Crafting Imperfection

A year ago or so, I crocheted a purse.

Well, I crocheted two purses. One I finished and gave to a friend. I actually really liked how it came out.

The other I never assembled and the finished pieces were just sitting for months next to the phone then on the dining room table then, most recently, on the window seat in the dining room.

I really like the yarn. It’s this Caron bamboo blend and it’s soft and lustrous. I love the colors it comes in, too. It’s a bit of a pain to work with because the strands of the yarn come apart so easily, but I really like how it looks, so I dealt with it. (If you’d like to try your hand at making the same purse, the pattern is free on the NaturallyCaron website. It’s called the Chakra Purse.)

Night before last, I finally assembled the purse. I stayed up late and caught up on this season’s episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. Every time I watch that show, I think how stupid it is and how predictable the characters are and how recycled the plot lines are. Then I’ll take a few months off, vowing never to watch it again. Until the next time I’m doing something with my hands and want to watch something at the same time. I would like to say that when this happens, I turn on PBS and watch Frontline or Bill Moyers. But alas. Grey’s Anatomy it is.

At any rate, I made a lining for the purse to give it some more structure, and I assembled the pieces a little differently than the pattern called for. When it was done, I was not pleased. The little heart motif on the front looked silly and childish. The stitching didn’t look as impressive as it did before I assembled it. And the pieces refused to line up properly, so the shoulder strap is attached a little cockeyed. I couldn’t bring myself to attach the snap closure.

I went to bed planning to drop the thing at the thrift store the next morning. When I looked at it again this morning after actively working to relax my perfectionist impulses, it didn’t look so bad. I did some hand-sewing along the sides to even out the way it hangs a little, and I added the magnetic snaps. It will be all finished once I get a large decorative button to cover the back of the snap.

Still, I’m not sure what to do with it. It doesn’t look bad, but it also doesn’t look nice enough (to me) to give it as a gift, and it’s a little too small for me to use even as my “Look! No kids!” purse.

Ideas?

I think this might be why I have so much trouble finishing projects. I know they’ll never turn out like I imagine they will.