This month being WIPs challenge month I’m starting strong. Let’s not think too far ahead for how I end…. that’s ok. Starting strong is good anyway, isn’t it.

I’ve been sorting, washing, ironing, folding and stacking fabrics and some bits of unfinished things. I will clarify that the WIPs and fabrics that I’m working through are only those in my current ‘inside’ cupboards. There are many (many) more in storage and packed away in boxes. I am not pulling them apart to finish or throw them out. 

I’m simply taking this time, this month, as a way to refresh where I am right here. In the space now. This might be a good way for me to move into the other spaces, but that actually would involve a lot of pulling things out and mess making before I get to the throwing away and cleaning aspect. So, we’re going to leave those for now.

This morning I threw away - with not one bit of guilt at all - some actual finished things that I’d made for samples for online workshops. I never quite liked them. 

Sometimes when I make things while I’m filming it’s a different experience to when I’m sitting and making it myself (not filming myself). I wish I could explain why, I’m not really sure. Maybe because I’m needing to get it done and sitting often a bit awkwardly under the camera setup. Maybe because there’s a timeframe of having to film and keep it in the video time limit. I don’t know. Anyway, it does mean I have a few things that I don’t love and don’t feel the need to keep. 

Using abandoned and discarded quilt blocks

Last week I pulled out some quilt blocks. I actually made them years ago and have never done anything beyond making a small pile of these blocks in pinks & blues - madder, avocado and indigo. I like these blocks A LOT. But due to life at that time I never got them turned into a quilt, or even a pillow. And now I’ve moved on from those colours and don’t really want a quilt that colour in my home, as this time. It’s a teeny bit more sacchinrine than it could be.

I decided to make a gusseted flat-bottomed zippered purse using some of those quilt blocks, and had quite a bit of fun playing around with them, and then cutting them up. Ooooppp cutting up work is scary and fun, and something else too. There’s trepidation that it’s going to be terrible and I’ll hate the cut and then have ruined it all. There’s the fear that it’ll all fall apart - the stitchings and seams. 

But I don’t hate it at all. In fact, the opposite. I haven’t made a zippered purse for so long. I used to make them all the time. When we had our first iteration of our handcrafted design business we hand screen printed all our own fabrics and I sewed it into homewares. There was a lot of ‘perfection’ sewing in those days, where the cushion covers had to be square and the zippers had to be stitched in neatly. That was all machine sewn. 

I very much enjoyed sewing this zippered purse fully by hand. And enjoyed using a zipper that I’ve had in my stash for some unknown time. 

I stitched the quilt block pieces directly onto white linen, which became the lining of the bag. As a note - while white for a bag lining can get dirtier more easily I much prefer it to a darker lining as then it’s hard to look inside and see what you’re looking for. As a pencil case though, a white lining gets coloured-up quite quickly!

I used blue Sashiko cotton to hand stitch in big stitch details across the squares of the quilt blocks. I decided to follow the pieced sections and stitch inside each part. Leaving the knots exposed creates a less-saccharine effect, I think. And I like that the tails of the knots will fray over time. Perhaps I’ll need to repair them, but I’m ok with what happens. 

Probably though, I’ll have stopped using the bag by then anyway and have to go through the guilt of putting another thing into the compost.

So.. I wonder if I can call this a finished WIP or not? It was two out of about seven quilt blocks that I used. And it’s turned that into something that I’m now using every day. I was planning on gifting it away, but as soon as I did the last knot I put my needle book and current little stitch project (some final ones of these that I’m making) in it. And I do quite love the size and usability of it as my carry-with-me sewing purse. 

I’m wanting some WIPs that can be done while sitting on the couch - it’s Winter, it’s super windy, it’s dark early and snuggly season, plus any excuse for ‘sitting on the couch projects’. And I’m wanting a WIP project that might be bigger and take maybe the whole month, over a few bits of time here and there around the week. 

And maybe I’ll continue sorting and paring down supplies and get those two cupboards working more efficiently for me. Maybe I’ll get so many of the bits of fabric and threads and things, and be able to shuffle it down into one and a half cupboards.

I do have a big project that I know I’d like to work on. Perhaps it won’t be finished this month, but that’s ok because it’s going to slip into my quilt-a-long for next month anyway. I’m going to talk about it in my next blog post.

Here’s some ideas that might help you, for week one of our June WIP challenge

1 Find your project.

This should be something that you want to finish and has been recently started, rather than a project that has been sitting around for a long time (I call these WNBF – will never be finished). Make sure it’s something that you’re excited about working on and finishing.

This isn’t about guilt making. It’s not about cleaning up your cupboards for the sake of it. Though of course that is good too. I suggest while you are cleaning up your cupboards to sort and see what ‘no longer gives you joy’. Some of these can be swapped with others or donated (if op-shops / thrift don’t want then maybe a local school or pre-school could use them).

Or perhaps you could think about giving it a new lease on life by cutting it up and re-working it into something else. This can be part of the WIP challenge, or it could be for another month’s making project.

I highly recommend choosing one project only, but if you find two that you really want to work on, then that is good too. Make sure they’re doable and will finish in the next month. This is a good time to actually finish rather than simply keep working on the project. (You can do that another time, if need).

If it’s Winter for you (like it is for me) maybe do a project that can easily sit on your lap and be picked up / put down. Woollen projects (knitting, crochet) are great for Winter months, as well as a quilt that’ll warm you as you stitch.

 For Summer, perhaps a smaller softer project. Something you can carry in your bag for picnics and outdoor gatherings. Find a little pouch bag and have your supplies in that for taking places. You don’t want a giant warm thing on your lap during the warm months.

2 Have your supplies ready.

This is quite important for any making and project. Things like the #100dayproject are much easier when you’re ready to start making each day, rather than having to gather the supplies before you start. This means having your fabric, threads, needles, pins, etc.

Depending on your project of course this will be different. A basket beside the couch with your quilt is ready for any moment – I like to pre-cut my thread so that I have less sharp pointy things. And then I’ll cut the tails off afterwards when I’m done with all the hand quilting.

A bag of supplies with your needle case. Pre-cut thread helps with this too; so that you can be ready to start whenever the moment is there.

3 Give yourself time.

Set a time each day that you want to make. Don’t wait until the time just happens but dedicate a set time. This might be morning tea / coffee for you, or it might be evening after dinner. I know I talk about this, and I’m not always the best at doing it myself. So it’s an ongoing practice to give ourselves the space, to honour ourselves and our making. Letting our family know that this is our time is good too.

I have a small child and needy children, so my best time is in the evening after dinner. Sitting on the couch by the fire. (We have just lit our fire this week; not so much to keep us warm but more to dry out the place and hope to ease some of the mould).

But also, be on the lookout for moments in-between as well. This is the joy of being ready when the time appears.

4 Share your project.

What are you working on? Make sure to share the before in the community space here, and progress as well. I’d love to see a weekly update, with any concerns, challenges, breakthroughs, blocks that you’re coming up against. And how it feels to have taken the unfinished thing out of the cupboard and turn it into a usable finished thing. And if you share on Instagram, do @ tag me so that I can see as well.

Let’s do this together - finish some projects so that we can make space for more of our process-led making projects.

Let me know what you’re planning for your WIP challenge. Have you found the first thing you want to work on, or still unsure? 

Next week I’ll be sharing how to make this gusseted purse, as part of my Stitch Circle Community (it’s free or pay-what-you-want to join). It’s great to make use of some of your naturally dyed fabrics or special pieces that are too small for something else. An excellent way to show it off. As well as utilise any new stitches you’ve been learning. And then….. Something practical is always good isn’t it! 

If you want to get ready to make this, then start looking around for a zip that is at least 20cm long. If you can find one longer than that it would be great, but I used what I had and wasn’t going to go and buy another one. Mine is a cotton zip with metal teeth, but again please use what you already have; though an invisible dressmaker's zip would be harder and not as lovely looking. You might have an old project that you want to unpick or a piece of clothing with a zip you could re-use. Look around and see what you can find, before going to buy something new. This is what finishing WIPs is about as well - making use of the supplies and things we have, rather than simply getting more and more.