Ponderings on Learning

I have been working on a test pattern recently. Slowly as I've been sick, that utterly exhausted and slow brain kind, ugh. It seriously shouldn't take 2.5 hours to cut something out. But when you lay the fabric on the ground, then have to take a breather to get your energy back, you know you aren't well (also, I didn't like the taste of even chocolate, but I don't like to dwell on that).

While I was making this garment, I was learning how to do new things and new ways of using my machine. I didn't realise I had a straight stretch stitch. Sure, it uses a heap more thread and takes longer to do a seam, but I really like the result I get from using it.

It meant I started thinking about how/what I learn. When I got my machine, I didn't go and work out everything I could do with it. I just kept using it how I usually would my old machine. Except for bottonholes, I love my one step bottonholer. I used to just avoid bottons where at all possible. I'm still a bit scared of them, but I'll go for it after doing several practice runs.

I don't go out of my way to find something I don't know and decide to learn it. Part of that is you don't know what you don't know. Instead, I tend to decide that I want to make something, then learn how to do it if I don't know. I like doing it that way, as it gives me the motivation to learn something new, and also the practical practise in doing it, rather than doing something for the sake of doing it.

That was it, just a little ramble on my crafting learning style. Curious as to how others decide what they'd like to learn, and how they learn it. Care to share?