Hi, my name is Sara, and I'm a sew-aholic. I've been sewing-abstinent for six months. Well, mostly abstinent. I fell off the wagon briefly in April to make my daughter a quilt for her dorm room. And then, I admit, I started a table runner for my mother-in-law's birthday. But for the most part, my sewing machine has been locked in its case, all my fabric shut in a cupboard out of sight. I've kept away from my regular Tuesday night class, where I know my old quilting crowd will only draw me right back in to that old life of one consuming sewing project after another. I know that sewing abstinence has been the key to almost finishing a new novel. I do know that. But I'm stuck on the novel, and I hear my sewing machine calling me back in that seductive way she has. "Just make a little purse out of those old jeans you have out in the garage," my machine whispers to me in a voice that sounds so reassuring and comforting. "This will only take you a couple of hours. You don't even have to buy anything. What can it hurt?" She's good. She's led me down this slippery path so many times before that she knows exactly where to push me and just when to pull back.
"No," I say, resolute and firm. "It won't work this time! First, it's just one cute little denim bag, then it's a set of placemats. Before you know it, I'm picking out fabric for a queen-size quilt!" Not taking that first stitch is key to my abstinence; I'm quite clear about that.
But my sewing machine is relentless, and oh, she can be wily! "You need a break," she says. "No wonder you're stuck! You need to stimulate another part of your brain! Do something tactile and non-verbal. And where's your joy? Aren't you always telling people how important joy is? What good is a novel without joy? Just one simple project, and you'll be right back into that book, more focused than ever before." She knows she's got me. She's seen me checking out crafters' web sites, telling myself I'm doing "research for the book." She knows what I'm really doing: I'm sliding slowly but surely back into the arms of sewing temptation.
I admit it. I'm a weak-willed addict. But this time, I'm just going to make one denim bag, and then I promise I'll stop! No, really, I promise.
1 comment:
Sara, I think you should make the purse. Making something just feeds your creative side, keeps the juices flowing. And if it turns out that you are also making a queen size quilt, then you'll have something to wrap yourself in as you write your next novel!
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