What Happens
When You Lose Ambition

When Patternreview.com members initially talked about having a Wardrobe contest, it was ambitious. You had to have skirts, tops, (maybe even bras and undies, I can't remember) that coordinated with everything else, and you needed a coat/jacket/something special to cover your other stuff.

Even before I lifted a pressure foot or even snipped a piece of fabric, I got swept up into the challenge of it all. If I couldn't be a contestant on Project Runway this year or make an appearance on What Not To Wear, I thought, by golly, I could enter a competition that wouldn't just have me on tippy-toes, it'd have me reaching for Jupiter, Mars and the moon. I'd be stretching myself in so many ways that I never thought of that yoga would seem boring in comparison.

In fact, when I initially started working on my new set of matching clothes, I didn't even bother checking The Rules. I knew what I was doing. Everything had to go together. Blouses/shells/ sweaters had to be compatible with all skirts or pants. I only looked at the fine print last week. And I have to say, I was disappointed. I felt like not just the rug, but the carpeting and the wood floor, were pulled out from underneath me. It turns out you had to make more tops than bottoms, everything on the upper half had to go with at least two skirts or pants and you had to create one accessory (which could even be a pair of shoes???). And it all had to add up to 10.

That didn't seem terribly hard to me. Not in the least bit. In fact, you could make just about anything and throw in a topper of your choice, and that would be your entry. If I knew this from the get-go (my sewing gremin's fault because she based my decision on what was said in the forums, not the final rules), I would have saved all effort I expended to buy black and white fabric that Went Together. By golly, I probably could have gotten away with working with What's in My Stash. Oh well, that pile of textile needed some fertilizer, so what's better than more fiber?

Consequently, I don't feel any great desire to finish my Wardrobe of 10 anymore. The reward, a gift certificate from Textile Studios, looks enticing. But the competition, a hundred or so strong, is fierce. I'd have a better chance winning five burritos from Chipotle (and I've already been lucky three times after tossing my business card in the eatery's glass bowl). Mainly, the challenge of getting everything to work together like a mini-United Nations is just poof - Gone with the Hurricane Winds sweeping in down south. I was so looking forward making matchy-matchy apparel that Joan Collins would admire. Now it's who cares? Of course, my rainbow-hued polkadot silk blouse looks wonderful with my stripey black and white skirt. That's the style, isn't? All over the runway and then some.

Oh, I'll finish my knitted summer sweater. Maybe I'll work the Viking to complete my black batiste blouse by the 31st, then again, perhaps I'll just enjoy the rest of the month, just leisurely sewing like I usually do. There's always the Fall clothes to think about even though a line of sweat is threatening to do a Conga Line down my back. What do you do when you lose your sewing mojo?