Tilly's Sewing Productivity Project

So, you may or may not have seen Tilly’s Sewing Productivity Project. It’s pretty ingenious. If my interpretation of it is correct, it has been set up to encourage us to evaluate how we spend our free time, and to see if we can fit in more of the main thing we love doing: making shiz! Tilly has recognised and acknowledged that most creative people often put their favourite activities at the bottom of their list of things to do, when really something that can provide such satisfaction/stress-release/outlet for creativity/therapy/etc. really does deserve to have more time spent on. After all, the positive effects will no doubt spill into all the other areas of our lives, right? I know that after even half an hour pushing forward with a sewing project makes me feel happier, contented and more productive generally, and therefore probably a more positive person, at least in the immediate short term. If days go by and whatever reason I’ve been unable to spend time sewing (on MY stuff, not the sewing I do at work), I find myself feeling antsy and frustrated, and certainly unfulfilled.

So, I’ve been analysing very unscientifically my current sewing schedule. I don’t have the motivation or technical ability to make any amazing graphs like Karen has! Anyways, I would say that I usually sew for approx. 40mins of every lunchtime (Mon-Fri inclusive). I am lucky that I have access to sewing machinery and table space at work, so even though it would probably be healthier to spend my lunch break going for a walk around the nearby park, I much prefer to work on a personal sewing project. I walk to and from work which takes 35mins each way, so I kind of feel that’s taken care of anyway. I don’t sew every evening, but usually grab maybe 40mins a couple of times a week. I rarely sew at the weekends as I tend to visit friends and spend time with my boyfriend, and more recently going for a jog instead as this is stuff that I can’t do much of during the week so I try to pack loads into my weekends (funds permitting). Result: approx. 4 hours 40 mins a week spent sewing my own projects.

There are my observations, what are my aims then? What would I like to change? I’m pleased with how my personal sewing is going, but I’d love to get more done and make a dent in my stash. That’s a subject I want to address in another separate post in the near future. Also, I always seem to have a backlog of projects I want to do and I’d love to tick many of these off so I’m freer to develop new ideas. For example, I’m actively avoiding looking at the Modcloth, Orla Kiely or Anthropologie sites at the moment in case they throw up more inspiration for plans and schemes. AS WELL AS THAT though, I want be able to accommodate those very spontaneous projects when the right fabric and pattern suddenly come together and cry out to be made even though there are already four projects half-finished calling out for my attention! I’ve had a couple of those recently which I’ll blog about soon.

In fact I think the paragraph above has been pretty telling as I wrote it: what I really should do is spend more time blogging and expressing myself that way. I have a backlog of completed sewing projects to blog about along with lots more areas I want to explore write about. I usually find the process of writing for my blog an awesome way to clarify my thoughts on a subject, in a way that I would probably never bother to try to do if I didn’t have a blog. It’s a surprise to me how important writing has become to me, and I really don’t think that is currently reflected in how often I’m blogging at present.

So how am I going to find more time and energy for sewing and writing? My midweek evenings need to be utilised better. Less messing around on the internet, though what I get up to which makes the hours whizz by as they do, I couldn’t say right now! And less of this:


Frikkin’ Governor of Poker 2!