Dreaming vs Doing

I need a serious motivational kick in the pants. 

I traced a pattern weeks ago and it still sits there on my cutting table taunting me.  Have I made my routine pattern modifications?  Have a cut out a first version?  Have I done anything? No, no, and no.  Somebody shove me.

Instead I have been dreaming of things that I might be sewing.  I have been reading new sewing magazines and newsletters.  I have been looking at patterns.  I have been cutting and pasting.

These two things came in the mail this week, on the same day no less:

The March Patrones is devoted to sewing for children, not a big thing in my book, although there is one really cute outfit for baby boys that I am seriously considering for little Owen now that he is moving around more and beginning to assert his personhood.

Nancy Erickson’s Fashion Sewing Group newsletter was interesting and I really enjoyed reading it this week.  It really motivated me toward spring sewing, but obviously not quite enough, because I still haven’t cranked up that sewing machine.  It did make me think about what I want to sew though.

And that leads to my other sewing-related activity.  I have been updating my inspiration notebook collage pages with ideas for Spring sewing.  For a season that in some ways seems somewhat uninspiring, I have collected a lot of pictures of things that inspire me, either directly as things I would like to knock-off, or things that are pure inspiration, things that I would never make as photographed, but which give me ideas for garments I would like to wear.  I have made bunches of pages so far, and I have lots of pictures left.  This may be more indicative of my burgeoning interest in making things again than in the fact that the season is particularly interesting.

Here is a sample of some of the things that have caught my eye:(as usual, clicking on all photos will enlarge them)

When I was younger I would pick a look and seek out a pattern and fabric to reproduce it.  But I don’t do that as much anymore.  I learned that I react more to the fabric than the design.  At the same time, making these collages, and looking at them is more than just entertaining, it does color my judgment, and helps me to see new things in fabrics that I might otherwise have missed.

Which of these photos will be the inspiration for actual garments?  Only time will tell.  But I do have a few ideas.