It’s 2024 and you all know what that means! Many of us are thinking about and choosing our New Year’s resolutions, but how many of you find that your resolution fails only 3 or 6 months into the new year? I know I’ve fallen victim to being over ambitious, or having my priorities change without notice. But that’s life, isn’t it? Things are always changing and it’s important to make your goals achievable even in the wake of change. 

We want to see you succeed! So, we’ve put together some surefire steps to help you along your sewing journey and how to put your best foot forward when picking and achieving your sewing New Years Resolutions!

1. Choose a goal that excites or motivates you

This may seem like an obvious first step, but it is obviously the core part of a resolution and it will affect all the other steps on this list. It’s great to have aspirations, but it’s more important to choose a resolution that genuinely excites you! That energy will help carry you through 2024 and make your goals all the more achievable. Make sure to write it down, too!

For the sake of this article, we are going to say our resolution is: I want to challenge myself more with my sewing projects.

2. Write down 3 reasons why you made this resolution

When making a resolution it’s important to ask yourself why you chose it in the first place. A great tip for not only narrowing down what you want your resolution to be, but also to help you maintain that resolution is to write down 3 reasons why you want to achieve it! It’s best to choose reasons that are totally self-propelled and are not reliant on other people’s opinions or influence in order to succeed. 

Ask yourself why you want to do this.

These are all great ways to self-motivate so when you’re feeling down or lost on what to do next you can ask yourself: “what can I do to challenge myself?” or “I will check out all the home-sewn garments I already have in my closet to see my progress!”

While these are fantastic goals to strive for, it’s important to keep your core values self-propelled so you can self-motivate throughout the year! We tend to become discouraged when we don’t reach our goals and being dependent on other people’s opinions or attention can hamper our ability to stay motivated.

3. Check in with yourself every month

Maybe you want to choose a specific day of the month, or your just want to wing it, either way check in with yourself once a month by asking yourself if you’re feeling motivated to achieve your resolution. If you find you’re not feeling motivated anymore, revisit your “three reasons why” and remind yourself that this is what got you excited to work on your resolution in the first place.

4. Make monthly goals 

This can be part of your “check in” every month, or you can preplan for the year! Choosing small, achievable goals that align with your resolution will keep things fresh and fun. Not only will this help keep you motivated, it’s important not to under estimate the power of checking something off your list and how much that can empower us! 

All of these goals are achievable steps that contribute to succeeding with your resolution. Breaking down what can count toward your resolution helps make it feel manageable so when you’re 6 months into 2024 you won’t feel like throwing in the towel!  

5. Give yourself a break!

This can also be part of your monthly check in, but you of course can give yourself a break at any time of the year. We can’t see into the future and maybe your life circumstances will change in June, making it harder to achieve your sewing goals! This is a great opportunity to check in and see if the expectations you are presenting to yourself are too lofty. 

While it is important to challenge ourselves, sometimes throwing yourself into the deep end can result in being discouraged instead of motivated! If you find yourself avoiding your projects or dreading picking them back up, ask yourself why and if taking a step back or away from your resolution will help in the long run.

This can also be a great time to give yourself smaller, more achievable goals like attending a craft market, or attending a sew-cial event! Remember, being rigid in your expectations often has the opposite effect we’re looking for and can zap our motivation to work on anything.

6. Create repeatable and easy habits

This step can adjust as the year goes on, but it’s a great idea to choose a habit to build up so working on your resolution becomes second nature. This could mean moving your sewing machine into plain view when you walk into your home so you’re reminded to work on your sewing, or it could mean setting a goal of sewing for at least 10 minutes every day. Whatever habit you want build up, it’s great to choose a few that feel like they can be done even when you’re having a bad day. What feels easy is a different answer for everyone, and there is no shame in choosing small habits that energise you!

7. Share your achievements! 

No matter how big or how small your achievements are, be sure to share them with someone! It’s best to choose a friend or partner that is great at celebrating you and what you’ve created. Social media can be a great stop gap for this, but may result in feeling disappointed if we don’t get the attention we were hoping for on a really difficult project. If you want to use social media as the primary place to share your project make sure to join a community you have fun engaging with too! If you never comment or pump up other people’s projects or fabric purchases you’re unlikely to see engagement in return!

It can also be helpful to take a picture of any completed project to save for later, even if you don’t plan on sharing them. Believe me, when you look back at your work from February in November you’ll be surprised to see how much you’ve improved! 

As simple as it might seem, this step is probably the most important one and will help motivate you every time you share. Remember, sewing is meant to be fun! Whether you sew professionally or as a hobby, always start into each project with the confidence that it is achievable no matter how long or how many steps it will take. 

We’d love to hear what some of your resolutions are this year and how sewing ties into them! Enjoy 2024 and we hope you have fun creating something new this year.