Meet Sheryl Belson

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sheryl Belson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sheryl below.

Hi Sheryl, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

I think creativity blocks come in various shapes and sizes. Sometimes it looks like losing my passion to create. But sometimes it looks like being “stuck” on how to solve a problem or design something out of the ordinary. And there are probably more, but these are my most common sources of blockage.

Lost Passion
Those of us in the sewing arena who find ourselves losing the passion for the craft often refer to it as losing our sewjo. It feels a bit scary when I find myself in that place since sewing has become such a defining part of my life. I realize it is OK to lose passion in one area to make room for a new passion in another area, but somehow it feels like I am going to lose a part of myself, an important element that defines me so I usually quite motivated to find a way to reclaim that passion.

If my lost sewjo comes on the heels of finishing a challenging project, I know I need an easy project to “cleanse my palate” and remind me of the joy I get from simply creating. That kind of lost sewjo is an easy one to recover from.

It is a bit different when I just seem to have lost the motivation or interest in sewing in general, I sometimes have to give myself permission to take a break. I found myself there during Covid. It was frustrating to see so many people engaged in sewing and other artistic endeavors to fill their time during lockdown while I found myself paralysed with lack of motivation. It was quite disconcerting! I finally decided I needed to relax and take some time and space. If ultimately I came to determine my sewing days were over, I would just find some other way to create. By letting go and taking that space, I was able to stop fretting and feeling guilty and ultimately, return to the joy of sewing after a break of several months.

Being Stuck
It is quite different when I am blocked because I feel stuck. That often manifests itself in frustration instead of fear. I feel pretty confident that a solution or new idea will eventually emerge. It just might take multiple attempts to find the right one. So when I feel stuck I have a few places to turn to help me get past it.

My usual first stop is discussing the challenge with my sewing friends in American Sewing Guild. I can’t count the number of times I have taken a problem piece to one of our group meetings and asked for input and gone home with several ideas to try to resolve what I am struggling with.

My other stop is often within other maker disciplines. I regularly expose myself to classes (usually a week at the John C Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC) on other forms of making like marbling, weaving, crochet, basketry, felting, etc. The ideas and approaches I find in other disciplines has such an impact on the ideas and approaches I have added into my sewing endeavors! So when I am stuck deciding how to approach a design or construction challenge in sewing, looking at my experience in these other disciplines has so often provided a way to proceed.

I know everyone responds to creative blocks differently, but this is my approach. If you haven’t found your own way, I offer them as suggestions and wish all my fellow creators the very best creating!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My primary creative association is with American Sewing Guild (ASG). I became an active member of ASG in 2012 when I discovered the organization through their annual conference in Houston, TX.  Since then I have served the Plano, TX chapter as Special Events Vice President, then President.  My next ASG role was as a member of the Board of Directors at the National ASG level. 

After my husband and I moved to GA in 2021, I connected with the Atlanta ASG chapter.  I first served as Publicity
Chair in 2022 and then became President in 2023 – present. 

I most love making garments, seeing the flat 2-D fabric transformed into a 3-D shape and exploring new
ways to embellish them, but sewing in all forms is what excites my creative spark.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The most important thing I have learned in my sewing and creative journey is to let go of perfectionism. Most “imperfections” in our creative work are never even noticed by most people! We create in the “up close” but those who see our finished creations see them in the “stand back total”. Of course, we do our very best, but embracing imperfection is part of accepting the hand crafted vs. machine made aspect of the creations.

I have also learned the “failure” is the mother of invention. So many times that failure is actually a “happy accident”. The cuffed sleeve I put in backwards on a shirt made with some treasured fabric from my travels in India became a 3/4 length cuffless sleeve that looked better than my original design! I have repeated that look several time since then.

So my advice is the relax and enjoy the process of making your perfectly imperfect creations and let you recovery from mistakes become a new favorite trick in your future creations.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

Last December I made a few small gifts to give to family members. I have always shied away from this due to the perceived stress it would induce to try to make them worthwhile and on time. But I was surprised by how satisfying it felt to give them so I decided I would start very early, as in January, and set out to make a Christmas “blanket” for each our our 3 kids’ households. I chose 3 monthly subscription kits, a full size afghan, a full size quilt and a twin size quilt with accompanying pillows.

I had not done any crochet in about 30 years! I just finished the afghan and truly loved the process. I learned so much about crochet and learned so many different stitches. In fact, I suspect crochet will hold a regular spot in my maker world going forward.

I already mentioned that I am primarily a garment maker, not a quilter. To say this has been a challenge is an understatement. The smaller quilt has been only slightly challenging. It is the easier of the two quilts. And I feel like it will turn out really cute and be well loved. The larger quilt….. WHEW! It has been quite challenging! But I have learned several new techniques, like paper piecing, that just might show up again later in a garment! I have a good bit left to do on the large quilt but the smaller quilt is nearing the finish line.

In all three cases, I am truly looking forward to giving them to our kids and feeling like I have given them not only a piece they can keep for years to come, but also quite a labor of love. So to circle back to the original question, my biggest area of growth in the last 12 months has been learning a lot about crochet, including that I really like it and learning a lot about quilting and that I am truly not a fan!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sherylbelson

Image Credits

All pictures taken by Sheryl Belson