Failure leads to success, over and over again

I am trying to knit and sew Christmas presents.  I like to give people something I have made with my own hands, with a bit of my heart enclosed!

I got all the zippers put in, joining the doubled front top piece and the doubled front bottom piece.  I had previously cut out all the pieces so I matched up two back pieces with a piece of batting, left over from Sweet time.

I have made these little bags bunches of times but this time was different, the front was way smaller than the back. What?  How can I make such a dumb, easy mistake?

If I cut the backs to match the fronts, they were too small to put the cards I had made inside.  If I sewed the top and bottom seams and rolled the seam up to create a bigger bag than the front, the seam didn't look right.  Then I thought I could add some piping in that seam.  Took out the stitching, added the piping and....hated it.  Ripped it out again.  How about rick rack?  I have seen it lately in Quilt stores; it is back in.  At one time, I think I had the largest rick rack collection in the USA.  No, I am not bragging, I really did!  In 1982 we visited the Wright trim factory out East and I went to their factory outlet store, a true one.  This is back before smart phones and malls of fake factory outlet stores.  They had a bin of rick rack rolls that didn't have enough left on them to create a new package.  I bought nearly everything and I used a lot in the early 80's.  Did I have any left?  Why yes, I did, in various widths and colors.  I created a new prototype and it looked good.  I am now even more of a sewing hoarder then I was before, rick rack from the 80's to the rescue!  I got five done, five more to go.  (They will go faster as I won't have to create a prototype once, let alone three times, not to mention the one time I put the rick rack on the inside.)  Fun!

I also changed the top of the tree, that angel was bothering me.  I got a gold star.  Tree toppers don't seem to be that popular, I had to go to three stores and even then, I wasn't head over heels about this one. 

Now I want to knit, I have finished 4 dish rags so far, have started a 5th, and I am starting on a 4th scarf I could give, or keep!

I also want to quilt Sweet dreams, do my Christmas newsletter and my Christmas cards!  Too many fun things I want to work on.  I just hope I don't have to have failures before success like I did on the bags.  What I like is that even though things were not right, there was a way to make them right.  I love that about sewing, it's not like burning the chicken, you can still save it!

But how about if next time instead of failure leading to success, I just have success and then more success?

I know, I am crazy!  Good luck with your holiday successes!