The dresses have been sitting in a pile in my studio. The seam has been split on the blue dress for months. I always wear a shirt over it so it doesn’t really matter. But the last time I washed it the rip was about 10 inches long.
Then there’s the purple dress I shortened. I got it at NV, the Consignment shop in town, over a month ago, and only wore it a couple of times before trying to make it shorter. But I did it at the end of the day, and cut too much off. It was more of a shirt than a dress by the time I got done with it. I put it aside two weeks ago, not sure what to do about it.
Oddly, this morning, I had the urge to do some mending. Usually I like doing something creative on Monday mornings. I’m all rested up from the weekend. So I don’t know what came over me, but there I was stitching up the seam in my blue dress (which took about 30 seconds).
Then I had an idea for the purple dress. I took the piece I cut off the dress, cut off a few inches then sewed it back onto the bottom of the “too short” dress. Now it’s just the right length. It’s not perfect, it now has a ragged look. But it works for me and I’m glad to have my “new” dress back.
I’m pretty good at putting things that I don’t really want to do. But I’m going to try and remember how easy both these dresses were to fix. And how quickly I was able to do it.
That’s something I noticed as well, and also try to remember more. That many things I put off for weeks, that are a constant niggling at the edge of my mind, can actually be taken care off with an investment of 30 seconds to two minutes of my time. I have yet to figure out why I keep putting them on the “someday” pile instead of just taking care of it.
Just yesterday I finally cleaned out a water filter jug that had grown a bit of algae while I was visiting my family for a few days. I’ve been looking at it for a few days, longer than I actually had been away in the first place. And another thing that’s been low-level bothering me for months was a grimy looking filter on my range hood. I have the kind that’s metal that you can wash out. It took about three minutes, and putting it back after it had dried out. So easy. Yet I stared at that dusty grimy thing for months while cooking or walking by. Partly because I immediately forgot each time I had passed, but still. Just taking it out and washing it was so quickly done.
I’m glad you mended that new dress, it looks so happy and sunny.
And I’m glad you cleaned your water filter Judith. I sometimes think there must something psychological about my procrastinations. Like the good feeling I get once they’re actually done. Like a strange high or something.
This is so me. I leave my mending until there’s an enormous pile of it, and when I finally force myself to face it, it literally takes a half hour to do it all. Why do we let it pile up? I’d rather make clothes from scratch than fix dangling hems or replace buttons. Love that dress you fixed – glad you found a way to save it from being both too long and too short (and only someone who hoards every scrap of usable fabric would still have that piece you cut off). Speaking from experience here.
I knew you’d understand Karen. It’s like the shoemakers kids having no shoes. So much easier to get to work and do the fun stuff.