This afternoon I sewed the third tier onto the denim skirt and hemmed it. My daughter tried it on to see if it will be long enough and it will be if I attach a waistband to it rather then turning the top edge over to make a waistband like I had planned.

When I have to adjust plans I start to burn out on the project. The enthusiasm I had wans as I realize I need to perhaps spend more time on the project that originally thought or that I need to redo parts of it.

I don’t often follow patterns when I make things so adjusting plans happens frequently. Perhaps that is part of my sewing closet clutter problem.

In the case of the jean skirt, I realized today that I will need another piece of material to make the waistband. Instead of stopping right then because I was frustrated, I instead took a few minutes to look in the tote bag that has my denim fabric to see if I could find a piece that matches the color of the skirt. I found another pair of jeans in there that no longer fits me that is close enough in color to work for the waistband.

Now the skirt and the jeans are together on my sewing table so I can cut the waistband and sew it on the next time I sew – hopefully tomorrow afternoon!

Because I took time right away to locate the fabric I will need to continue on with completing the skirt, I hope I helped myself keep up the motivation to get all the way to the end of the project soon.

When choosing which projects to work on as I declutter my sewing closet I started with the pile to the right of my sewing machine. The dress I mended for my daughter last weekend was on top; under it was the bag of supplies for the three book covers I made this week and the partially sewn denim skirt.

Now that two of those projects are out of the closet and the skirt is nearly finished, I looked at the pile to see what was next. There were two pair of pants of my boys that needed a very small amount of mending. I decided to mend those right away this afternoon before my youngest woke up from his nap.

Success! Two more items off my sewing table and back where they will be used again!

Now all that is left in the pile is a pair of hand-me-down jeans for my youngest that have a stretched out elastic waistband. I like the color and style of the jeans so I am debating whether it is worth the time to take the waistband off and put new elastic in. I think they would still fit him in the fall so I will keep them for another day or two to decide what I want to do with them.

Under the pants is a long-arm quilting design book that I need to return to it’s owner when I quilt next week. By next weekend – or sooner – that pile will be completely gone! It is a small space to have cleared, but it is the first spot I see when I open the closet and look at my sewing table. It is also useful to have space clear while I am sewing so I can set my pincushion and seam ripper or small scissors there without worrying about them falling off the top of the project pile.

On the left-hand side of my sewing table is the pile that contains the queen sized quilt I am making for my sister and her husband (a now late wedding present). More updates about that project to come very soon, I hope!