Deadline

I originally wrote about this dragonfly handbag back when I was vowing to do more making for myself.

I tested the Starling Handbag pattern for Alice (now available as a free download!) and I LOVE it. I fussed around with how to embellish it, and landed on the dragonfly pieced together from wool.

I was really wanting to try Alice's lining tutorial (her craftsmanship is insane, and her attention to detail is stunning) but I hemmed and hawed on fabric choice.

And then I just couldn't carve out the time to get it done. Even though the school year ended last week, I've been so busy leading up to it, and this week too (I'm taking a non-Euclidean geometry class at the university. And even I ~ lover of all math ~ am completely exhausted after 8 hours of math every day this week!) and.... well. You know how it can be.

Wednesday I went to Monica's house to play with fabric and do some quilt piecing, and she sent me home with an enormous tub of fabrics.


This remnant was in there, and it was plenty of fabric to line the bag and make a wee-pocket, too!











See what I mean about Alice's tutorials? Do you see these seams? These are my seams, but without Alice's kind but firm guidance ~ in other words left to my own devices ~ these seams would be a wonky, tangled mess. Just saying.

So here's what I noticed. This adorable handbag, when I was making it for myself, languished on the sewing table for more than three weeks. But I got the idea to give it to my friend Cynthia (she will LOVE it!) for her birthday. Her actual birthday passed on Monday, but I'm going to see her at a planning meeting tomorrow....so I came home today, printed out my lining worksheet, got my supplies, and got cracking.

What you need to know about me, is that I'm very deadline oriented. This bag got finished because of a birthday deadline, coinciding with a in-person meeting deadline to give it to the birthday girl. I'm like this at work too...just tell me when it's due. First of the year? Next week? Four hours? I don't even care! Just tell me, and it will be done. But until there's a deadline looming, I tend to procrastinate... I have so much time! What's the rush? Slow down and smell the roses, folks!

This is why it's so hard for me to craft for myself. I can put all projects off indefinitely, since there's no danger that I'll miss a non-existent deadline!