Thwarted efficiency

There are some advantages to a family member who sells patchwork fabric.

I know that for some it is hard to envisage disadvantages in this situation but imagine fabric stash multiplied many times over (the phrase "fabric everywhere" in a literal sense!) and then there's also the temptation...sigh...

Anyway, I came home from a recent visit to my parents armed with a selection of new fabrics to add to my growing collection of fat quarters...

...some new designs and some pieces with minor flaws that I can cut around but couldn't be sold (these donations are a definite advantage of the situation). 

Then I went through all my fabric and realised just how much I have...

...so after a small promise, to myself (and my other half!) that I would use some of the hoard to actually make some bears, I set to work.

I wanted to experiment with a more efficient system of working. I thought about the time it takes to work progressively through the stages of bear making. I thought about the time wasted getting equipment out and putting it away multiple times.

So I decided to try to work conveyor belt style.

I chose a few fabrics, got the ironing board out and ironed them, then started pinning the pattern pieces in place. Then I cut the pieces out, removed the pins and started on another piece of fabric. I repeated this until I had the pieces cut for nine bears. 

By this time, I was thoroughly sick of standing at the ironing board and my fingers hurt from pushing pins through card and fabric. Plus it took AGES! I always forget how long this stage takes!

So I moved on and started getting the pieces ready to sew. I matched and pinned the pieces ready for the first round of sewing. It was a lot of pieces. So many that I ran out of pins.

Time to get the sewing machine out. Hooray! And to my astonishment, I was finished in an hour and a half! Having done all the preparation work, all I had to do was sit and sew. It was amazing!

Then it was time for the second round of pinning and sewing - completed in another hour. I began to think that perhaps this conveyor belt thing had its merits after all.

And then I hit a snag. 

I wonder if you can guess? If you've read my bear posts before then you might be able to....

... let me give you a clue. What are my least favourite parts to work on? 

You've got it - foot-pads! 

I had left myself with eighteen foot pads to sew.

By hand.

Plus the noses (although the rest of the head can be done on the machine, I always sew the nose part of the head gusset into place by hand for better shaping). Nine noses.

So I turned and stuffed the completed bodies and arms instead.

And then the excuses started. 

"Well I don't have enough buttons to make nine bears anyway"

So I ordered some buttons and waited for them to arrive.

And finally I realised I didn't really have an excuse any more. So I gritted my teeth and, grumbling and complaining, I forced myself to get on with making just one of the bears. I sewed the nose (which I grudgingly have to admit took about 15 minutes!) and then used the machine for the rest of the head. 

Then I pinned the first foot pad and started to sew.  About half an hour later, I moved onto the second leg. And then that too was completed. 

I had been procrastinating for two weeks over a job that took me less than an hour and a half to complete! 

And would have been much quicker if I hadn't been fighting myself the whole way!

Sometimes I am my own worst enemy!

Anyway, I could now get on with the fun part: turning, stuffing, closing seams, jointing and adding eyes, nose and ears. 

The bits that create and cement character. 

The tasks that bring the bear to life.

And here he is...

Am I pleased? With the bear - a definite yes.

With myself? Sigh - one day I will learn that the things I put off are generally not that epic. That I allow them to appear bigger than they really are so that I can pretend that I don't have time. That I always feel far better when I get on with something than when I leave tasks hanging over me. 

So much for efficiency! I have completed one bear in three weeks. Oh well.

Who's next?

 

I would have said that I don't have enough eyes for another bear but my wonderful mum has taken that excuse away by finding some amazing vintage boot buttons at a French craft show this weekend (you can see the photo on her blog) so all I have to do is wait for them to arrive! So exciting!

I think I'll go with this bear next: the head is already done.

What part of projects do you procrastinate over the most? Have you ever been surprised by the time a long-put-off-project actually took to complete?