A Very Happy Day

I have a terrible memory. Not the kind of terrible memory that loses keys (because they always go in the same place the second I walk through the door), but the more embarrassing kind. My emotional memory is very weak. Vocabulary words from high school? I got those right here. "Remember that one time...." from high school? Um, did I even *go* to that high school? Because I don't remember a thing. It is more problematic than the regular kind of bad memory, I think, because it involves meaningful experiences with other people, who might be a little miffed that I can't remember it at all.

There is an upside to this, though, because things are new to me much more quickly than to other people. I have not been able to sew much lately because of travel, visitors, and general life stuff. The last time I spent a full day sewing was before my trip to Spain in early September.

By this week I was so frustrated that the same project had been on my sewing machine for a month that I decided to try to work on it each evening for 30 minutes. I'd force myself into the sewing room around 9:15 (after getting home from the gym and having dinner), accomplish some small task, and head to bed. I don't usually sew during the week because I'm just tired after a full day of work and working out and want to spend time relaxing. It wasn't much fun, although I did see progress on the dress.

Because I have no emotional memory I thought that my purpose in sewing was to get clothes (I stopped buying clothes other than jeans and workout clothes about 3 years ago). So I motivated myself by thinking about wearing the dress when I finished it.

I had the day off work today and earmarked it as A Sewing Day--I was going to take the whole day for myself and just sew. And, although it sounds silly to say this is an epiphany, considering I write a blog about sewing:

I LOVE TO SEW!!!!!

It was like rediscovering an essential component of myself to sit at the machine all day today. I love the creativity, the problem solving, the intellectual challenge (I have a strictly 2D brain and 3D sewing projects blow my mind), and of course the clothes/fashion/styling/outfits, but the other parts are just as integral to my enjoyment.

Man. I had a great day.

And then, on top of a day spent having FUN, I ended up with three finished projects: the lingering month-long project and two quick knits (love those quick knits). I am so in love with all three projects. There's something from old stash, something from new stash, something blue...nothing borrowed, though. There's a classic piece and a trendy piece and a piece that will fit into most years' trends. There's one thing for work, one for day-to-night, and one that's strictly for fun. There's a tailored piece and a voluminous piece. Dresses and a separate. All will work for three seasons depending on how they're styled, and I might even be able to squeeze the fourth season out of two of them.

I even have a teeny bit of hand-sewing to do (I never have hand-sewing when I need something to occupy me, and I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to do it shortly).

And since posts without pics are no good, here's a sneak peek. I hid all the details but at least you can see the fabrics whose serger clips are the newest ones littering my sewing room floor.