What I Know About What I Thought I Knew

Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will. — Vernon Howard

It's a holiday here in Canada today and I also managed to snag a few extra days off this week, so I've been enjoying having some time to myself to rest and potter about the house. The weather has been really, really hot on Vancouver Island over the past week, so I've been hiding indoors keeping cool and hydrated. We get up early in the morning to take our pup out for a walk before it gets too warm, and then we chill out the rest of the day at home.

People always ask me if I have any big plans for my weekend, but I really rarely ever do. I feel a bit embarrassed to tell people that I usually stay home over the weekends. I feel this silent pressure to go out exploring every single day when I'm not at work. But the thing is: I worked really hard to make my home a sanctuary. I feel no need to escape it. I would rather reap the tranquility I worked so hard to create.

I took some time this weekend to try out another one of Anna Mason's free online watercolour workshops. This time, it was a sunflower. I love sunflowers, and I was very eager to finally give it a go.

I am learning that there is always a stage in my watercolour projects when I absolutely hate how it looks. I have to really buckle myself into my seat to keep myself from getting up and walking away from it. It was at this stage that I really wanted to chuck this thing into the trash and pout in a corner about it:

But slowly, slowly... it started to look better:

And I was pretty pleased with the result. I guess I need to remember that it is just like how it was when I started to learn how to knit: there were times when I looked down at the rumpled mess in my lap and wondered exactly if it would actually work out. I'm hoping that as I learn more, I'll start to recognize each stage and have more faith that it will all work out fine:

After a couple of days of hiding out at home, we finally broke out of the house yesterday morning and took Mr. Seymour out for a bit of an adventure in Nanaimo where there was a cool breeze next to the water:

I thought I would take the opportunity to visit the fabric shop while we were there as they were having their annual big sale, but I realized I'd left my discount card at home so I changed my mind. On the way home, I thought it would be a good idea to go through my fabric stash and get it all washed and pressed and prepped for use.

Three loads of washing later, I realized exactly how out of control this fabric stash is becoming. It's time to make something out of this stuff:

Earlier this year, I decided to purchase an annual membership to Seamwork, which is an online sewing magazine that offers a library of sewing patterns for members. I learned how to use a sewing machine in high school, but I've always been somewhat of a beginner sewist (that's a new term I learned). I know how to sew from a pattern, but most of my sewing is either simple straight lines or from things I have just hacked together on my own. When I got my new sewing machine last year, I really wanted to start making proper garments, but I really didn't know how I would learn how to do that. I purchased the membership because I figured I may as well have some decent patterns under my belt.

What I didn't realize was that there is also a full free library of sewing articles, tips, and videos available to everyone (even if you don't have a membership) to help you improve your skills. I've been learning a lot about things I didn't know before and things I thought I knew... and things I kind of knew but didn't really know WHY they were important. One of those things was why it is important to pre-wash your fabric before starting a sewing project. It's one of those things I either forget to do or can't be bothered to do, but after watching a video showing how much something can shrink if you don't pre-wash your fabric, it's not something I am eager to gamble on.

I also learned that it's a good idea to finish the edges of woven fabric before washing it so that the weave doesn't come apart and become a tangled mess in the washing machine. You can use pinking shears (which I don't have) or you can serge or run a zigzag stitch along the cut edges. 

At first, I really didn't want to spend time zigzagging the edges, but I've learned that it's a good way to use up thread on a bobbin and to make use of some of the cheaper thread I've collected up. It's also a good way to find out how the fabric will behave with your machine before you start an actual project.  I found out that some of my finer fabric requires a different thread tension than some of my more robust cottons. That was particularly useful when I ran some of my more precious fabrics through the machine. I'm glad I found that out before I started an actual project. I can't already picture my frustrated face as I picked out a bird's nest of tangled thread:

Anyway, it was a very productive day, even if I don't have much to show for it apart from three stacks of folded fabric. At least it was hot enough to dry it all outside!

So I'm off to go and see if I can sew something today. Wish me luck!