a spot of home sewing...

Where on earth have the last seven weeks gone?!

Other than keeping busy with a little freelance work, preparing for the imminent arrival of numero two (now only 3 and a bit weeks away) and surviving the first family flu of the season, it's just a blur...

I admit, third trimester fatigue has well and truly set in, so any motivation to post a blog is generally overridden by an opportunity to curl up and have a nap...

I've also been churning out a few soft furnishings (ok mainly cushion covers) as part of my nesting craze.

First job was transforming the junk/ironing room into some semblance of a nursery..  Although it's a tiny space, it's filled with morning sunlight and now with the injection of some colour, it's beginning to feel like a proper little nursery. Just add baby!

Painterly Ikea fabric & raw linen backed with seersucker 

Sewed my first curtains out of this fun candy stripe drill, also from Ikea.

 I had a little leftover fabric to revamp this shade..

Thom is quite intrigued by all this shuffling of furniture (the cot was only recently his), the new car seat, pram etc.., so as not to feel left out, his room got a little home sewn love too..

A felt, denim & cord cushion for his 'story chair'..

And a couple of strings of festive felt bunting... Felt is my new favourite thing!

And lastly our bedroom got some much long overdue attention... 

Still very much a work in progress, the room is slowly coming together. My painted bedsides are finally in, after many months gathering dust in the garage.

I also made a pair of new pillowslips (the easiest, cheapest thing in the world) from this pretty floral cotton I found at Spotlight and revamped an old Indian mirrored cushion with some coral pink drill for a pop of colour..

A dash of coral, my new favourite colour!!

Now with Thom taking his midday nap, I really should get on with sorting out the study.

Or I could just have a little lie down instead...

spring fabric finds...

There is still a month of winter to go (officially) but with recent days looking like this and temperatures in the early twenties, it feels like Spring is here already...

Although for the past two weeks I've had my head down, working away on a little freelance gig (hopefully I can share more on that soon) and haven't stopped to appreciate this wonderful warm weather we've been having... 

That was until yesterday, when Thom and I got to spend a lovely couple of hours down on the waterfront. All that fresh air and sunshine has got me in the mood for some serious pre spring sprucing!

First up a proper spring clean, boring but totally necessary. The one downside to all this sunshine.., the dusty steps, dirty windows and blinds etc. are plain to see..

Then on to the fun stuff..!!  Doing something fabulous with my recent haul of vintage fabrics!!

I'm in love with this painterly 60's barkcloth (found on Ebay).  Cushions or  as  husband suggested perhaps a lampshade? It's almost too lovely to cut.., maybe just stretched on a canvas. What do you think?

Several metres of soft seersucker found in an old box at the Aid for The Blind store. After seeing so much of it on Downton Abbey, I couldn't pass it up.

This beautiful embroidered piece came home with us on our first trip to Vietnam. It's been sitting in the cupboard for years, just waiting for the right opportunity...

Not quite Black & Spiro (have you seen Anna's gorgeous new online store),  but it all works together quite nicely, don't you think?! 

I can see a couple of generous floor cushions in this super colourful Ikat, that I picked up from another local op shop...

And last but not least... I thought this would make a fun pair of Bermudas for Thom. I offered to make a matching pair for the husband too. He wasn't at all keen though... Maybe a bunch of picnic napkins instead.

Anyway lots of sewing/make and do projects for me ahead.., so watch this space. In the meantime, I'll be cleaning, cleaning, cleaning...

Have a great weekend!! xx

home sewn for small friends...

Some time ago, after showing a girlfriend a little satchel I made my niece, I promised her little girl I'd whip her up one too...

I asked if she had a colour preference and her answer (with no hesitation) was pink please and I like butterflies!! She's a real little live wire and takes Spanish lessons too, so she may have actually said "Me encanta la mariposa y rosa por favor" (thanks Google translator).

Yesterday, after too many months I finally delivered on my promise!

Here's the original I made my niece for her Birthday. She's animal mad.., for horses especially, so the little pony motive was a big hit.
Both bags were made using op shop bought fabrics and the magic of printable iron-on transfers...

My first foray into using this transfer stuff, came at the height of my nesting frenzy, when I wanted a couple of cheap & cheerful cushions to brighten up the nursery.

Before I knew it, I was ironing the stuff onto anything and everything, bags, hats, t-shirts, labels..! So beware, the instantaneousness of it all is pretty addictive, but great for a fun, impromptu gift (or very much belated, in this case)...

denim & tweed cont...

Autumn weather seems a little closer today... so I thought I'd get busy sewing up those new (denim with tweed) cushions I wrote about last week.

I made two cushions  in denim backed with tweed and one tweed and linen, appliqued with black pincord. They turned out quite well and are definitely cuddle worthy.

Much to my husband's bewilderment, I've been guilty in the past of buying cushions made of scratchy and/or overly embellished fabrics. He doesn't see the point if they're not a comfy addition to our sofa. Fair point I guess...

These hopefully will get the seal of approval, especially as they're made out of a pair of his favourite old jeans...




My first attempt at the denim/tweed combo, was less than successful though.
I thought I'd have a crack at patchwork and the result (below) was less than great... No square lined up and the whole panel ended up being very bumpy.  I think this was mainly due to my ad hock approach.

Patchwork might be one of those crafts where it pays to read the instructions. Anyway the process was fun and I'll definitely have another stab at it.

autumn inspiration...

After a very wet and refreshingly chilly weekend up in the hills, I'm hopeful that cooler temps may be on the way down in Bris as well... 

It may be a bit premature to unpack the winter woolies,  however this recent post on  The Sartorialist showing Denim with Tweed,  has definitely got me me in an Autumnal mood...

Love the loafers in the second photo too!   My best friend once had an enviable collection of beautiful leather loafers...  Should tell her to dust them off...

Back to the tweed/denim combo, it just so happens I have a lovely piece of tweed, bought at a favourite op shop some time ago.
Paired with denim from my husbands well worn jeans and a couple of other remnants I have lying about, could be the making of some new season cushions...