I think this phrase originated from woodworking - once you cut a piece of wood, you can't grow it back. The same goes for fabric. You can't really fix a piece of fabric that you've cut too small. But in my most recent crafting failure, I should have followed this advice figuratively - (from wikitionary:) "plan and prepare in a careful, thorough manner before taken action."
You see, it wasn't my imprecise measurements that led me astray. Instead, it was my impatient eagerness to begin a new project. I had just gotten my new Nexus tablet, and found a really lovely pattern online for making a padded sleeve. I was so excited that the author had already determined the appropriate measurements that even when my instinct hinted that there was something odd about them, I ignored these thoughts. I put my trust in the author - "there's no way she could be wrong," I thought.
4 hours later, I stared at my project in disbelief after realizing it was just 0.5 inches too small. Just a half inch bigger and my tablet would have fit. My frustration was compounded by the fact that linen I used was terribly difficult to work with, otherwise I would have finished in half the time. I was so frustrated that I threw my project on the ground and called it a night. I wanted to blame the author, but I knew it was really my fault. Had I taken an extra 10 minutes to double check how the measurements would match up to the end result, I would not have wasted 4 hours. I should have trusted my instincts telling me that the measurements didn't make sense.
The next day, I started over, this time using my own measurements. Success!
(failure on right, success on left)
Turns out those 4 hours were not a waste of time, but yet another valuable lesson learned from crafting.
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