2 Steps Forward, 3 Kicks in the Pants

This would summarize the process of my current sewing project.

I was overcome by an unusual spirit this Halloween and decided my husband and I would actually wear costumes. I decided we would be Snow White and Prince Charming- I know, I know, not much of a costume for my husband. I found a killer deal online for the only modest Snow White costume manufactured and patted myself on the back for avoiding the time/effort that making a costume would take.

Unfortunately, the costume arrived and I looked awful in it. As in, it looked like I had instantly gained 10 15 pounds. {shudder}. After much indecision, I decided to return the costume and urgently conjured a simple costume idea together in my mind. I went to the fabric store, picked out my supplies and got started. Things were looking good at the beginning, until the day I shipped my costume back (which was ironically addressed to "Fulfillment"). Once my back-up plan was gone, the sewing project hit some turbulence. Not much unlike the time when my first child was born and hospitalized 2 days after my mom flew home.

The sewing gods reminded me that there is no such thing as a simple sewing project and that they require a sacrifice of my sanity. In my calculating, I had naively forgotten to account for extra time volunteered by Dumbness that eats your precious time and kills your morale. Things like:

1. Machine mysteriously jamming and requiring 1/2 hour of troubleshooting
2. Fabric fraying like none other
2. Bobbin thread running out mid-stitch
3. While winding bobbin, thread coming off the bobbin and winding itself tightly around the rod a bajillion times.
4. No time to work on it

Long story short, my simple costume is requiring much more time than I had intended. This is exacerbated by the fact that I insist on doing it the "right way"- even though it is only a costume- because I hope to use this costume a lot for future Halloweens. Luckily, my mom has patiently helped me troubleshoot things and it looks like I'm on track for getting it done this week. So... using the Sewing Estimation Formula:  

estimated time x 3 (Dumbness) = 3 Weeks

And that is an example of how I use math in my everyday life.
And why I will never be able to sew things for etsy.