“‘I’m just not crafty.”

“I’m not creative.”

“I don’t have that kind of talent.”

“That’s too artsy fartsy.”

I have heard the above statements many times over the years, and honestly, I’ve said it before. I understand arts and crafts are not for everyone but, I think most of these statements come from  fear of failure.

It takes practice,  patience and time to learn any new skill right? We don’t all take our first step and then go straight to running marathons do we? No, we stumble, we fall and eventually we walk.

I have a 99% success rate with walking, the other 1% I’m caught off guard by things like walls and curbs. I keep trying.

At my Pinterest Party a while back, no one had ever tried quilling before. Nobody left that party a quilling expert but we had fun.

Don’t just pin it, do it

That’s the In the spirit of Oh So Pinteresting and in that spirit, I’d like to introduce you to Leslie.

Leslie loves to sew. She loves it so much, that she writes for the blog of the American Sewing Guild’s chapter in Salt Lake City, Utah. She sews all sorts of things but her favorite is children’s clothing.

She sometimes finds inspiration for projects on Pinterest like this:

Lesile just so happened to be in the process of decorating her 11 year-old daughter’s room when she came across this pin. Having a bed that looks like a sheet of notebook paper that can be doodled on is way cool! Simply throw it in the wash and it’s good as new.

Clicking this pin, takes you to a site that sells the full size duvet and 8 washable markers for $116.71 plus international shipping. Ouch! She knew she could make it for much less that that.
Leslie has been teaching herself to sew for years and this looked like a simple project. So she gathered the supplies and got to work. Click here for here for her full tutorial.

• 2 Full size Flat sheets
• Fabric Paint; red, blue & grey
• Paint brushes
• Duct tape
• Sewing machine & supplies
• Buttons
• Washable markers

This is when things started to head south. What she thought was going to be quick and easy project turned out to be anything but.

Painting the lines took over 4 hours, not including drying time between sections. It was hard to work on such a large area on the floor. Painting straight lines while stooping over for hours gave Leslie a stiff neck and a sore back.

After all of the painting was done, she still needed to sew it together. She said it took her about 8 hours over 2 days to complete the duvet. Not the quick and easy project she had in mind.

Was it worth it?

After the paint had dried and it was all sewn together, this is the final result:

Leslie said it’ not perfect, the lines aren’t exactly straight but, her daughter loves it and that’s what matters.  Creativity and art are not about perfection.

Her daughter’s friends like it too. They came over to help her “decorate”

Leslie said her daughter has doodled her heart out and has asked for her duvet to be washed several times.

Despite the time, stress and pain Leslie was able to crate a fun duvet made especially for for her daughter. She has lots of experience with sewing but she pushed beyond her comfort zone and tried something new with fabric painting. It looks like all of her hard work and stiff muscles paid off.

Be Challenged

Even those who are “crafty” or “artistic” find themselves challenged by “easy” projects.  If you haven’t tried one of your Pinterest projects because you’re nervous about how it will turn out, give it a try.  Relax,  have fun with it, maybe invite some friends to try too. You might surprise yourself with what you can do.

What project have you pinned that you’re nervous about trying?