I’m still new to you and so enjoying your topics! I’m watching videos when I need to take a break from packing my house up to move. I intentionally packed my crafting goodies early on so that I wouldn’t be tempted to do those fun things. Packing to move will very much help you to reduce your stash because if you’re like me and love a wide variety of crafting, sewing, paper, stitching, journal making etc etc you will probably find that suddenly, upon seeing all that you have accumulated you feel like a hoarder. When you don’t see the stuff you don’t realize. I am doing a couple things in future and now: I have now reduced my stash by half (why not let others benefit from my uncontrolled spending and give it a positive spin?) Also going forward store my supplies in see through containers (the cute boxes etc etc are darling but they hide my problems!) and finally have a periodic look through…people used to do a Spring cleaning and really clear out and I need to periodically do that too and at the very least share with friends.. Thank you! 💕💕
Recovering from a stroke and with multiple health issues and limitations now, I am helping my own mental health by passing on projects I can no longer manage. I parcel everything up including instructions, pictures and materials, in a secure clear package, attach a little note and give them to my favourite local goodwill so someone can benefit...... no more guilt!
I used to give to Goodwill until I found out that GW Big Cheeses make more than they actually donate, and the Salvation Army does not donate to any LGBTQ+ charities. So, now I give to thrift stores that benefit local charities like Hospice, Humane Society, food banks, etc. Makes me feel better than lining someone else's pockets. (Stroke survivor of over eight years here and I wish you lots of luck in your struggles.)
This is my opinion about what you’ve chosen to do. To me, you are completing every project! You are taking every step to make the project neat, easy to follow, and donating it along with a personal note so that someone who finds these TREASURES can then have a wonderful time learning and completing their part of the projects. In my eyes you are a hero by giving these gifts of love. Your part in these projects is complete when you give it in the manner that you are doing. I have health issues also and have to purge some things that I’m just not able to do anymore. To do it with a positive attitude is the goal knowing this part of my journey is over. Bless you in all your new endeavors! I wish you every good thing and many happy days ahead. 👩🌾🙏💙🪡🧵
I love this comment! I know if I came across something like you described I would snatch it up and enjoy😊 finishing it. What a lovely thoughtful thing to do.
This video is a true godsend! Sadly, was at the point of quitting embroidery after letting perfectionism and shame over unfinished projects ruin my enjoyment of a hobby that started out bringing me peace and happiness. Thank you so much for this and ALL of your encouraging and informative videos! You are such a blessing! ❤❤
I have a stitching journal with a project queue in the back. When I start a project, I note the year and start a new page for the project in the front of the journal. Each WIP/ UFO has a pink sticky tab/ bookmark. Finished projects I need to photograph get the pink tab switched out for a yellow one, and projects that have the stitching done but that need to be sewn together or finished (such as ornaments) get a blue tab. This way, I see at a glance how many UFOs I have going at any one time. As I work through the project, I make little progress notes periodically.
A lot of what's hanging around in my studio is the result of experiments to find something out, which has caused me to think that having a pile of unfinished things is a necessary byproduct of creativity. Having a process to winnow it now and then is just the thing! Some great ideas here, thankyou.
When I clear my studio space up and put things away I find it easier to work on my projects. But then I have to remember to work on projects I have put away and not start new things. Working through perfectionism I have had to change my attitude to think "I wonder how this will turn out?" rather than " It must be perfect". This is a great topic-finishing things. Thank you!
Dearest Sarah you need to finish the slow stitching BEAUTIFUL yellow bird book cover! OMGoodness it's gorgeous! I start all excited, then midway through find my eyes checking out other "new" projects. Oh dear, it happens to the best of us. But grandma always told me "idle hands are the devil's playground" so I was always busy with something since age 5.
Lots of my UFOs have been stitched into my slow stitch books with bits of threads and fabrics added so they take on a new life with memories of what might have been! 😊
This video spoke to me in so many ways! We have moved house this year so my embroidery projects went on hold and now I have a massive pile of them - in several stages of finished, including still in the packaging 😆I love your mention of them taking up space in the cupboard and a decluttering mindset to it has spurred me on to pick up projects I started yonks ago and am absolutely loving it and wondering why I have left them so long. I also love your dont unpick approach, I picked this up from one of your videos a while ago and it is probably the most useful bit of advice I have learnt about embroidery - I very rarely unpick my stictches, and pretty much 99% of the time I end up at least liking what I do by the end and always learn so much from it, rather than unpicking and trying to make it what I think is perfect. One of my favourite things to do with my free time is sit and stitch whilst watching your videos (but not in order, hence why I am just watching this one now!) Thank you ☺
Enjoyed this video very much and even took notes on some if your ideas. I have several UFO's and since retiring a couple years ago, have been cleaning out and making plans to be more methodical and organized. I also keep a list of projects I want to finish and gave them a priority number. I accept your challenge: have a bucket bag I want to finish and a pair of pillow cases to embroider. Will gift my daughter-in-law the pillow cases and finish the bucket bag. Loved your idea of "finish 2 b4 starting a new one. I also have a cardigan I want to wear this winter and when it got too hot to wirk on it earlier this year, I put it aside to finish this Fall. Not too much left to crochet and I really love it . Thank you❤
I don't have much wall space for individual things any more, so I attach the embroideries to quilting fabric and put them together to make quilts. If there's no space on the walls, they can be thrown over cat-scratched furniture. The cats don't seem to be all that keen on scratching things that move around and there are always more embroideries to turn into quilts.
My favorite part about craft projects is the gathering. New fabric, tools, beads, etc 🤭 my second favorite is variety of skills/techniques from painting, resin, beading, looms, stitchery, EPP, junk journals, zentangles, to name a few … So much creative possibilities so little time. Toss in gardening 🧑🌾 and traveling and I’m booked, calendars full. Frankly I enjoy it all… and when I get something done 🥳 and when I totally get bored with an item I donate or repurpose. Thanks for your video. This next week I’m repairing a chair and working on Christmas vessels. You’ve inspired me to make a list. Just to get an idea what I could finish or pick up again. That’s after the chair and at least one more vessel completion. I have 11 done and 4 more to go.
Thanks for this video, Sarah. It was just what I needed to get me to assess my projects and work out a plan for some of them. I started a crochet temperature blanket in 2023 in my early days of crochet. I got it out to look at it and have decided that I won't finish it, but what I've achieved is a good firm stripy fabric, so I'm going to sew in the many yarn ends this week and turn it into a cover for the back or seat of my craft-room chair. That's my project for this week!
Thanks, Sarah, for the ideas for finishing projects! I have an idea that I don't know if this will help anyone else with worrying about perfection, but it certainly helped me; when I took my first ever project to get framed I said to the very wise and experienced shop keeper(who had been a stitcher for 35 years) that when I looked at my work all I could see were all the mistakes I had made, she said to me that once it was all framed up and finished it will look beautiful and no one else will know or see the mistakes. It's mostly all in our own heads. Anyways I hope that helps someone to just keep stitching and finish up their projects! ❤
I am the opposite and are obsessed with finishing the crafts I have started which isn't quite healthy either! Having said that, I went on a quilters holiday with a quilting group to Utah 2 years ago and had a fantastic time, started a quilt but I actually didn't like doing patchwork/quilting, loved buying lots of fabric though. This is I think the first time I haven't finished what I started and that bothers me but I found the solution. For the last few months I have been practising making bags and pouches and are going to incorporate my finished patchwork pieces into the bags, problem solved!
Great video! Thank you for letting us know we aren't alone in this problem. We all love embroidery and probably wish we could spend all our time working on projects. It's hard to prioritize them, and sometimes we get bored with them or life just gets in the way.
Just the video i needed. And what a coincidence that it has come just hours after i sat to clear my creative corner which is filled with soo many projects to finish. I just topped up that pile with a cream linen dress that my daughter generously offered to me but not after threatening me with dire consequences if i dare rummage through her wardrobe looking for dresses that she 'supposedly' does not fit into!!😷😷 😂😂 Add to that, my desire, like yours, to learn to draw and hence another pile of drawing papers and sketch books and colours of all sorts. Reason why i felt your this video could not have come at a better time! And the best part is, what you mention can be applied to any craft or hobby that we are into. Loads more that i can narrate but will keep my comments to your points as short as possible!! The Hilarious part..( i was rolling on the floor laughing when you mentioned the 18 year old bit😂 ) I Started making a travel sized pouch for my new born grandson , complete with an appliqued car with his name embroidered on it. Just that, he is one plus years now and the pouch is still in the making and can hardly hold a diaper! What i can still do about it? I intend cutting a larger piece of cloth and make a larger pouch and applique the appliqued car with the embroidered with his name part, onto the new pouch!! Hope i give it to him before he outgrows his craze for cars and insists that he likes aeroplanes instead!! As regards the pretty piece of cross stitch embroidery with months of the year that you have started. Maybe you could Convert them into embroidered calenders. Recently, i came across a video where the lady sews as well as paints. She creates her own hand painted calenders for her own use. And finally, Yes, all of us have projects unfinished for various reasons , almost all of which you have mentioned. Your comment that it's ok to not finish.. That was so liberating especially since most of us create what we do for the joy and pleasure that it brings us.😊😊 And there is a beauty in imperfection too.. Why else would we turn to hand embroidery more than machine embroidery!!
We have a creative reuse store in our town so I went through all the supplies I’ve schlepped around over the years and donated them. It felt so freeing to be rid of the clutter and concentrating on the things that inspire me. Many senior centers are happy to accept donations of supplies and kits.
I love what Christine (of Create and Craft with Christine) does which is to buy WIPs from thrift stores and then finish them to include in her other projects. It honors the original work and worker but is something she has worked on, too, so it uniquely becomes hers.
What a coincidence. A few days ago I decided to go through my shed half full of things I have started to do or have meant to do. I just watched your video you uploaded 10 days ago. Now I won't feel guilty that I didn't finish some projects that weren't turning out how I had imagined they would. I will give away the ones I don't want to my charity shop and will have room to move about in my shed. Thank you!
Wow, this video was packed full of useful, helpful information. Thank you so much. Your personality is delightful and if you lived closer, I would definitely want to have you as a friend. You are a kindred spirit.
Glad to see that there are so many WIP'S out there!!! I am not the only one! I have decided that this winter is the one that I will be finishing them even though some were started some 50 years ago!! LOL!! I sort of abandoned them!!! I find that there are so many ideas and when I go back to them - they are no longer there or the site has been taken down. If I really like something, I print it out right away, if it's a maybe then I put it on Pinterest for a week or two think about it and decide whether to flush it or print it. Thanks for the ideas and encouragement!
Great video, Sarah; you covered so many good points! A new shoppe just opened in my city---it's similar to a charity shoppe, but the inventory is ALL craft supplies and sewing notions, threads, yarn, fabric, etc. Most of it is donated. So I am taking a few things down to her before Friday. I'm nearly finished with a class project, too, So just need to find and finish another before I start something else. I like that idea, finishing two before starting a new one. Very effective!
You've absolutely nailed it with this video Sarah, and I do feel that if not quite all, it will certainly be most of us, and we can relate to everything you've touched on. I also think it's so important to give ourselves permission to let go of those projects that we know we'll never get back to, for whatever reason. There's absolutely nothing to be achieved in hanging onto them and thinking "maybe" we'll get back to them.... and I'm certainly guilty of that😂. So thank you for the inspiration and encouragement to get projects going again (hopefully!🤭)
This is a wonderful video for any creative person. I’m not a stitcher. I make journals. For organizing, I like Julia Morgenstern’s (book, Organizing from the Inside Out) idea of SPACE. Sort, purge, assign a home, contain, evaluate. I’ve used this for 25 years all over the house and even for my writing projects, and it really works. One idea for unfinished, but beloved projects is to make a book sort of like your sketchbook. Just cut out 😳😱 the thing that appeals to you, staple it to a page, and start a reference book of ideas from unfinished projects. It is scary at first, but then looking through the pieces in the book later is very useful. Thanks!
I was just doing this yesterday with my quilting.. and am getting better with that.. The Quilted Forest had a monthly thing where she labels all her UFO"S and then each month she picks a number out of the basket and that is the item she works on that month.. I did it last year as well and got kind of clogged down but this year I have been finishing my monthly things. ;D And since I am new at the slow stitch I haven't really got any long projects to do.. I do have some Crewel kits that aren't finished that I should get rid of but I guess I should look at them again. :D Thank you for the good help!!
I like the idea of a monthly pick. I have many projects ‘on the go’ that I plan to play with for a lifetime. Like EPP… making hexagons until I have enough for a quilt to donate but no time limit or knitting socks, something one can always use. It would be fun to pick a number and see which of my forever projects I would play with that month. Along with my current newer projects. I think I should give this a go 👍🏽
I find that doing a triage of 'potential' projects periodically is key. There are times when I lose my "mojo" for a project and feel good in passing it on to someone else. Or I get all inspired to start it, instead of buying something new. I try to make sure that all of my kitted things are projects that I still love and want to do, then I shop my stash when it's time to start something new. I'm also trying very hard to actually fully finish things once the stitching is finished. Framing is expensive, so I'm trying to learn how to do it myself so I can save my framing $ for things above my skill level (or things that need special tools - like shaped matting). I'm getting pretty confident in doing finishing on things like pillows and ornaments. Just last week, I learned how to make a pin drum! My 'finish something" project is going to be a project bag using a piece of finished counted cross stitch for the front. I'll have a beautiful useful thing and one less thing in the 'to be finished box' (aka "the under the bed box"). This is such a timely video because just yesterday, I 'unkitted' and put back into the stash the materials for two projects that, while I haven't totally lost interest in them, were very similar to another project in the 'possibles'. In both cases, I chose the one I like the best and put the other one away (saved the pattern, though, just in case I REALLY like the designer/technique and want to do more of it). Challenge met!
Sometimes I think we all need 'permission' to let things go that we've spent good money on. But I learned this year to 'declutter' my crafts as well as my household goods and I've donated many new or started projects to charity shops. I am currently woking on a few that I love and I know will get finished. Love all your videos as they are truly inspirational. My thanks.
I have 2 unfinished pieces of work. Last Summer I took all the small pieces of embroidery I'd done, as a learning process on new-to-me stitches, from your videos....e.g. Turkish rug stitch. I bought sets of various sized aperture cards, and made about 30 greetings cards with them. I had to unpick and adapt a little, in order to fit attractively into the aperture window. Then I attached butterfly or bee buttons. And sold them for £1:50 or £2 at a church Butterfly and Bee festival. They all sold within an hour, so I obviously could have charged more, but they were my learning process, I would have been embarrassed. My embarrassing "worst one", a sampler on your video on infilling stitches, sold first!!! I had lots of interesting conversations with my customers, and learned a lot.
Thanks for your encouragement! I have not only been applying it to my stitching projects but also some of my other projects in process I haven't been finishing.
Hi Sarah. I have used the embroidered piece as the front of a little zippered bag for putting my cottons scissors needles etc when I go to a embroidery class so I know where they are Just my little tip for today 😂😂😂
Hello Sarah. I really enjoyed this video which had a lot of useful advice. I did have a smile at your 18 year christening gown example. I started a patchwork quilt when I was 13/14. I’m 70 now - and it’s still not finished. But I have some wonderful memories stitched into it. Pieces from my mother’s wedding dress; fabric she used to make the dresses for my sisters when they were my bridesmaids; rolling the whole quilt out on the lawn and telling my small son were different pieces had come from while we lay giggling at some of the stories - and repeating that scenario with my grandchildren. I think that is what has stopped me actually finishing it.
Yes Yes! If I don't have a goal in mind for a project it tends to become a UFO. Nice to know a professional has the same issues we non professional have.
Thank you for this video, Sarah. It was very helpful. I am having a major case of perfection paralysis with my current project (my only one) that I have been working on for 4 years. In my mind it needs to be perfect and I get anxious that it won't be. My other reason is that I get distracted with other things and I am worried that if I take a project out, my cats and dog will get into it. I feel like that last one is the silliest reason not to finish because other people embroider with their pets next to them and they do fine. I would like to get back into my project soon. Mine will not be finished this week because I am a long way from finishing but I would like to pick it up again. Thanks again for your helpful video Sarah!
Thank you Sarah and Jonathan for your video. I think you have been in my cupboard. 😂😂 I really found this helpful, just to know that I am not alone is good. I have some x stitch projects not completed but I am enjoying slow stitching more. I have given myself a year and if I still don't want to complete them I will decide then what to do.
I am pretty much, prep a kit and get distracted, and do a different one. So I have for example, a kiss clasp and prep fabric for starting. Then when I go looking for something, I come across a fabric or stitchery and work on that instead. But I do finish projects I start sewing because my brain can only focus on that 1 project at a time. So I am good that way. Although I did struggle with a cross stitch I started which was quite advanced and decided at the moment my heart wasn't in it. 😊
Really useful advice Sarah. I have bought kits in the past that have never been started, but like you, I either use up the contents and save the instructions or give to a charity shop. I also keep a special notebook to jot down ideas for future projects, even if they get superseded later down the line as you never know when you may go back to those ideas one day.
Thank you Sarah as always for such great ideas and tips, I particularly want to try your suggestion about recording any ideas in a book so I can happily just 'leave' them there while I do something else, that is a major problem I have, never know what I should be concentrating on!
I must have known this was going to come up. I’ve just finished a crochet lap blanket to use up yarns from previous blanket makings. I’ve also finished off a small quilt by making a little larger and will donate that to Project Linus. Another quilting PHD is in progress at the moment after being in hibernation for some time. There are plenty of other quilting/embroidery projects to make my mind up about, so thanks for your advice.
I struggle with this because I would find myself partially through a project and perfectionism kicks in. Maybe I haven't mastered a skill or disappointment with my efforts. So I start another project and the evil cycle continues. I love how you keep reminding us to have fun and 'Play ' Sarah. God knows I need to let go more and just relax with it. I'm currently working on an almond branch with flowers and trying a different method but because it's not technically accurate I've hesitated to pick it up again. I guess we all need encouragement in life even to finish projects that give us joy. Watching this one closely. Thanks Sarah 😊
I think your 12 days of Christmas idea is a winner. They could be used for Christmas hangings, table decorations, a special Christmas quilt etc. so much more. I think these patterns would be a huge hit.
Thank you, Sarah. I’m guilty!! Several ufos in my life! I’m gonna join your challenge and complete one thing this week. I’ll also gather my kits and decide if I’ll keep them or give them away. Looking forward to more videos. Have a great weekend.
The christening gown scenario made me laugh, I had this problem with my crochet more than stitching. I've still got granny squares in bags and a hallowene project from last year. I'm new to slow stitching, finished a lot of little stitcheries, , a scroll or 3, fabric slow stitch books are my latest thing..... made 3 in a week! loving it😊 buying fabric when it's in the sales is additive.
I was complaining to my mom about something I was doing wasn't perfect and she responded with "Perfection is boring." I have sketched that out and put that saying up in my craft space so if I find I'm getting a bit too wound up with that perfection mindset I take a look at that on my wall.
SARAH! You are so lovely and I have learned most of what I know about hand embroidery from your videos, website, and The Facebook group. You have also been a therapeutic and healing gift to me as I have been grieving the loss of three family members in the past year and a half; combined with my regular depression and anxiety (that produced some crazy slow-stitching). I love your positive spirit, humility, and kind encouraging voice. I find so much joy in doing embroidery and I get super excited about new ideas that pop up in my mind. I actually finish A LOT of projects, that I'm quite proud of, and then I stop before the final finishing including cleaning, framing, or displaying the piece. I don't know many people but I would love to give them away to someone that would just finish the display part themselves. Haha! Lately, I'm focusing my projects on supporting a kinder American democracy that values women's rights. Thank you Sarah!
Thank you Sarah, some great ideas. I try not to have too many WIPS but my dining room table was always covered in them til I recently purchased a trolley with 3 shelves to store them on tidily. Now it's easy to clear the crafting away when the grandchildren come and also, I can concentrate better when I craft in a tidy space. I was also buying lots of new kits and patterns online, spontaneously and I have begun to write them on a wish list before actually buying.
Hello Sarah! I found you recently when I was looking for a refresher on embroidery stitches. You are a great instructor! And now, I’m enjoying slow stitching!!! I’ll try to send you a picture of my first finished project. Sincerely, Barb
I see images of things online that inspire me so I am going to start saving those images to a Pinterest board tired “Creative Ideas”. This would be an alternative to the sketchbook idea book that you shared, which is a great idea, but this would be a good way to save an image seen online that was an inspiration.
Almost everything you said applies to me. My biggest fault is seeing something new and waiting it before I forget I wanted it. Once received, I need to check it out.
I'm focusing on combining what I love. History, writing and crocheting and have several WIPs. The issue is inspiration can come to me from anywhere. Then it's on my mind and won't leave me be and eventually I'll develop a huge case of I wanna start that itis and the only way to stop the feeling from growing and growing and growing is to start the new project. Then I have another project for my I'm gonna finish this pile. I have future plans for the projects and with my ever growing I'm gonna finish this pile, I feel like my future plans are in limbo.
Thanks so much for this video! The timing couldn’t be better. I’ve had a list of 3 things I need to finish on my refrigerator for 2 months now. I will be finishing the charity quilt that only needs the binding! And I have several cross stitch projects I bought hoping to learn how. I’m pretty sure I will never become a cross stitcher. So, I’m going to take them to the second hand store tomorrow. This is so freeing! Thank you
One of my problems is "out of sight, out of mind". Way too many WIPs! In recent years I have been participating in a January clear out. I have been finishing half dozen each year. You've given some really good ideas for reducing the overflow. Thanks!
Thank you for this wonderful information. I have a bad habit of taking stitches out because they don’t look right and I get frustrated and never finish the project. I need to learn to keep going even though the project has mistakes and keep practicing.
Thanks so much! This is like giving us, people that acquire crafts, permission to whittle down our focus a bunch!😊 I really needed this! I'm going to find that thing I'm no longer interested in and donate somewhere so some one else can try. These Finish It Fridays I will certainly keep up with. Thank you again!
Thank you Sarah. I actually finished a kit while listening to this. Not always my forte. A quilt still needs to be finished. I often find with a design that is mine that I can become stuck when I am not sure what to do next. I find at these times that being patient and kind with myself are the best solution as I will probably wake up one morning with the solution staring me in the face.
Thanks for such a cute video. You have great timing. I've been sick for a few days, so I decided that I was going to kick my own butt into gear and do all the "little" sewing things I've been putting off. I attached all the patches I've been collecting to my jacket! Been collecting then for a few years now so it was very satisfying. My issue is simply that I've been choosing to do other things instead, even things that take longer to do. Thankfully all my major projects go well. I won't allow myself to begin a new one until I finish my previous. Its just a hobby for me, so this hack works well for me and keeps me focused. Thanks again! So relatable.
Hello Sarah and Johnathan Gramcracker here. Good video. I actually finish most I start on. With the exception of 2 projects right now. I do however have many pre prepared projects ready to go. So I rarely look for new stuff. Outside of simply just wanting to see or learn new things... I love the 12 days of Christmas idea to stitch Sarah........ I think it would be fun to have one of your started projects sent to me personally to finish or work on. Then I could send it back to you finished... or for another patron to work on next. Similar to the friends on the last stitching around the world. There are a few you started I like alot. Hugs from Las Vegas. Stay safe and happy 😊 ❤❤
Hi Sarah, great video, I like the idea of having 'to do' projects on a shelf - in view shouting "sew me" 😅, I try not to have too many unfinished works but I am guilty of having unstarted ones that I seem to save for a rainy day when I've not got anything else to do - trouble is I always find new things to try out 🙃 thanks for sharing Helen (patreon member)
I limited the room I have to store stuff (chose to live in an apartment and only a few designated boxes) and I limit my brands (so only DMC) for my embroidery yarn. Helps a lot for me, but it does take some restraint... 😊
Your die cut leather reminded me of illuminated manuscripts. I could picture the glorious colours around it. I’ve just this year finished embroideries prepared by my grandmother around 40 years ago. I have carried them with me and they are now stitched things of beauty and, in doing them, I feel like I’ve held my grandmother’s hands again. I’m also going to finish something I started around 30 years ago - so nearly finished. I stopped because I ‘grew out of it’. But I now want to complete it and get it framed. The person I was all those years ago deserves to have her work finished.
This video is so very helpful! I suffer from all those terms you said. I recently went through my projects and I am going to attempt to rotate through them, maybe????
To stitch on a stretchy item try spray basting a dissolvable stabiliser (try 505 spray) behind the pattern this will help keep the fabric more manageable and hopefully easier to stitch. I love the idea of your note/scrap book for ideas because there are so many, thankyou xxx
I’ve a cross stitch that has been on going for over 30 years. How do I know? I was pregnant with my first born child and had problems during the pregnancy that meant I was signed off from work early. This particular project kept me company. Why is it unfinished? I’d photocopied the pattern in a larger scale and covered it in tape to protect. Huge mistake as the tape has yellowed over time and it will not lie flat either. It will be finished as I love the image of magpies on an oak branch with honeysuckle wrapped around it. One of the birds has their wings outspread as it lands on the branch. Thank you for this video. I enjoyed the various terms others use in particular. Best wishes both and all.
Thank you Sarah, lots of really useful tips and advice that I and many more needed. I’ve got three projects on the go at the moment but I’m confident that I will complete them all 😉💕
My problem with projects in general is not knowing what to do with even the finished ones. For example, I have tried in the past to make something as a gift for my daughter. However, my success rate is rather sad. We have such different tastes. As a result I don't really enjoy the project itself. I love abstract, modern. She wants rigidly traditional and practical. I have also way more wall hangings than wall space. I've saturated friends & relatives with gifts (that possibly they only display to avoid hurting my feelings). I have boxes of finished and unfinished results with no foreseeable home. Lately I have tried to only make things for myself, but that is not very satisfying either. Love trying new things and the process itself is enjoyable, but frankly doing something which will only end up being donated to a charity shop is hurtful, whether I do it, or someone else does. I have made some things deliberately for hospitals, hospice, shelters, etc. but frankly the end projects are really not my thing. Suggestions?
I'm sorry you don't feel like your efforts are valued ❤. I have a box I put my old things in just to flip through sort of like a book. For me the satisfaction was doing the embroidery and seeing it finished. I can store it or display it and it means the same to me. Perhaps you need more motivation for use of the project, in which case I do think if it's hand embroidery you can easily put that into sheet protectors and a binder to look at later, but again I just like having pretty things for the sake of it. Even if they serve 0 purpose outside of that. That's just what I do. I hope you find projects that bring value to your life ❤
I knit like a mad woman for 4 years. One day, just like that, I was sick of it! Unfortunately, I had a great quantity of beautiful wool yarn.... Like a $1000 worth. And don't even all about the investment in double pointed needles and circular needles. I finally put Abbott two thirds of the week into a bag ands sent it to charity shop. One year later and the remaining yarn is still stuffed into drawers. 🙄😬 it's going next. I started garment sewing and trying too not stash too much. Now, you have drawn me back to embroidery. So I'm starting that this fall, but will keep on sewing. Your show is so helpful and interesting. That yarn is going out of the house this week!
I was listening to your show today. I had a picture that I started 40 years ago. I worked on it for about a year exclusively. My daughter started one too, and she was short some thread so she asked me for some of mine since I didn’t want to finish the picture I gave her some Over the course of 20 years I dug out that picture and I would look at it and a couple of times I started to throw it out. But each time I would talk myself out of it. One day it just started to call me, I dug it out, and of course, some of the thread that I needed was gone gave it to my daughter years ago so now well I just went out and tried to match it up the best I could finish the project had it framed it’s hanging in my family room. I have to tell you I don’t know which colors I had to replace have no idea it’s been that long ago, it’s really one of my favorite pictures I ever did. It took me every bit of 30 years to finish that thing. And I love it. Even though I had to replace some thread and after 30 years, your dialogues are so different. Plus, I didn’t even know what kind of thread they use because, it didn’t say so. I just tried to use DMC and did the best I could. It is one of my favorite pictures I ever made. Today I never throw out anything even though I’ve been doing this now for 40+ years I have projects I’ve been working on forever And I dig it out every once in a while different ones and I’ll work on it. I have finished a lot of pictures are all over the house. I learn a lesson. I don’t throw anything out. Give it away or anything. Just sharing and I enjoy watching your videos.
I have that robin Christmas card. One of those images that it’s very hard to put in the recycle bin. Feels disrespectful which might seem daft to others.
I am a relatively new return to thread arts and as such I don’t have much that is unfinished (if I worked on it this week it’s not unfinished it’s a work in progress ;) but thanks to the joy of the algorithms I’m finding myself being exposed to and excitedly drawn in all the directions (currently holding my first attempt at tatting while another beginner bobbin lace pattern prints out) and with a new bead kit and a new online crewelwork tutorial sourced and an online series of goldwork lessons about to start I can see how quickly this could happen. Still - what held me back for some time from restarting the hobby of embroidery was the ‘what to do with it’ question….. and what finally got me started was a comment I found somewhere online that it’s ok for there to be no answer to that. It’s ok for that not to be important. I want to stitch. That’s its purpose, not the finished thing but the act of creating. Instead of watching TV or reading a book or getting some sleep (oops!) I want to pick up thread and create. It’s soothing, it focuses the brain and quiets the world and I enjoy it. If it then goes in a drawer (or I love the idea from a commenter above about making a coffee table style booklet of them) then it has still served its purpose….. Now - I can only hope that I retain this attitude in the future when faced with any potential unfinished works and remind myself that the working not the work was my goal :) I love to set a creative youtube video playing while I work (related to my current project or not doesn’t matter) and I find your style and manner delightful and the perfect accompaniment to my own endeavours. Thank you for your inspiring and educational content (I will one day return to the silk threads explorations video when I get around to taking out the collection of threads I was given and start to try and make something with those lol!)
I decided I would finish all all of my work this year before moving to the next needle work. I have been good until I stopped to do my Christmas cards. N̈
My unfinished projects are mostly ones that involve monthly prompts like Roxy’s Journal of Stitchery. They can’t actually be done until all the prompts are given.
Hi Sarah Thanks so much for the video. Its a great idea to complete two before you buy another, so in theory they are going down, So I have 41 unfinished projects there are probably loads more, how do I know, they are listed on my notes section on my mobile phone. These are listed under 3 sections ufos for a particuar group, crafts and sewing. I have recently finished 3 past projects and felt a real sense of achievement. My oldest project is 36 years old and was supposed to be an embroidered A-Z cot quilt for my daughter who is now 35 with two youngsters of her own🙄 I have completed A-M and would love to finish it one day but I know how long A-M took! I recently got it out and had left the needle in which has left two rust marks on the cotton although it is away from the main section. In addition its just a thin piece of cotton so would you back it with something before starting the next section? I still have the templates for the individual letters although they are no longer visible on the cloth now. Anyway hope the listing on the phone helps as there is nothing like a good tick list😄
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
I’m still new to you and so enjoying your topics! I’m watching videos when I need to take a break from packing my house up to move. I intentionally packed my crafting goodies early on so that I wouldn’t be tempted to do those fun things. Packing to move will very much help you to reduce your stash because if you’re like me and love a wide variety of crafting, sewing, paper, stitching, journal making etc etc you will probably find that suddenly, upon seeing all that you have accumulated you feel like a hoarder. When you don’t see the stuff you don’t realize. I am doing a couple things in future and now: I have now reduced my stash by half (why not let others benefit from my uncontrolled spending and give it a positive spin?) Also going forward store my supplies in see through containers (the cute boxes etc etc are darling but they hide my problems!) and finally have a periodic look through…people used to do a Spring cleaning and really clear out and I need to periodically do that too and at the very least share with friends.. Thank you! 💕💕
I'm going through much the same. Love the mindset😊
Recovering from a stroke and with multiple health issues and limitations now, I am helping my own mental health by passing on projects I can no longer manage. I parcel everything up including instructions, pictures and materials, in a secure clear package, attach a little note and give them to my favourite local goodwill so someone can benefit...... no more guilt!
I used to give to Goodwill until I found out that GW Big Cheeses make more than they actually donate, and the Salvation Army does not donate to any LGBTQ+ charities. So, now I give to thrift stores that benefit local charities like Hospice, Humane Society, food banks, etc. Makes me feel better than lining someone else's pockets. (Stroke survivor of over eight years here and I wish you lots of luck in your struggles.)
This is my opinion about what you’ve chosen to do. To me, you are completing every project! You are taking every step to make the project neat, easy to follow, and donating it along with a personal note so that someone who finds these TREASURES can then have a wonderful time learning and completing their part of the projects. In my eyes you are a hero by giving these gifts of love. Your part in these projects is complete when you give it in the manner that you are doing. I have health issues also and have to purge some things that I’m just not able to do anymore. To do it with a positive attitude is the goal knowing this part of my journey is over. Bless you in all your new endeavors! I wish you every good thing and many happy days ahead. 👩🌾🙏💙🪡🧵
I love this comment! I know if I came across something like you described I would snatch it up and enjoy😊 finishing it. What a lovely thoughtful thing to do.
@@CyndiColeman yes she is amazing! Such thoughtfulness she puts into preparing those projects for the next recipients. So lovely.
Graceful!
Thanks!
This video is a true godsend! Sadly, was at the point of quitting embroidery after letting perfectionism and shame over unfinished projects ruin my enjoyment of a hobby that started out bringing me peace and happiness. Thank you so much for this and ALL of your encouraging and informative videos! You are such a blessing! ❤❤
I hope you are continuing Susan? ❤️
An imperfect job done, completed, is far superior to that perfect job that is never done. - Jeanette Sizzle.
I have a stitching journal with a project queue in the back. When I start a project, I note the year and start a new page for the project in the front of the journal. Each WIP/ UFO has a pink sticky tab/ bookmark. Finished projects I need to photograph get the pink tab switched out for a yellow one, and projects that have the stitching done but that need to be sewn together or finished (such as ornaments) get a blue tab. This way, I see at a glance how many UFOs I have going at any one time. As I work through the project, I make little progress notes periodically.
I always try to learn one new thing with each project. It could be a particular stitch technique or mental challenge to take a risk.
A lot of what's hanging around in my studio is the result of experiments to find something out, which has caused me to think that having a pile of unfinished things is a necessary byproduct of creativity. Having a process to winnow it now and then is just the thing! Some great ideas here, thankyou.
When I clear my studio space up and put things away I find it easier to work on my projects. But then I have to remember to work on projects I have put away and not start new things.
Working through perfectionism I have had to change my attitude to think "I wonder how this will turn out?" rather than " It must be perfect".
This is a great topic-finishing things. Thank you!
Dearest Sarah you need to finish the slow stitching BEAUTIFUL yellow bird book cover! OMGoodness it's gorgeous! I start all excited, then midway through find my eyes checking out other "new" projects. Oh dear, it happens to the best of us. But grandma always told me "idle hands are the devil's playground" so I was always busy with something since age 5.
Lots of my UFOs have been stitched into my slow stitch books with bits of threads and fabrics added so they take on a new life with memories of what might have been! 😊
This video spoke to me in so many ways! We have moved house this year so my embroidery projects went on hold and now I have a massive pile of them - in several stages of finished, including still in the packaging 😆I love your mention of them taking up space in the cupboard and a decluttering mindset to it has spurred me on to pick up projects I started yonks ago and am absolutely loving it and wondering why I have left them so long. I also love your dont unpick approach, I picked this up from one of your videos a while ago and it is probably the most useful bit of advice I have learnt about embroidery - I very rarely unpick my stictches, and pretty much 99% of the time I end up at least liking what I do by the end and always learn so much from it, rather than unpicking and trying to make it what I think is perfect. One of my favourite things to do with my free time is sit and stitch whilst watching your videos (but not in order, hence why I am just watching this one now!) Thank you ☺
Thanks
Enjoyed this video very much and even took notes on some if your ideas. I have several UFO's and since retiring a couple years ago, have been cleaning out and making plans to be more methodical and organized. I also keep a list of projects I want to finish and gave them a priority number. I accept your challenge: have a bucket bag I want to finish and a pair of pillow cases to embroider. Will gift my daughter-in-law the pillow cases and finish the bucket bag. Loved your idea of "finish 2 b4 starting a new one. I also have a cardigan I want to wear this winter and when it got too hot to wirk on it earlier this year, I put it aside to finish this Fall. Not too much left to crochet and I really love it . Thank you❤
I don't have much wall space for individual things any more, so I attach the embroideries to quilting fabric and put them together to make quilts. If there's no space on the walls, they can be thrown over cat-scratched furniture. The cats don't seem to be all that keen on scratching things that move around and there are always more embroideries to turn into quilts.
I love this idea! I will do this too!
My favorite part about craft projects is the gathering. New fabric, tools, beads, etc 🤭 my second favorite is variety of skills/techniques from painting, resin, beading, looms, stitchery, EPP, junk journals, zentangles, to name a few … So much creative possibilities so little time. Toss in gardening 🧑🌾 and traveling and I’m booked, calendars full. Frankly I enjoy it all… and when I get something done 🥳 and when I totally get bored with an item I donate
or repurpose. Thanks for your video. This next week I’m repairing a chair and working on Christmas vessels. You’ve inspired me to make a list. Just to get an idea what I could finish or pick up again. That’s after the chair and at least one more vessel completion. I have 11 done and 4 more to go.
Thanks for this video, Sarah. It was just what I needed to get me to assess my projects and work out a plan for some of them. I started a crochet temperature blanket in 2023 in my early days of crochet. I got it out to look at it and have decided that I won't finish it, but what I've achieved is a good firm stripy fabric, so I'm going to sew in the many yarn ends this week and turn it into a cover for the back or seat of my craft-room chair. That's my project for this week!
Thanks, Sarah, for the ideas for finishing projects! I have an idea that I don't know if this will help anyone else with worrying about perfection, but it certainly helped me; when I took my first ever project to get framed I said to the very wise and experienced shop keeper(who had been a stitcher for 35 years) that when I looked at my work all I could see were all the mistakes I had made, she said to me that once it was all framed up and finished it will look beautiful and no one else will know or see the mistakes. It's mostly all in our own heads.
Anyways I hope that helps someone to just keep stitching and finish up their projects! ❤
I am the opposite and are obsessed with finishing the crafts I have started which isn't quite healthy either! Having said that, I went on a quilters holiday with a quilting group to Utah 2 years ago and had a fantastic time, started a quilt but I actually didn't like doing patchwork/quilting, loved buying lots of fabric though. This is I think the first time I haven't finished what I started and that bothers me but I found the solution. For the last few months I have been practising making bags and pouches and are going to incorporate my finished patchwork pieces into the bags, problem solved!
Great video! Thank you for letting us know we aren't alone in this problem. We all love embroidery and probably wish we could spend all our time working on projects. It's hard to prioritize them, and sometimes we get bored with them or life just gets in the way.
Yes, thank you for giving us permission to let things go that no longer keep our interest..but sharing it, gifting or donating..it is not wasted.
Yeah, I don't think it's wasteful or your work was wasted if you donate something. Someone else gets to enjoy it at a low cost now!
Just the video i needed. And what a coincidence that it has come just hours after i sat to clear my creative corner which is filled with soo many projects to finish. I just topped up that pile with a cream linen dress that my daughter generously offered to me but not after threatening me with dire consequences if i dare rummage through her wardrobe looking for dresses that she 'supposedly' does not fit into!!😷😷 😂😂
Add to that, my desire, like yours, to learn to draw and hence another pile of drawing papers and sketch books and colours of all sorts.
Reason why i felt your this video could not have come at a better time! And the best part is, what you mention can be applied to any craft or hobby that we are into.
Loads more that i can narrate but will keep my comments to your points as short as possible!!
The Hilarious part..( i was rolling on the floor laughing when you mentioned the 18 year old bit😂 )
I Started making a travel sized pouch for my new born grandson , complete with an appliqued car with his name embroidered on it. Just that, he is one plus years now and the pouch is still in the making and can hardly hold a diaper!
What i can still do about it? I intend cutting a larger piece of cloth and make a larger pouch and applique the appliqued car with the embroidered with his name part, onto the new pouch!! Hope i give it to him before he outgrows his craze for cars and insists that he likes aeroplanes instead!!
As regards the pretty piece of cross stitch embroidery with months of the year that you have started. Maybe you could Convert them into embroidered calenders.
Recently, i came across a video where the lady sews as well as paints. She creates her own hand painted calenders for her own use.
And finally, Yes, all of us have projects unfinished for various reasons , almost all of which you have mentioned. Your comment that it's ok to not finish.. That was so liberating especially since most of us create what we do for the joy and pleasure that it brings us.😊😊
And there is a beauty in imperfection too.. Why else would we turn to hand embroidery more than machine embroidery!!
We have a creative reuse store in our town so I went through all the supplies I’ve schlepped around over the years and donated them. It felt so freeing to be rid of the clutter and concentrating on the things that inspire me. Many senior centers are happy to accept donations of supplies and kits.
I love what Christine (of Create and Craft with Christine) does which is to buy WIPs from thrift stores and then finish them to include in her other projects. It honors the original work and worker but is something she has worked on, too, so it uniquely becomes hers.
I love Christine's enthusiasm!
What a coincidence. A few days ago I decided to go through my shed half full of things I have started to do or have meant to do. I just watched your video you uploaded 10 days ago. Now I won't feel guilty that I didn't finish some projects that weren't turning out how I had imagined they would. I will give away the ones I don't want to my charity shop and will have room to move about in my shed. Thank you!
Thanks for a wonderful video! Challenge accepted! 😊
Wow, this video was packed full of useful, helpful information. Thank you so much. Your personality is delightful and if you lived closer, I would definitely want to have you as a friend. You are a kindred spirit.
Glad to see that there are so many WIP'S out there!!! I am not the only one! I have decided that this winter is the one that I will be finishing them even though some were started some 50 years ago!! LOL!! I sort of abandoned them!!! I find that there are so many ideas and when I go back to them - they are no longer there or the site has been taken down. If I really like something, I print it out right away, if it's a maybe then I put it on Pinterest for a week or two think about it and decide whether to flush it or print it. Thanks for the ideas and encouragement!
Great video, Sarah; you covered so many good points! A new shoppe just opened in my city---it's similar to a charity shoppe, but the inventory is ALL craft supplies and sewing notions, threads, yarn, fabric, etc. Most of it is donated. So I am taking a few things down to her before Friday. I'm nearly finished with a class project, too, So just need to find and finish another before I start something else. I like that idea, finishing two before starting a new one. Very effective!
You've absolutely nailed it with this video Sarah, and I do feel that if not quite all, it will certainly be most of us, and we can relate to everything you've touched on. I also think it's so important to give ourselves permission to let go of those projects that we know we'll never get back to, for whatever reason. There's absolutely nothing to be achieved in hanging onto them and thinking "maybe" we'll get back to them.... and I'm certainly guilty of that😂.
So thank you for the inspiration and encouragement to get projects going again (hopefully!🤭)
Brilliant video. I'm going to review all of my kits and UFOs with a view to "recycling " and eliminating any negative projects.
This is a wonderful video for any creative person. I’m not a stitcher. I make journals. For organizing, I like Julia Morgenstern’s (book, Organizing from the Inside Out) idea of SPACE. Sort, purge, assign a home, contain, evaluate. I’ve used this for 25 years all over the house and even for my writing projects, and it really works. One idea for unfinished, but beloved projects is to make a book sort of like your sketchbook. Just cut out 😳😱 the thing that appeals to you, staple it to a page, and start a reference book of ideas from unfinished projects. It is scary at first, but then looking through the pieces in the book later is very useful. Thanks!
I was just doing this yesterday with my quilting.. and am getting better with that.. The Quilted Forest had a monthly thing where she labels all her UFO"S and then each month she picks a number out of the basket and that is the item she works on that month.. I did it last year as well and got kind of clogged down but this year I have been finishing my monthly things. ;D And since I am new at the slow stitch I haven't really got any long projects to do.. I do have some Crewel kits that aren't finished that I should get rid of but I guess I should look at them again. :D Thank you for the good help!!
I like the idea of a monthly pick. I have many projects ‘on the go’ that I plan to play with for a lifetime. Like EPP… making hexagons until I have enough for a quilt to donate but no time limit or knitting socks, something one can always use. It would be fun to pick a number and see which of my forever projects I would play with that month. Along with my current newer projects. I think I should give this a go 👍🏽
I find that doing a triage of 'potential' projects periodically is key. There are times when I lose my "mojo" for a project and feel good in passing it on to someone else. Or I get all inspired to start it, instead of buying something new. I try to make sure that all of my kitted things are projects that I still love and want to do, then I shop my stash when it's time to start something new. I'm also trying very hard to actually fully finish things once the stitching is finished. Framing is expensive, so I'm trying to learn how to do it myself so I can save my framing $ for things above my skill level (or things that need special tools - like shaped matting). I'm getting pretty confident in doing finishing on things like pillows and ornaments. Just last week, I learned how to make a pin drum!
My 'finish something" project is going to be a project bag using a piece of finished counted cross stitch for the front. I'll have a beautiful useful thing and one less thing in the 'to be finished box' (aka "the under the bed box"). This is such a timely video because just yesterday, I 'unkitted' and put back into the stash the materials for two projects that, while I haven't totally lost interest in them, were very similar to another project in the 'possibles'. In both cases, I chose the one I like the best and put the other one away (saved the pattern, though, just in case I REALLY like the designer/technique and want to do more of it). Challenge met!
Sometimes I think we all need 'permission' to let things go that we've spent good money on. But I learned this year to 'declutter' my crafts as well as my household goods and I've donated many new or started projects to charity shops. I am currently woking on a few that I love and I know will get finished. Love all your videos as they are truly inspirational. My thanks.
I have 2 unfinished pieces of work. Last Summer I took all the small pieces of embroidery I'd done, as a learning process on new-to-me stitches, from your videos....e.g.
Turkish rug stitch. I bought sets of various sized aperture cards, and made about 30 greetings cards with them. I had to unpick and adapt a little, in order to fit attractively into the aperture window. Then I attached butterfly or bee buttons. And sold them for £1:50 or £2 at a church Butterfly and Bee festival. They all sold within an hour, so I obviously could have charged more, but they were my learning process, I would have been embarrassed. My embarrassing "worst one", a sampler on your video on infilling stitches, sold first!!! I had lots of interesting conversations with my customers, and learned a lot.
Thanks for your encouragement! I have not only been applying it to my stitching projects but also some of my other projects in process I haven't been finishing.
Hi Sarah. I have used the embroidered piece as the front of a little zippered bag for putting my cottons scissors needles etc when I go to a embroidery class so I know where they are
Just my little tip for today 😂😂😂
Hello Sarah. I really enjoyed this video which had a lot of useful advice. I did have a smile at your 18 year christening gown example. I started a patchwork quilt when I was 13/14. I’m 70 now - and it’s still not finished. But I have some wonderful memories stitched into it. Pieces from my mother’s wedding dress; fabric she used to make the dresses for my sisters when they were my bridesmaids; rolling the whole quilt out on the lawn and telling my small son were different pieces had come from while we lay giggling at some of the stories - and repeating that scenario with my grandchildren. I think that is what has stopped me actually finishing it.
I have a few to finish. Good ideas. So lets get started❤
Yes Yes! If I don't have a goal in mind for a project it tends to become a UFO. Nice to know a professional has the same issues we non professional have.
Thank you for this video, Sarah. It was very helpful. I am having a major case of perfection paralysis with my current project (my only one) that I have been working on for 4 years. In my mind it needs to be perfect and I get anxious that it won't be. My other reason is that I get distracted with other things and I am worried that if I take a project out, my cats and dog will get into it. I feel like that last one is the silliest reason not to finish because other people embroider with their pets next to them and they do fine.
I would like to get back into my project soon. Mine will not be finished this week because I am a long way from finishing but I would like to pick it up again. Thanks again for your helpful video Sarah!
Thank you Sarah and Jonathan for your video. I think you have been in my cupboard. 😂😂 I really found this helpful, just to know that I am not alone is good. I have some x stitch projects not completed but I am enjoying slow stitching more. I have given myself a year and if I still don't want to complete them I will decide then what to do.
Thanks for the tips on the perfectionist problem! I think it would help me a lot in speeding up my progress.
Beautiful Video 💕🌸
I am pretty much, prep a kit and get distracted, and do a different one. So I have for example, a kiss clasp and prep fabric for starting. Then when I go looking for something, I come across a fabric or stitchery and work on that instead. But I do finish projects I start sewing because my brain can only focus on that 1 project at a time. So I am good that way. Although I did struggle with a cross stitch I started which was quite advanced and decided at the moment my heart wasn't in it. 😊
How lovely. Why not make it all into a sampler book with all your creations. It’s beautiful.
Really useful advice Sarah. I have bought kits in the past that have never been started, but like you, I either use up the contents and save the instructions or give to a charity shop. I also keep a special notebook to jot down ideas for future projects, even if they get superseded later down the line as you never know when you may go back to those ideas one day.
Thank you Sarah as always for such great ideas and tips, I particularly want to try your suggestion about recording any ideas in a book so I can happily just 'leave' them there while I do something else, that is a major problem I have, never know what I should be concentrating on!
I must have known this was going to come up. I’ve just finished a crochet lap blanket to use up yarns from previous blanket makings. I’ve also finished off a small quilt by making a little larger and will donate that to Project Linus. Another quilting PHD is in progress at the moment after being in hibernation for some time. There are plenty of other quilting/embroidery projects to make my mind up about, so thanks for your advice.
I struggle with this because I would find myself partially through a project and perfectionism kicks in. Maybe I haven't mastered a skill or disappointment with my efforts. So I start another project and the evil cycle continues. I love how you keep reminding us to have fun and 'Play ' Sarah. God knows I need to let go more and just relax with it. I'm currently working on an almond branch with flowers and trying a different method but because it's not technically accurate I've hesitated to pick it up again. I guess we all need encouragement in life even to finish projects that give us joy.
Watching this one closely.
Thanks Sarah 😊
I think your 12 days of Christmas idea is a winner. They could be used for Christmas hangings, table decorations, a special Christmas quilt etc. so much more. I think these patterns would be a huge hit.
Thank you, Sarah. I’m guilty!! Several ufos in my life! I’m gonna join your challenge and complete one thing this week. I’ll also gather my kits and decide if I’ll keep them or give them away. Looking forward to more videos. Have a great weekend.
This video has been super helpful!
The christening gown scenario made me laugh, I had this problem with my crochet more than stitching. I've still got granny squares in bags and a hallowene project from last year. I'm new to slow stitching, finished a lot of little stitcheries, , a scroll or 3, fabric slow stitch books are my latest thing..... made 3 in a week! loving it😊 buying fabric when it's in the sales is additive.
Excellent!
I was complaining to my mom about something I was doing wasn't perfect and she responded with "Perfection is boring." I have sketched that out and put that saying up in my craft space so if I find I'm getting a bit too wound up with that perfection mindset I take a look at that on my wall.
SARAH! You are so lovely and I have learned most of what I know about hand embroidery from your videos, website, and The Facebook group. You have also been a therapeutic and healing gift to me as I have been grieving the loss of three family members in the past year and a half; combined with my regular depression and anxiety (that produced some crazy slow-stitching).
I love your positive spirit, humility, and kind encouraging voice. I find so much joy in doing embroidery and I get super excited about new ideas that pop up in my mind.
I actually finish A LOT of projects, that I'm quite proud of, and then I stop before the final finishing including cleaning, framing, or displaying the piece. I don't know many people but I would love to give them away to someone that would just finish the display part themselves. Haha!
Lately, I'm focusing my projects on supporting a kinder American democracy that values women's rights.
Thank you Sarah!
I'm sorry for your losses Dawn, I'm glad you are finding solace in stitch and an outlet for your feelings xXx
Thank you Sarah, some great ideas. I try not to have too many WIPS but my dining room table was always covered in them til I recently purchased a trolley with 3 shelves to store them on tidily. Now it's easy to clear the crafting away when the grandchildren come and also, I can concentrate better when I craft in a tidy space. I was also buying lots of new kits and patterns online, spontaneously and I have begun to write them on a wish list before actually buying.
Hello Sarah! I found you recently when I was looking for a refresher on embroidery stitches. You are a great instructor! And now, I’m enjoying slow stitching!!! I’ll try to send you a picture of my first finished project. Sincerely, Barb
I see images of things online that inspire me so I am going to start saving those images to a Pinterest board tired “Creative Ideas”.
This would be an alternative to the sketchbook idea book that you shared, which is a great idea, but this would be a good way to save an image seen online that was an inspiration.
Thanks for your honesty, the video is so down to earth and encouraging, I feel better about my own failings. Mary
Almost everything you said applies to me. My biggest fault is seeing something new and waiting it before I forget I wanted it. Once received, I need to check it out.
Thanks for the great video. Hopefully I'll get a few pieces finished! 😅
I'm focusing on combining what I love. History, writing and crocheting and have several WIPs. The issue is inspiration can come to me from anywhere. Then it's on my mind and won't leave me be and eventually I'll develop a huge case of I wanna start that itis and the only way to stop the feeling from growing and growing and growing is to start the new project. Then I have another project for my I'm gonna finish this pile.
I have future plans for the projects and with my ever growing I'm gonna finish this pile, I feel like my future plans are in limbo.
Thanks so much for this video! The timing couldn’t be better. I’ve had a list of 3 things I need to finish on my refrigerator for 2 months now. I will be finishing the charity quilt that only needs the binding! And I have several cross stitch projects I bought hoping to learn how. I’m pretty sure I will never become a cross stitcher. So, I’m going to take them to the second hand store tomorrow. This is so freeing! Thank you
Great tips and good to know I'm not alone with my unfinished projects.
One of my problems is "out of sight, out of mind". Way too many WIPs! In recent years I have been participating in a January clear out. I have been finishing half dozen each year. You've given some really good ideas for reducing the overflow. Thanks!
Thank you for this wonderful information. I have a bad habit of taking stitches out because they don’t look right and I get frustrated and never finish the project. I need to learn to keep going even though the project has mistakes and keep practicing.
Thanks so much! This is like giving us, people that acquire crafts, permission to whittle down our focus a bunch!😊 I really needed this! I'm going to find that thing I'm no longer interested in and donate somewhere so some one else can try. These Finish It Fridays I will certainly keep up with. Thank you again!
Great tips. I started making a quilt pattern and didn't like doing it. I made a table runner and called it a day and I have been enjoying it.
Thank you Sarah. I actually finished a kit while listening to this. Not always my forte. A quilt still needs to be finished. I often find with a design that is mine that I can become stuck when I am not sure what to do next. I find at these times that being patient and kind with myself are the best solution as I will probably wake up one morning with the solution staring me in the face.
Thanks for such a cute video. You have great timing. I've been sick for a few days, so I decided that I was going to kick my own butt into gear and do all the "little" sewing things I've been putting off. I attached all the patches I've been collecting to my jacket! Been collecting then for a few years now so it was very satisfying. My issue is simply that I've been choosing to do other things instead, even things that take longer to do.
Thankfully all my major projects go well. I won't allow myself to begin a new one until I finish my previous. Its just a hobby for me, so this hack works well for me and keeps me focused.
Thanks again! So relatable.
Hello Sarah and Johnathan Gramcracker here. Good video. I actually finish most I start on. With the exception of 2 projects right now. I do however have many pre prepared projects ready to go. So I rarely look for new stuff. Outside of simply just wanting to see or learn new things... I love the 12 days of Christmas idea to stitch Sarah........ I think it would be fun to have one of your started projects sent to me personally to finish or work on. Then I could send it back to you finished... or for another patron to work on next. Similar to the friends on the last stitching around the world. There are a few you started I like alot. Hugs from Las Vegas. Stay safe and happy 😊 ❤❤
Hi Sarah, great video, I like the idea of having 'to do' projects on a shelf - in view shouting "sew me" 😅, I try not to have too many unfinished works but I am guilty of having unstarted ones that I seem to save for a rainy day when I've not got anything else to do - trouble is I always find new things to try out 🙃 thanks for sharing Helen (patreon member)
I limited the room I have to store stuff (chose to live in an apartment and only a few designated boxes) and I limit my brands (so only DMC) for my embroidery yarn. Helps a lot for me, but it does take some restraint... 😊
Your die cut leather reminded me of illuminated manuscripts. I could picture the glorious colours around it. I’ve just this year finished embroideries prepared by my grandmother around 40 years ago. I have carried them with me and they are now stitched things of beauty and, in doing them, I feel like I’ve held my grandmother’s hands again. I’m also going to finish something I started around 30 years ago - so nearly finished. I stopped because I ‘grew out of it’. But I now want to complete it and get it framed. The person I was all those years ago deserves to have her work finished.
This video is so very helpful! I suffer from all those terms you said. I recently went through my projects and I am going to attempt to rotate through them, maybe????
What a great video I can so relate I have 2 big boxes full of unfinished work glad I'm not alone ha!thankyou very helpful 🎉😊
To stitch on a stretchy item try spray basting a dissolvable stabiliser (try 505 spray) behind the pattern this will help keep the fabric more manageable and hopefully easier to stitch. I love the idea of your note/scrap book for ideas because there are so many, thankyou xxx
Great great video!! Perfection paralysis, fear of screwing it up. I know better but it will still hold me back.
Finish two before you start a new one. This could work for me
My suggestion for the rose t shirt get some diamond dots or use heat beads it would be easier
I’ve a cross stitch that has been on going for over 30 years. How do I know? I was pregnant with my first born child and had problems during the pregnancy that meant I was signed off from work early. This particular project kept me company. Why is it unfinished? I’d photocopied the pattern in a larger scale and covered it in tape to protect. Huge mistake as the tape has yellowed over time and it will not lie flat either. It will be finished as I love the image of magpies on an oak branch with honeysuckle wrapped around it. One of the birds has their wings outspread as it lands on the branch.
Thank you for this video. I enjoyed the various terms others use in particular.
Best wishes both and all.
Thank you Sarah, lots of really useful tips and advice that I and many more needed. I’ve got three projects on the go at the moment but I’m confident that I will complete them all 😉💕
Thanks for the advice and video. I do have a problem with finishing projects due to starting a new one lol. Good ideas.😊
My problem with projects in general is not knowing what to do with even the finished ones. For example, I have tried in the past to make something as a gift for my daughter. However, my success rate is rather sad. We have such different tastes. As a result I don't really enjoy the project itself. I love abstract, modern. She wants rigidly traditional and practical. I have also way more wall hangings than wall space. I've saturated friends & relatives with gifts (that possibly they only display to avoid hurting my feelings). I have boxes of finished and unfinished results with no foreseeable home. Lately I have tried to only make things for myself, but that is not very satisfying either. Love trying new things and the process itself is enjoyable, but frankly doing something which will only end up being donated to a charity shop is hurtful, whether I do it, or someone else does. I have made some things deliberately for hospitals, hospice, shelters, etc. but frankly the end projects are really not my thing. Suggestions?
I'm sorry you don't feel like your efforts are valued ❤. I have a box I put my old things in just to flip through sort of like a book. For me the satisfaction was doing the embroidery and seeing it finished. I can store it or display it and it means the same to me. Perhaps you need more motivation for use of the project, in which case I do think if it's hand embroidery you can easily put that into sheet protectors and a binder to look at later, but again I just like having pretty things for the sake of it. Even if they serve 0 purpose outside of that. That's just what I do. I hope you find projects that bring value to your life ❤
I knit like a mad woman for 4 years. One day, just like that, I was sick of it! Unfortunately, I had a great quantity of beautiful wool yarn.... Like a $1000 worth. And don't even all about the investment in double pointed needles and circular needles. I finally put Abbott two thirds of the week into a bag ands sent it to charity shop. One year later and the remaining yarn is still stuffed into drawers. 🙄😬 it's going next. I started garment sewing and trying too not stash too much. Now, you have drawn me back to embroidery. So I'm starting that this fall, but will keep on sewing. Your show is so helpful and interesting. That yarn is going out of the house this week!
Great video lots of inspiration ❤
That's great advice. Thank you.
I was listening to your show today. I had a picture that I started 40 years ago. I worked on it for about a year exclusively. My daughter started one too, and she was short some thread so she asked me for some of mine since I didn’t want to finish the picture I gave her some Over the course of 20 years I dug out that picture and I would look at it and a couple of times I started to throw it out. But each time I would talk myself out of it. One day it just started to call me, I dug it out, and of course, some of the thread that I needed was gone gave it to my daughter years ago so now well I just went out and tried to match it up the best I could finish the project had it framed it’s hanging in my family room. I have to tell you I don’t know which colors I had to replace have no idea it’s been that long ago, it’s really one of my favorite pictures I ever did. It took me every bit of 30 years to finish that thing. And I love it. Even though I had to replace some thread and after 30 years, your dialogues are so different. Plus, I didn’t even know what kind of thread they use because, it didn’t say so. I just tried to use DMC and did the best I could. It is one of my favorite pictures I ever made. Today I never throw out anything even though I’ve been doing this now for 40+ years I have projects I’ve been working on forever And I dig it out every once in a while different ones and I’ll work on it. I have finished a lot of pictures are all over the house. I learn a lesson. I don’t throw anything out. Give it away or anything. Just sharing and I enjoy watching your videos.
Thank you for a lovely video. 😊
Very useful video. I don't feel quite so guilty now. I'm mentally ready for the 2 challenges. Just need to 'do' now 😂
A constructive video thank you
I’m laughing out loud, saying oh yeah, I have one like that…oh that one, yes…same. 😂 We are all more alike than different ❤️.
I have that robin Christmas card. One of those images that it’s very hard to put in the recycle bin. Feels disrespectful which might seem daft to others.
I am a relatively new return to thread arts and as such I don’t have much that is unfinished (if I worked on it this week it’s not unfinished it’s a work in progress ;) but thanks to the joy of the algorithms I’m finding myself being exposed to and excitedly drawn in all the directions (currently holding my first attempt at tatting while another beginner bobbin lace pattern prints out) and with a new bead kit and a new online crewelwork tutorial sourced and an online series of goldwork lessons about to start I can see how quickly this could happen. Still - what held me back for some time from restarting the hobby of embroidery was the ‘what to do with it’ question….. and what finally got me started was a comment I found somewhere online that it’s ok for there to be no answer to that. It’s ok for that not to be important. I want to stitch. That’s its purpose, not the finished thing but the act of creating. Instead of watching TV or reading a book or getting some sleep (oops!) I want to pick up thread and create. It’s soothing, it focuses the brain and quiets the world and I enjoy it. If it then goes in a drawer (or I love the idea from a commenter above about making a coffee table style booklet of them) then it has still served its purpose….. Now - I can only hope that I retain this attitude in the future when faced with any potential unfinished works and remind myself that the working not the work was my goal :) I love to set a creative youtube video playing while I work (related to my current project or not doesn’t matter) and I find your style and manner delightful and the perfect accompaniment to my own endeavours. Thank you for your inspiring and educational content (I will one day return to the silk threads explorations video when I get around to taking out the collection of threads I was given and start to try and make something with those lol!)
I decided I would finish all all of my work this year before moving to the next needle work. I have been good until I stopped to do my Christmas cards. N̈
My unfinished projects are mostly ones that involve monthly prompts like Roxy’s Journal of Stitchery. They can’t actually be done until all the prompts are given.
Hi Sarah Thanks so much for the video. Its a great idea to complete two before you buy another, so in theory they are going down, So I have 41 unfinished projects there are probably loads more, how do I know, they are listed on my notes section on my mobile phone. These are listed under 3 sections ufos for a particuar group, crafts and sewing. I have recently finished 3 past projects and felt a real sense of achievement. My oldest project is 36 years old and was supposed to be an embroidered A-Z cot quilt for my daughter who is now 35 with two youngsters of her own🙄 I have completed A-M and would love to finish it one day but I know how long A-M took! I recently got it out and had left the needle in which has left two rust marks on the cotton although it is away from the main section. In addition its just a thin piece of cotton so would you back it with something before starting the next section? I still have the templates for the individual letters although they are no longer visible on the cloth now. Anyway hope the listing on the phone helps as there is nothing like a good tick list😄