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Why it doesn’t matter if your hobby doesn’t look as good as the picture

When hobbling I think it’s really easy to fall into the trap that what ever you are making will end as the same result as the picture.

I’m here to tell you, sometimes and most of the time, it won’t look exactly as the picture. 

There are a few reasons to this, such as: 

It could be your first time ever starting that hobby and for a beginner, it may not look like the picture because it is an advanced outcome. 

When we hand make something it’s hand made for a reason. And being hand made means it’s different outcome every time you make it. That’s the beauty of handmade. Each craft is made slightly different. 

So we shouldn’t expect perfection each time we make something, especially if we are just starting out in a new hobby or even in the first year of working on that hobby. Lower your expectations and enjoy the journey of working on your hobby and always learning and improving. 

I recently crocheted two pumpkins using the same pattern and they both turned out completely different size and look. For the smaller pumpkin, I realised while making the second larger pumpkin, that I missed about 9 rounds of stitches so that’s why it’s smaller. But I do like the smaller one, I think it does look more like a pumpkin. It also looks more like the actual picture. But I also think the large one does look like a pumpkin as well, just a different one. And if you think about it, when you see real pumpkins they come in all different sizes as well. Do I feel sad they didn’t turn out exactly the same as each other? No! I think they look cool next to each other. 

I also used to make miniature houses from DIY kits and I originally tried to make them look like the picture and then I realised no one sees the picture they just see my end result so if I wanted to put a decoration somewhere different to where the picture says to put it then that’s completely ok. 

Taking out the idea your end result has to look like the picture removes the perfectionism and the stress of perfectionism. Once perfectionism is removed you then can be even more creative and just enjoy the process and obviously like the outcome. 

Have I started projects and not finished them because they look nothing like the end result? Yes. But have I also kept going on some projects even though at the time it doesn’t look like the picture and then the end result it’s a good resemblance? Yes! It just goes to show, if you keep going even if you think it’s not going to end well, it might actually end alright! 

And all that time you put in and patience, made it happen! And the outcome you never expected! A great outcome! 

Also, sometimes, you have to learn the lesson. If you give up mid-way through the project because it simply doesn’t look like the picture, what are you learning? 

But if you keep going and keep trying, it may not look like the picture at the end but it may just be something special that makes you feel proud when you look at it. 

Sometimes you also learn the different materials to make your hobby look better as you go. For example, when I first started making miniature houses I didn’t realise you couldn’t use a glue gun for everything. I discovered for the big furniture like gluing the walls together to the floor, you need a glue gun. For all the other gluing sections you need the general paper glue. For the furniture you needed craft glue and for gluing fabric together you needed fabric glue. It can take time and research after your first try to think, how can I improve this to be even better next time. That’s how you grow and develop in your hobby. It’s ok to analyse what you can do to make it better next time and then you try again and you see if that works. 

And sometimes it’s not just the type of glues but also how you use the glues. Like I found if I used a glue for the flooring of a miniature home, it would bubble. It detracted from the entire look. So I started to use glue and then use a ruler or paint brush to smooth the glue out before I stuck the flooring down. This created a smooth finish. 

So don’t stress, your first or fifth try isn’t amazing. Just keep learning and growing and you will find one day it will look just as good, if not better than the picture. 

Keep going.

#hobbies #hobbyperfection #meltoye

Also if you are a beginner in crocheting, you may appreciate reading my ‘The journey of crocheting for beginners’ ebook by Melanie Toye. You can purchase here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1808619


To see all of my ebooks available for purchase click here: https://melanietoyeshobbies.blogspot.com/p/buy-my-ebooks.html

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