Burda Challenge 2018 is lit! I laid out an open invitation to join me this year on the Burda Challenge and the response was way beyond my expectations. Its shown me that there are a lot of others out there like me who love Burda designs and the magazines but also need a nudge to do something.

And this is exactly what the essence of this challenge is about – its a nudge. It is supposed to be a fun, no-pressure exercise,  where you do as much or as little as you like or even just thinking about whether you want to keep the magazines.

If you like you can read on to the section on ideas for what goals to set and why it might be a good idea to set a goal. There is strong evidence that when a goal is more autonomous — that is, it comes from our own motivations rather than being set for us by someone else — we’re more likely to achieve that goal. I truly believe this and why this challenge has no set goal except for what you decide for yourself. I cant stress enough that this is a fun challenge so dont set yourself pass/fail goals! When you feel like you are failing, you quit and thats not what this challenge is about.

Track your results – motivation looks different for everyone, but nothing helps you to see progress like looking back at how much you have achieved. It’s so easy to forget how much you have done when you have to rely purely on memory. This is different for everyone but I have found that if I can track it I am more likely to do it. I will be posting here on the blog and posting progress on Instagram as well. But I (and I am guessing everyone else doing this challenge) would love to see how are getting on too.

Show us how you are getting on. Use the #burdachallenge2018 on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and see who else is using the Burda Challenge to get sewing. Not on social media? You can send me a link to your blog post or picture which I can share in monthly round-up posts. There is also a PatternReview forum here which is also a fun place to see what others are up to.

Synergy…….we know that together we can achieve more than we can separately. This is the definition of synergy. The whole point of a group working towards a similar goal together is to gain synergy as well as the support and encouragement that we can offer each other.

Next steps – in thinking about what you might like to achieve I have some goal setting tips. I think the most important thing about setting goals for a creative pursuit like garment sewing is to include some flexibility in there. Sometimes life happens and we cant get to the sewing machine.

I like the minimum target outrageous goal method whereby I set a minimum goal, a target goal and an outrageous goal. It might look like this:

“For my Burda Challenge 2018, I will make a minimum of 1 garment from any issue of the magazine per month. My target goal is 2 garments and my outrageous goal is 4 garments per month.“

All these goals are acceptable to me while allowing me to be flexible. Another way might be to set an average goal – we are all busy with other things going on. Some periods we can spend more on sewing and sometimes not so much. An average can mean that you can achieve your goal flexibly. An average goal might sound like:

” I will sew 6 items from any issue of the magazine in 2018″

Or

“I will sort through 20 magazines and decide which ones to keep and which to give away”.

Even deciding that you have no desire to make anything from BurdaStyle Magazines is progress. You may realise that you just like having them around as inspiration. It means there is no longer that mental clutter that constantly thinks that you ought to be sewing with them.

I did an Ottobre Challenge last year in order to use my Ottobre Woman magazine. My goal had been a modest 1 garment per quarter. I perused the magazines at my leisure picking out patterns and I even traced out a couple of patterns. And yet somehow I never managed to sew either of them up – not because I didn’t have time but I realised that I just wasn’t that into them. I love Ottobre Kids magazine but Ottobre Woman was not for me. And thats okay. Letting go peacefully is a nice feeling. I no longer have the mental clutter of guilt associated when I saw them in my sewing cave. I have been giving them away since the realisation. At the end of it, I had to be honest with myself and let them go so I can create more space for something that better suits my style. Though I didn’t actually do any sewing that challenge was a success for me.

Keep an eye out for more posts about sewing with Burda, tips and tricks, guest posts, party??…..and basically anything that comes up along the way of this challenge. I am sew excited!!!! (Pardon the pun).

I made a widget thingie for my sidebar and you are welcome to use it on your blogs if you so wish. 

Let me know down below in comments what your goal looks like and remember to keep it fun, real and flexible.

Here are some of the Burdastyle patterns I have sewn up in the past <Burda Challenge 2016 Page>