The Pile.

For as long as I've been sewing I've had the problem of starting projects and not finishing them.
In the earlier years it was often because I was inexperienced and didn't know how to proceed, had made the pattern really badly, or had chosen a crappy fabric.
But now it's mainly just that I get distracted and start other stuff. Planning and starting is always the most exciting part for me, and it's so easy to lose interest and motivation when a newer idea pops up.
I've had a hoard of plastic bags each containing a different unfinished sewing project for well over a decade now.
I did finish things occasionally - a lot of posts on this blog start with me saying the garment was one I started 2 or 3 years before - but The Pile never seemed to get any smaller.

If your unfinished things are scattered around in various locations then I'd suggest gathering them all into one place, if possible. My Pile used to live in 2 cardboard boxes but it's currently in a laundry hamper. (With the exception of the project that's stretched on my embroidery frame.)

The Pile on January 1st of 2025

I do not want to have The Pile!
I do not want pants I cut out 3 years ago to be sitting there half sewn up!
I do not want 8 different waistcoats sitting in pieces in 8 different bags!
I want to be someone who starts things and then finishes them, dammit!!!

A Pile can be quite an intimidating thing, but it is not impossible to defeat. 

For me the first step was going through all the bags to find the things I know for sure I'm never going to finish. I've had things sit in The Pile for 10+ years, so a lot of the older things had to be removed because they would never fit me now. 30 year old me is a very different size and shape from 19 year old me.

I can't even squeeze my shoulders into the first jacket I made.

I was able to donate some of these projects to a local theatre company! A historical coat that's 80% finished is a lot less work for them than making an entirely new one from scratch if they need it, so if you have historical or otherwise potentially theatre costumey items to get rid of it's worth asking around to your local low budget theatres. 
Theatre costumes get altered frequently and are seen from far away, so any imperfections won't matter as much. 
(I have also donated a lot of my older finished garments to the theatre, after outgrowing them or deciding the sewing wasn't up to my standards anymore.)

There were a few things that I just moved to my scrap boxes, since cut out pieces for a project that'll never fit are functionally the same as scraps.

There may be some project pieces that are too precious to get rid of but that can't be finished in the way originally planned, like the corded panels mentioned below, and it's ok to keep them and categorize them as Not an unfinished project. It takes a bit of mental weight off to stop thinking of them as a project. They're just a neat bit of work that might be useful someday.

It's also ok to decide you don't want to finish something for any other reason, even if it is technically possible to finish and wear it. Skill levels improve, and tastes and quality standards change.
Unfinished projects can clutter up the brain and make you feel guilty, and finishing them and firmly deciding to never finish them are both equally OK ways to deal with that.

With the never-to-be-finished things all cleared out it was time to count the number of projects.

I have a strict set of Pile Criteria by which to count, but you may prefer to come up with your own.

• I only count things where I've actually started work on the final garment, so the things I've just designed/patterned/mocked up/done samples for don't count.
  Cutting, painting, embroidering, etc. on the final fabric does count.
  Making an embellishment for a specific project (tassel, braid, appliqué, etc.) also counts, even if nothing has been done to the actual garment fabric.
  (Pre-making thread buttons for shirts is a bit of a grey area here, but I think I'm leaning towards not counting them.) 
• I only count things I have solid plans for finishing, so the box of little bits of patchwork I did for fun doesn't count yet because I don't know what I'll use it for.
  The corded panels I made 12 years ago for a bodice that never happened also do not count, because I kept them and might use them someday but I don't even have a specific design idea.
• I don't count mending or alterations, which is an unfortunately very large Pile of its own. However, I would count it if it was a complete unpicking and re-making.
• Non-garment projects do count, as long as there's sewing or embroidery in them. My braided rug counted, as does a little embroidered book cover I started a few years ago.
• Things are only in The Pile if I set them aside to work on another sewing project.
  If I leave something untouched on the table for a few days while I do chores and other work, it isn't on The Pile.
  If I put it in a bag and get out another sewing project, it is on The Pile.

(If you do knitting, crochet, or other things like that then it may be good to count them as separate Piles, so the numbers are smaller.)

There are a few things taking up space in the hamper that aren't officially counted in The Pile, but even just going by the rules it's been quite a large number for years. 
As of January 1st, 2024, when I was finally getting serious about wanting to finish stuff, The Pile consisted of 25 projects. 
I wrote them all down in a list and tacked it to my wall. I cross them out when they're finished and I can add any new (hopefully temporary) Pile items to the bottom.

The list as of late August, 2025.

Some of you may have much larger Pile numbers, but do not panic! One of the most important things to remember is there is no deadline! 

A Pile is built up over many years, and it's unrealistic and unfair to yourself to expect it to be finished in a short time. 
Especially if there are very large long term projects in it, like the patchwork dressing gown that I started in 2019 and finished in 2023.

Back in my 2023 in review post I added reduce The Pile to my list of goals for 2024, and over the course of the year I managed to whittle it down from 25 to 12, which I was very pleased with.
In my 2024 in review post I was more specific in my goal for this year - "Get The Pile down to 5 things at most."

If I achieve that goal (which I think I will!) that will be an average of 10 things a year. 13 in the first year and 7 the second year. (Technically I finished more than 13 but I also added a couple things, so this is just the net change.) 
(Also I have a patreon video from November of 2024 with a show and tell of all the things that were in The Pile at that time.)

I've finished all the easiest ones, so the projects left are the larger and more complex ones, and the ones that are just barely started. 
Ideally I'd like to get those last 5 things finished up in 2026 and replaced with a few new long term projects, but we'll see. Maybe I'll finish 2 or 3 next year and the rest in 2027. 

(I should add that 2024 was the first year of my life when I actually had a sewing room that was separate from my bedroom, and I'm quite certain I would not have been able to get as much finished if everything was still crammed into a bedroom. But I did still finish multiple years-old projects in that extremely cramped room, so it's not impossible!)

25 is a lot of abandoned projects, so spreading them out over 3 or 4 years is still a good pace! And you can decide what your own goals are for your own Pile.
Maybe you have a bunch of small projects and want to finish 2 per month, or one every 2 months, or maybe you just have 3 projects that you want to get done within the year. Whatever feels like an achievable pace for you.

But finishing things from The Pile is not the only consideration - the other major concern is not adding to The Pile.
I have been starting new projects in between finishing old ones! It would be difficult to keep up my motivation if I didn't start anything new. But I am trying very, very hard to finish them before starting another one, and have been mostly successful.
As you can see in the handwritten list I have 2 Pile projects I started in 2024 and none from this year. It's not ideal to have added 2 rather large and tedious projects, but the overall number has still gone down. I'm finishing more things than I'm starting, so it's ok.

While starting is the most exciting part of a new project, I find picking it up again to be the most difficult part of an old project. But once I get going on it it's not so bad, and the more things I finish the easier it gets. 
Crossing things off the list and seeing the number go down is exciting, and I'm increasingly confident that I can be someone who finishes things in a timely manner. 

One thing I did in an attempt to motivate myself was to change my tumblr blog title to a running count of how many unfinished projects I have. 

I'm not sure if this has actually helped or not, but at least it hasn't stressed me out.

I also made this spinner thingy to help me choose what to work on next, but I ended up mostly not using it. The few times I've spun it it's usually landed on things I'd already finished and needed to erase.

It's foam core with a cut down plastic binder sleeve to hold the card stock,
and the spinner is a small nail shoved through with a bobby pin on it.

As of August 2025, when I'm writing this, The Pile is currently down to 8 and I'll update the post later as more things get done.

The current Pile, waiting patiently under the table.
Or, under two tables, as my big table is above this out of frame.

Most of those 8 remaining projects require some amount of tedious hand work, like embroidery or beading, but it's alright. I'm tackling them one step at a time and there's no need to rush. 
The more things I finish the more free I feel to start new things, and some day I will have finished them all!

Personally I think about 3-5 is a good maximum of unfinished projects for me to have. It's nice to have a variety of tasks and some long term tedious things. But I would like them to not be 7 years old.