Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! My bubbles.

 

Well, I didn't manage to finish my bag over the weekend as planned, but I don't really mind. The bubbles are taking a bit longer to sew than I expected, but I'm pretty sure they're going faster than if I had decided to sew satin stitched leaves all over the place. If I wasn't all neurotic about how it would change the tone of the bag I'd sew a little yellow fish into the corner looking all crazy-like at the bubbles. I don't think it fits with the feel of the bag, though. Also, copy-right infringement, but whatever. It's not like I'm selling it. In any case, it's a moot point because I'm not sewing the fish on anyway, so Pixar doesn't have to sue the pants off me.

I'm thinking of adding one bubble to the front of the bag to tie them together. Right now I like how they're both turning out, but they feel disconnected to me. Also, I've got a fair amount of open space left on the front of the bag next to the fish. This would add something without looking too busy.

I'm a big fan of how the bubbles are turning out so far. Doing them in outline stitch has created the kind of smooth fill that I was aiming for. With the fish I was all about texture. Fish are living things, and texture would give an illusion of life to an otherwise flat image. Bubbles are not alive, and they are very, very smooth. The outline stitch is giving them that illusion of smooth. Satin stitch probably would have worked better, but I would have had to make the bubbles much smaller. Oh, and it would have taken forever. Can't forget that.

The truth is, I'm already thinking about my next project, the shirt. It's a necessary project. I need to get more practice with my sewing machine, and I need to practice making things that aren't rectangles. I also need to start a new project so that I can move this blog into the incarnation I want it to be, i.e. a blog that shows how to do the projects I'm doing step by step instead of just cataloguing what I'm doing. I'm running into mental blocks for a few reasons.

1. This will be the first thing I sew using a pattern, and inevitably I will end up sewing something on backwards, upside down, to itself, inside out, etc. The possibilities are endless.
   
2. All of this fun embroidery stuff that looks so nice on bags? Will end up looking ridiculously tacky on actual clothing. I've been trying to percolate something in my brain that I can detail on to this shirt after I make it without making it look cheap and ugly.
   
3. OH MY GOD IT'S NOT A BAG, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS.
   

Now, most of this is residue from the anxiety disorder. Rationally I know that if I sew it all wrong then it isn't the end of the world and I can fix it or start over again. Also, I'm not going to know how to do something unless I try. Finally, there's an easy solution-ish to number 2. I'm going to have to start sketching. Oh, Lord.