facing the fear of failure

this week on our confident crafter series,
i want to focus on the things that hold us back from pursuing our crafting dreams.
first up, we are going to conquer our fear of failure!

often times, i'll hold myself back from starting a project because i'm afraid to fail at it.
it may be a skill i've never tried before or an advanced level that just seems too hard for me.
the problem is that if you never start, you'll never get any better!

i've always had a problem with reaching a certain level of proficiency,
and then becoming comfortable with it because i'm too scared to take the next step.
if i can do it well now, why would i want to make a fool of myself trying to do it better?
i know however that this has prevented me from growing in a lot of areas
and becoming even better at the things i love to do.

here's a perfect example -

my absolute favorite thing to sew is clothes.
i love the construction, drafting patterns, tailoring a piece so it fits just right,
it's my true crafting passion!
the only thing is, making a full garment is really time and labor intensive.
there are so many steps, which just means more places to make a mistake and have to start over.
because of this, i've fallen into a really bad habit of sticking to the "easy" stuff.
granted, this works out well for you because that means more fun little diys and tutorials.
but in my heart i have dreams of sewing a complete wardrobe
for myself, my man, and my little man to be,
and of maybe someday selling my own designs and patterns.

if i don't learn to overcome my fear of making mistakes and learning from them,
i'll never become any better at what i love to do!

so let's pledge to take the crafting plunge!
to get messy and dirty, to get frustrated and upset, 
to make things that are ugly with missed stitches and smudged paint, 
all in an effort to become better the next time we try! 

the other day my husband challenged me to quit talking his ear off about all the clothes i want to sewand to just make them already, haha!
so i pledge to you, dear confident crafters, that i am going to start sewing clothes again.
i may be a little slow going at first,
but so long as i'm challenging myself and not trying to take the easy way out,
i feel like i'll be accomplishing my goals.

now dear friends, what is your pledge?
what are some things you're afraid of failing at,
and what are you going to do about it?