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What are you inspired to sew these days? |
But to be truthful, since I stopped blogging regularly, I
haven't come across exciting new sewing projects to entice me. With my
YouTube recommendations gravitating towards junk journal
channels, I had thought that letting my regular (subscribed) sewing based
channels accumulate a backlog of videos would result in some fun diversions
for me at some point in time. I anticipated looking through a whole slew of
them over several sittings and being inspired to make all kinds of different
things.
That didn't happen.
The content featured on the sewing channels that I've been following over the past several years are mostly regurgitating the same projects with only minor alterations and different fabrics. Similarly styled small wallets, zippered pouches, toiletry and crossbody bags are starting to look excruciatingly plain and ordinary to me.
The content featured on the sewing channels that I've been following over the past several years are mostly regurgitating the same projects with only minor alterations and different fabrics. Similarly styled small wallets, zippered pouches, toiletry and crossbody bags are starting to look excruciatingly plain and ordinary to me.
I did a search on "unique things to sew" and was almost depressed by the
results.
Do you know what kept coming up? Scrunchies. (OMG, how many tutorials do we
need for how to make hair scrunchies? And how different can they be?) For some
reason, the concept of unique seemed lost in the algorithm, with
results skewing towards easy and fast. Or things to sew for
sale. Argh!
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| DIY Knot Pillow by Beth Huntington... |
Have I reached that point where the sewing adventure is mostly done, by
default? Was my decision to step away from the blog last December a true
harbinger of the reality to follow?
I have to accept that it may well be true, and that – outside of the rare,
occasional "thing" that may pique my interest or that I dream up out of some
personal need – there may not be much more to sew that will bring about the
same level of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that I've experienced
over the past decade.
That made me sad, so I retreated back to my own archive of
Other People's Projects (folder) to see if there were any
hidden gems there. The two images that you see in this section are from
projects that I had saved years ago.
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| DIY Lace Cuff Watch by Down Home Inspiration... |
This lace cuff watch dates back to 2014 (copy this link into your browser if
you want to check it out:
https://www.downhomeinspiration.com/diy-lace-cuff-watch/) and if I could find a similar watch face easily without spending big bucks,
I'd make one in a second. Not a whole lot of sewing would be required, but I
do prefer cuff style watches and it's certainly a different sort of
sewing project.
The knotted pillow is also somewhat unique (copy this link into your browser
if you want to make one:
https://www.ehow.com/how_12340972_diy-knot-pillow.html). It doesn't require a lot of sewing either, so if I were to make one, I'd
use fabric scraps to piece the strip for the long tube. That would turn it
into a much more involved sewing project and the final result would be
truly one of a kind.
Still stumped for ideas, I decided to check back on sources that I'd featured
here in the past.
Do you recall a post about Singer from 2022? When I went back to the site, I found that the link to the projects page has been rebranded as mySewNet. While still hosting projects that relate to sewing, Singer has apparently branched out into the cutting machines arena and thus many of its recent crafting ideas are paper related; no sewing involved.
This one here is simply a sheet of paper put into such a device, where cuts
are then made per a set of programmed instructions (a file). All that remains
for the crafter to do is carefully remove the paper and then manipulate the
various petals for the final 3D effect.
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| "Cut out" project from Singer... |
Cutting machines seem to be growing in popularity among crafters (crafters
with deep pockets, I might add, as these are not cheap) but somehow I feel
cheated when I see how a project like this is made. It's probably just me, but
it strikes me as being manufactured and lacking a personal touch. (Seems very
apropos in our increasingly AI-oriented world.)
In any case, I did not find many sewing related projects that were inspiring
during my visit. The only project that stirred anything within me was this
leafy potholder.
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| Patchwork leaf potholder project from Singer... |
But that's because I have a thing for leaves; it's really nothing new or different. It's made in the same way as the tropical leaf rug – except on a much, much, smaller scale – so I may be inclined to give it a whirl down the road.
Speaking of leaves, I also visited
AGF Studios
again and found this little item.
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| Little Leaves Garland from AGF Studios... |
It reminded me of what I originally wanted to do with my
autumn leaves
last fall.
To close, let me share a project idea that did appear – to me, at least – to be different. I am not a card player, but I know a lot of people who are. For various reasons, young and old players may find it difficult to hold onto a set of cards. During this search for new sewing projects, I came across two tutorials for making playing card holders, including one that featured recycled CDs.
This first one is from Creatively Beth (copy this link into your
browser:
https://creativelybeth.com/diy-playing-card-holders-for-family-game-night/).
It features a large multi-tiered surface on which to organize your hand.
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| image courtesy of Creatively Beth... |
The one that features old CDs is from one of my favourite
YouTube channels: Sew Very Easy. It was uploaded April 30, 2024.
It's made out of a couple of old CDs, two buttons, some fabric and some
batting. (I've since found various versions of the same basic tutorial
elsewhere online, so the idea is not new.) If you know card playing
enthusiasts who are finding it harder to hold onto their cards due to
arthritis or whatnot, this could be a welcome gift.
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| image courtesy of Sew Very Easy... |
Since writing up this post (about a month and a half ago in real time), I've
actually found a few projects that have caught my eye. I've also gone back to some of my past projects to create downloadable PDFs for them. All of that will end up here at some point in time.
Meanwhile, if you've come across any truly new and different projects in the world of sewing, let me know in
the comments.
'Til next...
I have been watching your junk journals with one eye ...too afraid to look with two, lest you pull me into it!😂 Also experienced a drought re sewing, but had some birthdays coming up ... Arabesque sewing had a video of an armchair caddy and Laura Coia had a free pattern video for one ...both collided with some decor fabric in my stash that sewed up very well for gifts. It broke the sewing drought, now I am eager to sew again. Arabesque also had a notebook sew-along last week... Hope you find your inspiration soon!🙏🌷💓
ReplyDeleteHa, ha - one eyed viewing since you don't need another hobby, right?
DeleteThose chair arm caddies have always caught my attention, but there is no seat that I regularly sit in that would be able to accommodate one, so I've never bothered to attempt one. (In case you need yet another free version, Patchwork Posse has one also, although I must say that the number of ads that you have to scroll through to read the tutorial is really off putting.)
I do have a major project in the works right now that should break through the drought... crossing my fingers!
Oh what fun, I’m chuckling at your observations- more scrunchies, things to sell, fast & easy. What I’ve noticed is the move of my fav sewing bloggers to quilt designs. These can get intriguing!!! I have 1 bed and made 1 quilt for it some 40 years ago, I just don’t understand making quilt after quilt… what do you do with all of them? But what is starting to draw my attention is quilted jackets or vests since that is what I like to wear. In the meantime I’m keeping busy with quilted tote bags.
ReplyDeleteI am excited about your watchband! I started collecting cheap watches when Kmart was still around and have sewn bands of all sorts for them! I’ll have to pull out my collection- which I stopped wearing when I retired! The card holders are another great idea! Here’s my latest inspiration- https://creativespark.ctpub.com/courses/dreamy-fabric-dollhouse
Marie
Oy! Just seeing that dollhouse is giving me nightmares about teeny tiny pieces flying at me. (I've been immersed in a micro lego project over the past week and it's been giving me fits.) On the other hand, I saw a fabric gingerbread house idea last Christmas that I was going to "hack", so thank you for indirectly reminding me.
DeleteI think I may have said here before that I don't get the fascination with (large scale) quilting. It's expensive to do and unless you can sell or give them away to appreciative people, they become yet another "thing that clutters my house." Like you, I've heard of people taking quilts and making them into garments. It may make quilt makers cringe, but whatever we can do to reuse and upcycle works for me.