Spot shirt with collar tips

It's been two months since I last made something that wasn't edible. Last month I tried to give myself the old pep talk to start a new project. It went something like this 'OK Toni, enough of this wallowing around in a pool of uselessness, get off your butt and do something already!' So I picked up some fabric and started cutting a pattern. I thought a nice long sleeved shirt is just the ticket for layering this freezing Winter we're having. I've made shirts before so putting together the yoke (the top bit of the shirt connecting the front and back) was done in a flash.

Then I got to the long sleeves, this is my first attempt and after a frustrating attempt at the cuffs followed by a hurried mistake leading to the sleeves being sewed on backwards the unfinished shirt sat in a crumpled corner on my sewing table for the next four weeks. I was defeated.

This is what happens when you're heart's not into it. You come to a hurdle and instead of trying to leap you turn tail. I am not a constant creative. Inspiration comes in unexpected pulses and you need a great idea to set yourself in forward momentum. My abilities to sew improve exponentially when I'm 'in the zone' and have a clear idea of what I want to create.  My mind clears, my energy rallies and I acquire a zen-like calm and patience.

So finally, I cut off the old crooked, backwards facing sleeves and start anew. My new sleeves end up great. The collar was a bit of a let down with some difficulty in getting exact corners so to cover this downfall glue on some gold birds from old necklace and attach it's chain across the lapel. I've been loving cowboy inspired collar tips for awhile now and love that I could incorporate this into my shirt AND cover up my poor cornering skills in one blow. See...inspired!

Lacking a proper set of buttons I collected a pile of differing gold buttons and sewed them on. Why not! This is not for a mass market. This is just for me and I happen to like my buttons mismatched. And all this in a matter of 36 hours. I can't remember exactly what brought on this rush of creativity but now that I've got the ball rolling, I hope to start on some new projects soon.