Going back to the machine

The one thing I feel no one ever talks about enough is what it’s really like to struggle with creative blocks.

In my case, a break from the sewing machine was completely unintentional, and instead was a side effect of a lovely holiday and then some time off from everything due to illness. Before I knew it, almost three weeks had passed before I’d managed to create anything. Despite the beautiful views that I’d witnessed on my time in South Devon, and the busyness of my mind when I was confined to my sofa, when it came to putting thread to fabric, my mind seemed to draw a blank. Creative ebs and flows are of course a completely normal part of the artist journey, but it’s been a goal of mind in the recent months to plan less and instead just crack on with creating, and see what appears, especially due to my realisation about how much I adored creating originals. But sometimes, even with a completely empty evening and endless scraps of fabric, my brain that is so often filled with ideas instead resembles one of those western scenes where a single tumbleweed whistles across an empty path.

Of course, it is easy when feeling like this to fall into old procrastination habits. Suddenly the idea of reorganising your whole fabric stash or learning how to service your own sewing machines seems so much more inviting than actually having to get stitching. However, some activities like this can be useful in reigniting the creativity flame. For example, whilst organising your fabric, you may find a perfect pairing that may be perfect for your next project, or that forgot of piece of trimming that is screaming to be stitched.

In my case, it was reorganising a smattering of books that litter my sewing area that I came across my old Colins dictionary, and with it, a little challenge for myself. To flick through to a random page, and whatever word lay at the top, create a collage based around that. One ‘maraschino cherry’ definition later and all of a sudden my brain was awash with all sorts of textures and designs. For those of you who are interested, I documented the process in a little TikTok video.

What was born from my creative drought is actually on of my favourite collages to date, that I received so much positive feedback on. Using the visual of cherries as my motif, I carefully stitched a collage based around a cherry spritz, which also incorporated several elements that I have previously been too nervous to try – writing in stitching and stitching a cocktail. Writing with my needle as my pen was surprisingly okay once I took any pressure away and just gave it a go – slow and steady wins the race with this one, and on felt you won’t have to worry about any tension issues. For the cocktail, this was an idea that had been bubbling in my head for a while. I am a keen cocktail lover myself, and so have been keen for a while to see how I could translate this onto fabric. After a few quick sketches and a ‘just give it a go’ attitude, the end result is one I am so happy with, and now feel ready to push the boat out and try more cocktail-themes designs.

My creative revelation also resulted in some lovely work that I felt confident enough to share with the community, and it was through this that I really felt able to reconnect with like-minded artists. The interactions I experienced from posting this piece were a county mile above any I have had for any of my other work, and with this being my favourite piece too, the stars really seemed to align with me finding a style that I really liked.

So, if you are struggling with a creative dry spell, please try not to despair! Try to ease back into things gradually, and don’t put pressure on yourself to create when it really doesn’t feel right.

When the time comes, who knows what masterpiece will be born, that could change the whole trajectory of your art journey.