Quote of the Day: How Lucille Ball's Sage Advice Saved the Day at Tea Time!

Do you ever feel a little stuck when working on a project? It reminds me of trying to get a car up a slippery hill in winter (something I've gained major experience points in, this year!) You have an abstract sense of what you want the final result to be, and you can clearly see where you are right now, but the path to the final result feels like it is working against you. You make a little progress, and erase it. Make a little progress and throw out your sketch, start over, toss a crumpled paper across the room in the general direction of the garbage bin. 

Yesterday I was stuck on a group of designs I thought I had firmly in my brain. I'd set a goal for the day and was staring at it – scrawled sloppily on a scrap of paper and tacked crookedly to the wall in front of my face. 

I kept sketching the same darned thing, over and over. Yes, brain, I've already got the pattern for that one drafted and nearly finished. No, brain, it doesn't count if you just put a different sleeve length on it. Go home, brain, you're tired. Wait, we are home. Drat.

I decided to take a break to grab a cup of tea (Herbal "Sweet and Spicy") and a graham cracker and it wasn't until I sat down that I noticed the quote on my tea bag.

"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done" – Lucille Ball

How perfect was that? In my moment of feeling droll, ordinary and unoriginal, there was Ms Ball, telling me to just let go and try some new things. I grabbed my pencil and began sketching out some designs based on drapier fabric, thinking about cowls and capelets and how they lay across the shoulders. I'd been focusing on designs using fabric that is easier for the average sewer, when all along my brain was trying to get me to say "Damn the average sewer! I want to challenge the average sewer and to make something truly elegant!" 

This quote was the four-wheel drive to my slippery slope, and I quickly met my goal and started drafting the pattern for this dress: 

I'm daydreaming of drapey rayon crepes and a gorgeous forties broach at the collar. I've also got some sketches of possible panel insertion and trimming for this one. We'll see! 

Have you ever found that perfect alignment of words that helps you forge ahead on a difficult task?

Thanks, Lucy!

xoxo Emily