Virginia's Sew Blessed Daughter: SMART Sewing Goals Update

I'll be glad when I can say, "It's a Gooooooooooooooal"! My
husband is an avid soccer......watcher. He used to play but has recently become somewhat "retired" as the ole' body just doesn't bounce back from injury like it used to.  He'll kick the ball around a little but no serious playing.

Anyone who has ever seen a pro soccer game knows how excitedly the announcer emphasizes the word goal whenever one is made! Well, I'm getting there! The SMART sewing goals that I've set for myself are quite effective. So far I have completed Vogue 8615, Simplicity 2403, Simplicity 2443 (Cynthia Rowley Dress and Jacket) and Simplicity 4787 (an OOP skirt pattern that I cut out eons ago)! I'll post pics sometime in the near future.

Overall things are going good. I must admit, however, that sometimes it's hard to find even 15 minutes to sew. For the past several weeks I've been working quite a bit (late evenings at work) trying to help prepare our students for the State Standardized Tests that are being administered this week. Consequently, I have sewn very little this past week and not AT ALL this past weekend. Highly unusual.  Weekends are my 'saving grace'. When I don't get to sew or have sewn very little during the week I make up for it on the weekend.  Note to self:  Need to learn to strike a balance between weekend sewing and everything else because if not careful, will be in my sewing room ALL weekend and nothing else will get done!

Admittedly my goals have taken a hit but because I have established them, and am ever mindful of them, I stay on (some sort of) track in order to accomplish them.   I feel as though I still have a sewing plan even though I did not get to sew as often as I wanted to this past week. I know exactly what I will work on next (Simplicity 2473) AND have given it a time frame for completion (Sunday). Something I NEVER did before. The goals have changed the way I think about projects and seeing them through to completion.  I'm beginning to think that unfinished projects are born in the abscence of sewing goals!  What a sense of accomplishment with each completed project! Not to mention my sewing room is clearing out and my closet is filling up!

The Cynthia Rowley jacket calls for ribbon to make the ties on the jacket. I didn't have any ribbon - that I liked well enough to put on this jacket - so I decided to make my own. I realized that I would have to make them double sided since the wrong side of the fabric would show. Here's what I did:

Cut two ties the desired length using 1" strips of fabric