Sew Nice To See You....

I can't apologise any more for the bad blogging, we're all friends here so I can say that it stands at a "If I do, then I do; If I don't, then I don't" situation!
I have been busy beavering away, and as per usual it is my terrible photography (or should I say reluctance to be photographed) that stands in the way of a finished item becoming a blog post. BUT I have just had a fancy hair cut, and am on a diet for like the billionth time, so maybe I will feel a bit more confident about having my photo taken.

In the mean time, I hope you will all appreciate the latest addition to my fridge ;) You can never have enough Ryan Gosling!

The Dreaded UFO Confessional...

Eek! So I rounded up a few of those things I have tried to forget about!

Exhibit A - U.F.O. - Finger knitting to create bulky yarn to make an ombre blanket from. This has been about a year, it is just particularly boring and therefore neglected! I did one whole ball of yarn and started on a second, however, to make a blanket of reasonable size I need 4 balls at least!

Exhibit B - U.F.O - This is the bottom part of a thrifted nightie, intended to make a slip. All I have to do is elasticate it. That is it. And it has been lying about for over a year!

Exhibit C - Repair - This top has an inch long split in a seam near to one of the armpits. Will take seconds, yep mere SECONDS(!!!) to run a few stitches over it. Been in the pile for 8 months. I am ridiculous!

Exhibit D - UFO - This is the back of a piece of bunting made to join in the Lincoln WI group bunting. All I need to do is cut those blue lines to remove some sequins, steam/ gently press the triangle, then reattach the sequins individually. I also need to embroider my name onto a second triangle to be the backing. Granted this is more than a few minutes worth of work, however, I did the embroidery on fathers day weekend back in June and really should have got my butt in gear!

Exhibit E - UFO - I have blogged about this before, it has barely progressed from there! What can I say, it takes ages and involves large swathes of the same colour in the same stitch. Yawn.

Exhibit F - U.F.O This is a kimono sleeve shrug. Or at least it would be if I finished it! It is very wide and the bobble stitch takes ages to knit. So it will take many hours to finish it, and doing a metre(ish) of stocking stitch before going back to painfully awkward bobbles is not making it very endearing!

Exhibit G - U.F.O. - This is a crochet shrug I made the pattern for, all it needs is two crocheted strips to attach for ties. It will take all of 10 minutes, then I can wear it! It is made from gorgeous (but sadly discontinued) yarn that I was so excited over, then I just never finished it. Once it is done I can photograph it and put the pattern up.

Exhibit H - U.F.O. This is another neglected piece, I mentioned in my last post about it that I didn't know what to do with it, I still don't!

Not Pictured- A pocket repair on one of the other half's shirts, a seam repair on another one.
A tea cosy for a competition that I can't post up until the competition has started.
A recently started knitting project that I will be blogging about later.

I would lie and say it isn't too bad.... Namely because I'm sure there are more lurking hidden away in corners!

How many U.F.O.s do you have?
Don't forget to grab yourself a button if you would like to join in!

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W.I.P. / U.F.O. Hall Of Shame!

This will be a new feature here at Pin Up Crafts, first and foremost it is to try and force myself to get these projects finished with some good old social pressure!

We all have them, we all pretend they don't exist, but I *will* tackle them! So how will it work? I think it would be best to document every last one lurking in the corners and hiding in boxes, then do a monthly report on progress made.

If any one would like to join in then let me know in the comments below, and I will add you to the Hall of Shame page you can see linked at the top of my blog beside the Special Links tab. Together we can do it!

So watch this space for my U.F.O. confessional post, I'm not looking forwards to discovering the true extent of my lazy/ distracted ways though!

Feel free to grab a button if you are wanting to be in the Hall of Shame!

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Motivation, never leaving the house and leggings.....

Well, this post is sort of blogland current affairs with many of the blogs I read mentioning the topic.

This will be in two main parts, my struggle for motivation and the curse of awful clothing choices because I hardly leave the house.


Ok, motivational depletion.....like this lazy so and so...

My dear sweet Biggins is a bad influence!
Well, it's not really the cat's fault, it's my poor adjustment to not being at work and having to organise my own time. Being laid off sucks! I really need to adjust to this situation before I reach the point of no return, it's been about a month now, and I have been so unproductive in this time.
Laurell K Hamilton (best selling author of the Anita Blake series) has been doing a series of blog posts and a couple have hit on the issue of motivation, especially this one, it's good to know you're not alone, however, it would be better if it mentioned a quick cure for the lazy-itus!

I know I need to deal with this, I won't always have the luxury of so much time on my hands, it is frustrating to know that when I was at work all day long, getting home at 10-10.30pm I would come home and get cracking on the sewing and have a pretty good completion rate given the time spent on things, and now I am home all day I rarely get anything started let alone finished.

How do all you ladies who work from home do it?!
I worry that it is a sign I would never be able to work for myself, and that is something I really really want to do, at least to the extent a part time job outside my home would be able leave me financially secure.


The second part of my post is related to my being at home all day too.
I have become a slob! Leggings are now my most worn item - nooooo!!!!
This issue of sloppiness has come up over at Gertie's blog, because she has just started working from home. A funny but very true post, based on a reader's comment - here - highlights that the problem I am facing with dressing for comfort and neglecting style. The leggings first appeared as a trial for an alternative to footless tights, meant to be worn in the same manner, under dresses, for extra warmth and to last a bit longer. So far so innocent right! This quickly turned into a case of wearing them as an alternative to trousers for when I am sewing, I sit on the floor a lot and buttons dig in and get uncomfortable.
Then it promptly became a case of "well I'm not leaving the house so it doesn't matter what I look like".
Such an easy habit to slip into!
Just for the record I really don't feel comfortable just wearing leggings to leave the house in, a bit too exposing in the bottom area, not a good look!
Take into consideration that despite working in a hot smelly kitchen I always wore tailored trousers with my chef jacket and a full face of make up so I didn't look too awful when I left the kitchen!
So there is no excuse not to make the effort at home.
Especially when Leigh Ann over at Voodoo Stitches wore this dress to clean her home in!
So stunning! And a reminder that ditching the leggings as anything other than a little added warmth/modesty under something pretty is an absolute must!

As mentioned at Gerties blog, the key to keeping it pretty whilst at home is ensuring that everything is comfy, so I think it is about time I made a few things for myself that look pretty, not too over the top, which also are as un restricting as leggings.




Perhaps this is my motivation, not the motivation I would ideally like, but a start at least.
Sorry for the lengthy ramble here, sometimes you just have to get it all out!