Just do it

I've always been a huge procrastinator. A friend of mine in eighth grade once described that she was a procrastinator because she always left assignments for the night before they were due, but I was more because I was still working on things in the class prior to the one in which they were to be handed in. I procrastinate chores, exercise, work, leaving to go places, going to sleep, and even playing video games I wish to finish.

In my mind I have all of these things that I want to learn, do, or be good at, but most of them are a non-specific "sometime in the future". I hardly ever actually do anything to achieve any of these vague goals- at least nothing at all consistent.

Today, however, I started a yoga class at the community centre. This is somewhat in attempt to achieve some sort of personal fitness, although I am also hoping it will help me to combat my sewing machine shoulder pain and tension headaches, and my tendency to stress out easily for no reason. I've also realized that I am not very flexible. For that reason, I think it'll be extra beneficial for me to take this class, as I have a lot of anxiety about doing things I'm not good at, where I'll often quit instead of working to improve. (Gifted child problems. I wasn't challenged enough growing up and now I feel very uncomfortable when something does challenge me.) I need to force myself to be okay with doing things I'm not good at so that I can be more comfortable in my own skin.

In my head, since I went to school for four years for a degree that I arguably don't need for anything, I  think that I don't need to go to any sort of class. With the internet and books and YouTube tutorials, almost all learning can be done independently for free (or at least pretty cheap) and formal education is pointless. It just takes the investment of time and effort. Then I realized: the reason we need to enroll in classes and programs is motivation. If you've already spent the time and the money and it's all for naught if you don't finish your report for this day, or you don't read the book to study for your test next week, or you don't attend the class between x and y, then you're going to feel compelled to do actually do it.

So I called, I signed up, I paid, and now I'll be doing yoga every Wednesday for the next 9 weeks. It may not seem like too much, but that's a lot more yoga than I would do if I didn't decide to take the class. (I would probably do it approximately once on WiiFit, which is a vastly different experience.)

Then after that I will sign up for a different class and learn something else new.

Reworking

Today, for the holiday I had a bit of a drafting day. For Anime North, at the end of May, I am signed up as a crafter, and so I need to make things to sell. I've just started on my way to make that possible, although I haven't actually made anything yet.

To start, I decided to make other versions of things that have worked out for me in the past. I've had a couple cool ideas that I think people would be interested in, so I'm modifying them to be a little more practical and widely appealing. First is my Pokéball dress. I thought for a while it would be cool and cheeky to make and sell Pokéball bras. Since I made my dress, I took a bra-making course, so there are some improvements I could make to the bodice now. I also know how to make a bra properly, but bra sizing without actually knowing which sizes is a bit tricky, particularly since I'm picky about fit-- especially for bras. It was already difficult to fit the dress that I made because it is entirely made of non-stretchy twill fabric. Throughout a month (in a womanly kind of way) it'll vary from being too big to too small because the fabric just doesn't have any give.

What I resolved to do is make a knit tank top with a bustier kind of construction, with a cut and sew cup and no wires or padding. This way the fit is more forgiving, in cup-ratio and all-around fit. It will also be more appropriately wearable in the world than a bra (I don't really want to be encouraging teen girls to wear any less clothing.) while allowing more flexibility of styling than a dress.

I started working on the cups for that, by modifying the bra pattern that I made for school. I made a mock-up of the cup pattern in lingerie foam and then drew lines on it in chalk where I wanted the new seams to be. I then re-cut the lines and traced out the shape of each piece on bristol board, also modifying the shape for styling (essentially making the cups more circular like a pokéball!).  I then added the seam allowances and cut it out of black white and red knits. When I serged the pieces together, it worked out alright, just the corners on the outside of the black circle are hard to get at, so I will most likely have to straight-stitch that part. Once I have a working pattern and prototype I will work on grading it to different sizes.

The other item I've been working on is a version of the Hylian Shield backpack that I made for a Link costume several years ago. In Ocarina of Time, somehow Link carries around everything in the "Select Item Sub-Screen", and when he puts things away he seems to place them over his shoulder, behind his back; so wouldn't it make sense if his shield was a knapsack? The original that I made was a little floppy, and is constructed so I can carry a papier maché sheath on the same belt the knapsack is strung onto. I'm thinking I'll make one with actual knapsack straps and it will be more functional. I re-drafted and cut out the pattern for it so it'll be easy to make down the road.

Along the same vein, I'm thinking of making some other shield designs in a similar way as well as a Kokiri shield purse.

Saturday morning, I aim to go fabric shopping. I've only been able to do certain parts depending on what I've had materials on hand for, since I haven't gotten the chance to get to the fabric stores. (They close before I would get to Queen and Spadina after work.) Now that I've done some of this plotting and drafting, I have some of the measurements and specifics I need to get the next load of materials. Now I just have to make sure my list is complete.