Monday, March 31, 2014

10,000 Hours

Another pair of Simplicity pants and a modded Lady Skater t-shirt.



I've had this thought in my head for some time now, the idea of becoming a master at something by spending thousands of hours doing it. Ten thousand hours, give or take a few. It was an amalgam of different thought threads, one was of a conversation I had with a dear friend about how, as we approach our fourth decade of life, things keep getting easier. Like, we really have a handle on it. Things like cooking or driving, writing, reading, running a household, games, and our chosen professions.

And those thoughts led to a phrase I hear all the time. You might have heard it yourself "Gosh, I wish I could sew like you do, I'm just no good at it". And I always want to tell these people that I didn't start off being good at it, I worked my way toward it. In fact, I'm still learning more as I go. Lately, however, I've found myself coasting just a bit by making more knit clothing than anything else. Granted I've hacked and slashed any number of patterns without much anxiety because hey, knits are very forgiving. But then I found myself putting off things I NEED because I didn't want to challenge myself anymore. So, I pushed myself by taking my serger in for badly needed repairs and facing the wedding sewing head on (which is not a complaint about sewing for a wedding).

I had forgotten how much I liked the challenge.It also made me realize just how much I have learned about fitting a garment to myself in the last year. The non-euclidean topography that is our bodies is making more sense to me. I think I even have started wrapping my brain around fitting trousers. And here's the funny thing, its not all from doing, a lot of it is from actively working the problems in my head. I suspect I am not the only one that uses idle brain capacity for solving the complex geometry problems that making a garment can create. In fact, I think it is a trait found in most creative people that gets applied to computer programming, science, math, engineering, and domesticity.

Which leads me back to the hours I've spent in my head thinking of creating. For a while now it feels like there was some sort of block between ideas and action upon those ideas. I want these things to materialize out of thin air but it doesn't work that way. Finding a way to make myself visit challenges head on and start DOING again has felt like a huge hurdle. I'd like to say that kids, husband, job are keeping me from doing it, but really its my own anxiety of feeling like I'm shirking everything else.

Which is totally crap because when I create I feel better. That's the whole reason my tagline is "Sewing to Stay Sane". I really should learn to take my own advise. I'm halfway to 10k, I just gotta keep going, learn to take the time for myself.

Because if Mama ain't happy, Ain't nobody happy.




8 comments:

  1. Love your thoughts on this! As with all skills, practice and doing is the best way to grow because natural talent can only get you so far. Mistakes are necessary. =)

    And yes, I spend many hours creating in my head! I have to be careful not to start any problem-solving/thinking projects before bed or I will lie awake running mental tests in my mind.

    ~ Brooke

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    1. Oh, I totally have that problem too. Not just with sewing, but tons of things, usually worrying about stuff I can't control.

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  2. Good stuff! I can very much relate to my own life and creative pursuits.

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  3. I do the mental construction/adjustments all the time, too... if I can't be sewing I'd like to be thinking of sewing. Although, adjustments and methods that work in my head don't always work in reality. Last weekend I added width to the back of a slip skirt in the hope that the extra width would let the swayback-folds "fall out". No such luck---I think the width would have to be much higher and wider than I want. I have no idea where I am on the 10 000 hours countdown, though I have been obsessing over this for over four years at this point. And that's not counting the first 15 years of sewing where I didn't try to learn anything except by mentally trying to work it out for myself. Great practice, but not the fastest way to acquire a skill...

    Take care of yourself! Especially when it involves mandatory wedding-cruise-sewing! ;)

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    1. Mom was responsible for my early education so I knew about grain lines and pattern markings which many people DON'T know, but construction with the sewing machine was always daunting. And then when I did want to sew I had one of those crappy 100 dollar machines. Mom bought me a good machine for my birthday and I haven't looked back since.

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  4. Great, great post! The 10 000 hours idea is really interesting, and I totally know what you mean about getting older and finding things easier. It's led me into a bit of a knits rut too, that I'm now trying to get out of. It's hard work but you're absolutely right that it's much of the point, especially if sewing is the release of creativity that keeps you balanced (and by "you", I mean me!) It's not just about knocking out another t-shirt as quickly as possible. Good luck getting that time to sew the next 5000 hours!

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  5. Great post. Sometimes even if we love it we need to give ourselves a shake and get out of a rut. Hope you find the time to get your hours up!

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