When I make something, I like to imagine the finished product. Spend time thinking about how it will look and dream up creative solutions for making it. I imagine myself using it, I imagine how it will feel in my hands and what it will look like. I imagine myself, dreamily sitting on the couch with a cup of tea, peacefully making while the girls play happily (the reality doesn't always match the dream of course!).

But.  (There's always a but isn't there?) As I'm beginning to realise, there's only so much imagining and planing you can do. There comes a point where you just have to dive right in. I'm sure I've blogged about this before - clearly this is a lesson I keep coming back to!

This beautiful eoc-dyed wool is slowly turning into a vest, with a little help from my friends. Thanks Kate for helping make the pattern and prove the seams. A crafty friend is worth her weight in gold I tell you!

It took me ages to get the pattern just right. Then ages more just sitting looking at the wool, figuring out where to cut it to get the best effect. It was scary, putting scissors to fabric I had hand dyed. My efforts to create beautiful patterns made it so precious. Very different to buying fabric from the shop and cutting it up willy nilly.

Now I'm on the home straight - deciding what colour embroidery thread to use for my hand stitching and whether or not to make it reversible.

I'm gonna keep on going slowly. A stitch here and there, sit back and take it in and then maybe do some more. This is the part I love the most, the mindful sewing together of pieces to make a whole.

What's your favourite part of the making process?