that I could be using my sewing time. So it could be hard to stick with the plan once I've made the plan.

Haley
I agree. That's probably my struggle, too, is that all these new shiny things come along and grab my attention. It's particularly challenging when you work at a place that releases sewing patterns every month. And I like the things I design. So I'm like, “oh, no, maybe I want to sew this instead.” But then I have to wait for it to be fit-approved and then graded in all of the things. And I know our pattern makers can get annoyed with me. I'm like, Is it graded yet? Is it graded?

Sarai
It is hard. There's just so many great choices. And I mean, that's true. No matter what, there's just a lot of options out there. So it can be hard to, once you've made the decision, to stick with the decision.

Haley
Yeah, definitely. How often do you find that you stray from your sewing queue?

Sarai
Lately, not that often.

Haley
Good for you.

Sarai
Well, I think it's because I really do try and put a lot of intention into what I'm going to make and really think about it a lot. And I think the more time you spend in that design process, the more committed you feel to it. So that really helps me.

And I also have gotten into the habit of going through the Design Your Wardrobe process four times a year, like we do as a group now, four times a year. I find that really helpful because if there's something new that catches my eye or I have a new idea, it's not that big of a stretch to just wait until the next season to sew it. Usually, the weather is not going to be so incredibly different that I can't incorporate that idea, or at least revisit it and see if it's still something that I'm interested in in a month or two, versus just doing it right now.

But sometimes you do want to have that spontaneity and just make the thing that you're really, really excited to make. I don't think there's anything wrong with that either. It's a balance.

Haley
I think that I struggle between that because I think that the spontaneity can lend a lot of momentum to your sewing. I try not to eradicate it from my process while still keeping my eyes on my big-picture sewing goals. And finding that balance is really, really hard. And I feel like where I tend to stray as well.

All right, so I think we can get into the tips here. So what we're presenting today is a process that can help you to stay more motivated when it comes to your sewing queue. A little bit of it is maybe more of an agile approach to how to manage your sewing queue, which I really appreciate.

And the first step that I like to use, especially when I'm feeling maybe a little bit stuck, is I start with something that really motivates me. This is going to be really personal to you and what feels exciting for you in that moment.

Some examples of things that might be very motivating to you could be starting with something that's really low effort and high reward. You can also start with something that I think Sarai has coined an outfit Rockstar, something that you're going to wear with a lot of different types of outfits that will become a real workhorse for you.

Haley
I think these are both really good examples of things that are going to be motivating to you because I find the most motivating types of garments to be the ones I'm going to wear all the time. Because every time I wear it, I'm going to think of sewing, and I'm going to want to sew more.

Sarai
I agree with that. I think if you can start wearing something right after you make it, it really helps to push you to make the next thing. At least I feel that way. So I think those are good tips, starting with something that really motivates you.

And then after that, I think it's helpful to move on to something that can help to continue building that momentum and excitement.

So often that's something that you can style your most recent project with. So if you are making one of those outfit rock stars, maybe it's a skirt and you can sew a top that'll go with it and you'll a complete outfit zone. I think that can be super motivating, or it could be something that will fill a really big wardrobe gap.

Let's say you really need, even if it's something simple, like you are out of T-shirts that you really like, making something simple like that can be another way to continue building up that momentum. But I really like the idea of starting with an outfit, starting with the project that's going to motivate you the most first, and then moving on to something that goes with it and having a complete outfit that you can work with. I think that's a really fun way to go about it.

Haley
I agree. It makes me think of when you would go back to school in the fall, and you'd have your complete outfit that you felt like so spiffy in.

Sarai
Yeah. Your first day of school outfit.

Haley
You'd lay it out with such care the night before. Like creating that experience for yourself as an adult.

Sarai
That's a fun way to think about it. We don't really get that experience as much as an adult unless you're going to a special event or something like that.

Haley
I know. It makes me like, tugs at my heartstrings a little bit.

Sarai
Maybe the first day of work, a new job or something like that. Not anymore, though. So many people are working from home, so.

Haley
You don't even have to put shoes on.

Sarai
No.

Haley
I can't show off my new Keds. So sad.

Well, building off of Sari's tip for something that builds momentum is something that I like to think of is keeping that momentum going by bringing balance to my sewing queue.

So some of the ways that I like to do this is making sure that I'm alternating between high-intensity and low-intensity sewing projects. Basically what I'm saying is quick and easy versus something that's a little bit more skill and labor-intensive.

I think that quick and easy is really great, but I find that if we get into a rut of quick and easy, that it can really begin having the opposite effect.

Then on the opposite of that, if you're sewing things that are just maybe a little bit overly, too many complicated things, it can feel like a real barrier to getting started. So making sure that you're finding balance. And maybe your balance is different than my balance, but finding what your balance is and trying to stick to that.

Another way to keep your momentum going is to work with a good mix of familiar and new skills. Something that I like to suggest to people, especially when sewing is a little bit newer to them when they're in the beginner or advanced beginner phase of their sewing journey.

Make sure that you're incorporating one to two new skills with each new sewing project that you pick out. It can be a really good way to make sure you're accessing that part of your brain where you get into a good flow state. It doesn't become so boring that your brain can go off to La La Land and play cartoons in the background.

Sarai
Is that what happens in your brain?

Haley
I don't know. Not really. I usually am making a grocery list, if I'm being totally honest.

Sarai
Thinking about what to have for dinner.

Haley
Exactly. You need to have something that's stimulating enough, though, that's going to keep you in the moment of what you're doing. And making sure you're balancing the familiar skills with the new ones is a great way to do that.

And then my last tip in keeping that momentum going here is to throw in some wild card non-garment projects. I find that sewing accessories and home goods is a really great way to keep my momentum going when I'm on a good sewing roll.

Sarai
I think that's a really good one. That's something I try to do as well. Like make some curtains, make some pillows, make some new napkins, something like that, that I can get a lot of use out of and that I see every day and keeps my spirits up when it comes to sewing.

All right. If you're ever stuck in the midst of your queue and you just feel like you don't have that momentum going, here are a few gimmies for you.

These are some ways that you can just think about, “Okay, what can I sew right now that's going to get me going again?"

The first one is just what color thread is in my serger right now? I think this came from somebody on our community who said that they use this to decide what to sew next.

Haley
You know what? Ever since they've brought it up, I actually have done this on a couple occasions.

Sarai
Sometimes it's the best way.

Haley
It also motivates me to finish something that's almost done, as I'm like, if I re-thread my serger, Then I'm going to have to re-thread it again next week in this blue color just to finish a couple of seams, so I might as well finish it.

Sarai
Yeah, that's a good point. If that is a barrier, and I know for me, changing out the thread in my surger can be a barrier.

Haley
It's not hard. It's just annoying.

Sarai
Yeah, it's just an extra five minutes that I don't want to spend. Why not make it easy for yourself if you can make it easy for yourself?

Another similar one is just what project do you have all the supplies for? If you've got them all there, maybe it's something that you can just start on right away.

Or you can make something that you've sewn before, so it just feels really approachable because you've done this before. I love to do that. I like to make the same thing over and over again, especially if it's a project that I love and I know I'm going to love the next version of it, then why not make it again? And that can be just an easy way back into sewing if you're feeling a little bit unmotivated or a little bit stuck. Those are just a few ways you can do that.

Haley
Yeah, I like all of these that you remove a barrier for yourself. One barrier being re-threading your serger, another being having to go to a fabric store, or having to refit something and go through that whole process starting with something tried and true.

Sarai
Or just having the uncertainty of not knowing how it's going to come out.

Haley
So like, seeking things with a lower entry point is definitely key.

Sarai
All right, so those were our tips for today. I'm going to recap them. So the first three are really about ordering your projects, ordering your sewing queue. This is something you could do on the fly, but it's also something you can do once you've made your plan, once you've got the projects that you want to sew over the next couple of months, you can just put them in the order that you think is going to motivate you the most.

Tip one is to start with something something that just feels intrinsically motivating. Maybe it's something with a low effort, high reward, or something you know you'll wear a lot.

Then after that, moving on to something that helps to build on that and build that momentum and excitement. Maybe it's something that will go with project number one.

Then after that, keeping the momentum balanced by alternating between those high-intensity and low-intensity sewing projects. Then maybe occasionally, sprinkling in some accessories or home goods or something that's easy for you. Those are the ordering tips.

And then if you are ever stuck in your queue, think about some easy questions that will remove barriers, like what color threads in your search are already, what project you have the supplies for, or what have I made for that I would love to make again.

Those are some ways for you to get unstuck, and hopefully you found something helpful in there today. What's your takeaway from today's episode, Haley?

Haley
I think my takeaway is from the discussion portion of today's episode talking about what's in my sewing queue. It was really funny to me that my knee-jerk reaction was, “I don't know." But then I was like, wait, I do know. So it really could be my pregnant brain. But also it could just be It makes me wonder if I should be... I have my project plans in a sketchbook. Maybe I should be putting them on my bulletin board or my inspiration board or putting them somewhere a little more front and center as a healthy reminder of the things that I'd like to do with my creative time.

Sarai
Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know that was going to be a gotcha question.

Haley
I saw the questions in advance.

Sarai
I should have known. You're like, what?

Haley
What? How dare you ask me that.

Sarai
Well, let me think. What is my big takeaway from today? I think for me, it's really thinking about that alternating between the high intensity and the low intensity that I came away with today because that's something I try to do, but I hadn't really thought about intentionally ordering my queue of projects in that way after I've made them.

For me, once I make my sewing plan, I go through the whole Design Your Wardrobe process, and then I have a queue of maybe three to six projects that I want to sew. I don't really think too much about the order I'm going to make them in. It's just like, Well, I'll go order fabric, and whatever fabric comes in first, I'll start with that one.

I think ordering them so that there is that alternating between easy, hard, intrinsically motivating, a little more challenging, and really doing that intentionally from the beginning could be really fun. So I might try that next time.

Haley
I'm excited to see how your next sewing queue turns out. Me too. Maybe it'll make it even more successful.

Sarai
I'm going to be planning my next season pretty soon, so I'm excited about it.

And that does it for us this week. I'm Sarai.

Haley

And I'm Haley.

Sarai

And this is Seamwork Radio.