Friday, October 24, 2008

Found: Time Eaters

Ikat linen from Silk Road Fabrics

This Friday I desire to be prolific. I used to be, and now I am not. What happened? It’s not so much that I want to produce & sell more; my hands cannot keep up with my ideas, so I get backlogged. All creatives seem to have some problem like this. It's very easy to get sucked into other things, even when what you want most is to create. I have thought about it, & maybe I have a plan up the ante.

1) Variations on a Theme
I used to take a basic pattern, usually a knitting pattern, and do variations on a theme. I would make it fully my own with dye, a new stitch, beads, texture, something quick like that. Yesterday when I pulled out a sewing pattern that was supposed to be the right measurements, I realized there was major modification to be done in the fit, as well as modifications I had expected to do in the styling. Most things I have done lately are from scratch. That is the nature of the beast right now as I get my slopers set, but I plan to keep my eye on it, and choose not to reinvent the wheel every time I am tempted to.

2) Size
My projects have been epic in proportion lately, not because they look huge, but because they have a jillion parts, pieces, and steps. Here’s the short list: Wedding dresses, evening gowns, pants- things with origami folds and chiffon, rigorous fitting issues, and intense piecing. I made this ikat scarf Monday between teaching and errands & I could not believe how quickly it came, since I have been doing such monumental projects. I need more variety in the scale of my projects so I feel like I accomplish more.

3) Reduce Reverie
I spend a lot of time zoned out when I try to think through the next step. Instead of doing something that I know just needs to be done, I lose time trying to work out all the steps in my mind instead of figuring it out on the go. There is a place for planning, obviously, but I do too much of it.

So there is my big plan. What eats your time? How do you fight it?



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