Feeling ashamed but also relieved

Oh, don't! I've done this numerous times. I'm useless at most 'crafty' stuff - can't knit or sew to save myself, but during lockdown, I bought various craft kit thingys to try to give myself something to do, including box frames with Scrabble-type tiles to make pictures with. Did one - was reasonably pleased with it, then the rest sat and gathered dust until I finally offloaded them on Facebook Marketplace. That's just one example...

I’ve got one more row to join of a Kaffe Fasset patchwork quilt,the material for which I bought about 20 years ago. I still have to buy wadding and back it. I don’t feel too badly about it as I only started the cutting out about 3 months ago. Actually feel quite speedy.

Lovely story Primrose.

My Mum was visiting her family in Ireland some years ago. She admired a knitting pattern for an Aran waistcoat in a shop so one of her brothers bought it for her plus all the necessary wool.

She started it when she came home then grandchildren came along so she was knitting for them. She was always very busy but determined to finish it some time. Wrapped it away in tissue paper and it only came to light again when she was just diagnosed with dementia in her 90s. She cried when we unwrapped it and remembered her brother buying it.

As a surprise I paid a lady to complete it for her and she was overjoyed and it fitted her perfectly. I then sent a photo of her wearing it to my cousin and she was touched that her Dad had bought it around 30 years earlier. He had died long before Mum.

I started doing some patchwork 50 years ago when my children were young using bits and bobs from their clothing etc. I always intended to complete it and never did so perhaps now is the time to throw it out.☹️

I have been knitting a cardigan for two years! I usually complete things pdq but not this time.

I have a ball of wool and needles accusing me of being idle. My mother was a wonderful seamstress. Much to her disappointment, I just can't.

Don't get me onto my failure to make a presentable herbaceous border.

Well the nice thing about a garden is it can evolve over years, so there is no such thing as a failure 😄Over 30 years mine has gone from nothing to beautiful (briefly) then back to rubbish and needs a lot of work again.

I have finally admitted to myself that I’m never going to make anything with the pieces of material I bought from a shop in Lyme Regis about 35 years ago, so have binned them all! I felt guilty for a bit but not for long!
I may yet start knitting squares with some of the stash of wool, also bought many years ago. But may not….

It’s liberating to face the truth and decide to abandon ship with a project! When we decluttered a couple of years ago I tried to look with clear eyes at UFO’s (unfinished objects for those who object to abbreviations) and gave them to charity shops where they find new people to love them.

I didn’t manage to rid myself of a Readicut rug kit I began the year my dd1 was born, though. She’s now 37.

When attempting a sewing project that looks a bit challenging make a mock up first in old sheeting etc.
Charity shops always have them in their rag bags. You should pay about £1.

PinkCosmos

I have a list of projects for when I retire - knitting, sewing, felting, mosaic, jewellery making, doll making, Christmas decorations - you name it and I have planned to do it

I am very good at buying fabric, wool, other project related items and never starting the project.

I think the idea of it is more appealing than the doing of it.

Apparently buying and actually doing is two different hobbies PinkCosmos 😂

Thank you, everyone. Good to know I'm not alone.
Don't get me onto my failure to make a presentable herbaceous border.

I start knitting something lose interest and end up undoing what I have done. I use up the wool knitting squares for blankets for a charity instead.

I started knitting squares for a cot blanket for my first grandchild. Then whittled down to a pram blanket, then a carry-cot blanket, then a dolls’ cot blanket (with rather large squares). Finally thrown away on said grandchild’s 20th birthday two years ago.

There is something very releasing about deciding that you will never get round to finishing something, cutting it up into component parts and stowing it away as "patchwork pieces". There is a very strong chance that it will never be part of any patchwork either, but as almost virgin fabric it stops reminding you of failure and becomes a seed for future creativity.

Yes! All through my life!

Definitely! I once finished a dress well above my level of competence via blood sweat and tears.
I hated the darn thing and felt grumpy every time I wore it.
Admit defeat and dump the project .

Ridiculous isn't it that we should feel guilty about something as mundane as deciding not to complete a sewing project 😄

I have a separate conscience sitting beside me who occasionally helps me to feel guilty by reminding me of how much wool I never used after buying it/how long it is since I started my chair covers and haven't finished the first one yet/any other project unfinished 😄😄

I have a list of projects for when I retire - knitting, sewing, felting, mosaic, jewellery making, doll making, Christmas decorations - you name it and I have planned to do it

I am very good at buying fabric, wool, other project related items and never starting the project.

I think the idea of it is more appealing than the doing of it.

I really don’t think you should be feeling ashamed 💐

I went through a phase of upcycling old furniture, was rubbish at it. Now there is a collection of wobbly chairs and a half painted cupboard in the garage.

A frequent thing for me... now I don't even start them!

I started making a rag rug a couple of years ago - the sort my mother used to peg using cut up scraps of fabric. I’ve made them before but this was a big one. Too big as it turned out, as the design went haywire (too ambitious) and the working with the weight of it on my wrists finished me off. I still have it stuck in a cupboard and if I can’t bring myself to cut it down in size and start again it will probably never see the light of day again. My mother would be rolling her eyes and calling me a lightweight!

Oh all the time! I do try to save as much fabric as possible from any projects I can't complete so I have all sorts of weird shaped bits and bobs!