Well well, long time no blog...
*ahem*
Let's just be honest here, I haven't blogged because I haven't made anything since my floral Pendrell - well, nothing except another Pendrell in pink gingham which I messed up by stitching the invisible hem in such a large stitch it is anything but invisible. But because of the way you fold the fabric for invisible hemming I didn't notice til I was all the way round, and by then...well I was scunnered. I don't have much patience for hemming at the best of times, so rather than unpick and redo I just scrumpled it up in a bad mood and shoved it in the sewing box. I'll fix it one day.
So today I want to blog about bad habits. And how those bad habits have been stopping me from being creative.
I present to you:
Exhibit A
Yes. Yes, that is a massive 50 inch tv. Please believe me, I did not buy this monster, I won it in a competition that I was automatically entered into because I 'liked' a Facebook page. Before this I didn't even have a tv, but since we got it and since I started my current job (which is lots more challenging than my old one) I have been finding myself coming home and just slumping in front of it watching whatever it throws my way. Old episodes of Friends I've seen 50 times? Bring it. Don't Tell the Bride? Yep I'll have some of that too. Come Dine With Me is on all evening you say? Well it'd be rude not to, surely? BASICALLY I've just turned into a boring old COUCH POTATO. Which brings me to...
Exhibit B
Ah, my old friends RED WINE and GIN. To go along with my couch potato habit, of late I have also been cultivating a lovely wino habit. You know, you get home, get your jammies on, put on the tv and unwind with a glass of wine...and then all of a sudden it's bedtime and whoops you've done nothing with your evening yet again?
But NO MORE, I tell you!
My tv is broken! Ok it's getting fixed tomorrow (hopefully) but it's been broken for 2 weeks, forcing me to go cold turkey on the repeats of My Name is Earl, and I'm happy to report that the habit has been broken, I am no longer a TELLY ADDICT! I've been reading more, and look, I'm even here blogging, that's gotta tell you something.
So, to keep the momentum going I have also sworn off my other bad habit, BOOZE, for September. Sober September I'm dubbing it, at the risk of sounding like a Grade A Alkie.Don't get me wrong it's not like I'm boozing it up every night at the minute, but I do feel like I'd get more done if I didn't use wine as a stress reliever.
So, let's see how it goes then shall we? I have some rather nice navy blue material with cherries on that would make either a very nice Pendrell or a Rooibos, haven't decided which yet, and this chillier weather has me itching to get my crochet hook out again - I'm thinking tea cosies, perhaps another go at a hat (last attempt failed miserably) and Christmas decorations.
What do you guys do in the evenings, and how do you find the energy to sew after a hard day at work? Do you find yourselves drawn into passive bad habits too? I enjoy sewing so much and find it relaxing once I am doing it, but actually gathering the momentum to get everything out and start...ooft it's hard! Harder when the glass of wine and passive telly watching is calling so seductively. In the meantime I'm off to see if I can glean some tips from Tilly's Productivity Project.
My husband likes to have the TV on as background noise, so I try to treat it the same way and sew through all of those episodes of "Star Trek: Next Generation". I don't sew as fast as I would with just music playing, but I still make pretty good progress. I also plead to have "just music tonight" every so often.
ReplyDeleteAs for finding motivation to sew after a particularly violent day at work (transit planning=vicious), I kind of stay on track by setting goals for when I want to wear something. I stay optimistic by not beating myself up when I fail to meet those goals. :)
I also do sewing that I can do in front of the telly (my name's Maggie, and I'm a trashy telly addict). Sock Monkeys work really well for making up while gawping at things such as Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model ;)
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling, I've been getting home from work and slumping in front of the computer and looking at crafty things instead of actually doing crafty things!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try making a list of projects I want to do *and* that I have all the stuff for, parceling up the bits and then picking one and doing a little something on it when I get home.
Lol, your post is my life! I have the same two bad habits as you! I try and get on with something as soon as I get home now, so I'm not even tempted to turn on the tele and slump on the sofa (just for five mintues is what i usually say to myself, and two hours later I'm still there). Or maybe just give yourself one evening a week to sew / crochet. A schedule may mean you get into a project and then spend more nights doing it.
ReplyDeleteNow it's getting colder again, i will be even more tempted to snuggle under a blanket on the sofa with some vino and maybe a boxset or two :o)