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Tuesday 23 December 2014

Last-minute dot Christmas

I realised a long time ago that procrastination is all about perfectionism - because the circumstances tomorrow might be just the little bit more auspicious...

It took me a whole lot longer to recognise that this is A Bad Thing, and that a task not done for the best of reasons is still essentially a Task Not Done.

So now I try to keep my inner perfectionist on a very tight rein, and she really only gets to express herself here in my blog where I hardly ever write anything. She was certainly well suppressed back in November when I found myself with a tiny slice of time and an old cocktail dress which was crying out for an upcycle.




I muddled this skirt together in a twinkling, knowing that my four-year old can carry off the tulle-and-sequins look a whole lot better than me, and that she won't be troubled by grain line issues and dodgy top-stitching. I even felt a glow of satisfaction at having started my Christmas sewing while there were still leaves on the trees.

And then the very next week O+S released the Onstage Tutu Skirt, an actual pattern for exactly the thing I'd been trying to achieve. And it was free. And showed me clever solutions to all the glitches I'd encountered.

My inner procrastinator was delighted: the universe was clearly on her side. 
Consequently all the rest of my seasonal sewing has been done in last-minute flurry.




For son#2, an Art Museum vest modelled on Bilbo Baggins' waistcoat (with some linen PJ trousers to match, in case he wants to go for the full Hobbit look).
Oh - and the lining is gold silk from that cocktail dress.


For son #1, who has grown so much in the past year that he won't fit last year's PJs, new pair in soft houndstooth with fancy buttons (because real men dare to wear pink)




Next year, I'm going to remember some sensible words from my friend Rebecca:

'Christmas', she said, 'is a predictable event'.

She was encouraging me to crochet a reindeer jumper, which may or may not ever happen - but I'm going to hold on to the reminder that there will be another Christmas in 367 days, and another in 732, and another... and so on.

So there will always be another chance to do the thing perfectly.

And if it's not quite perfect this time, that will be ok.



A very happy Christmas from runcibledays.