Monday 26 September 2011

Too many projects

and not enough of this




Why oh why do I start endless projects which I probably won't end up finishing any time soon!

Christmas stockings for the website




Wool to start a scarf





A random knitted tortoise (I think it was the patchwork which attracted me to it!)





Knitted 'paper' chains for Christmas



However, I did finish one project off last week - my patchwork ironing board cover - at last.  It's only taken over a year to complete!



How many projects have you on the go at the moment?

Wednesday 21 September 2011

A spot of vintage

Morning all - remember me! I can't believe it's almost 3 weeks since I was last in blog land.  I must do better.

The month hasn't been turning out as well as I would have liked - lots of faff and grief, and more importantly getting used to a new routine of one child in secondary school and one still in primary. We have a very tired 11 yr old at the moment who's going to bed earlier and earlier!  Mind you he's out of the house for a total of 9 hours, then homework to get on with - all good stamina building I guess....

It can only get easier (I hope).

Back to 'a spot of vintage' - whilst in Greenwich in July we had a jaunt round the vintage fair and shops.  I'm always a lover of the vintage clothing but I'm not a dress person so never end up buying anything but I love the style.  Anyway, I came across this -




a vintage crochet sleeveless cardigan-esqe number.  I tried it on and actually quite liked it.  As it was a reasonable price, I snatched it up.  Having had it hanging on the hanger since we returned it may well stay there.  I'm not sure of it's age but it's in good condition and is made from wool.

You know the phrase - 'if you keep something long enough, it'll eventually come back into fashion' - that's never held quite true for me but I'm obviously getting to the age now that things are coming back into fashion which I remember.  I now have a pair of shoes which went out and are now back in again!

I bought these




brogues from Laura Ashley about 15 years ago, obviously wore them and they have been languishing in the back of the wardrobe for some time.  I'm always reluctant to get rid of shoes and I'm glad I didn't with these, as lace-up brogues are all back in fashion.  I'm not sure whether a 15 yr old pair of shoes counts as vintage but I can pretend!

These vintage costume dolls were a bit of a 'random' purchase and a very bizarre one according to the rest of the family, but as they put a smile on my face, why not!



Have a good day and I'll pop along to say hello shortly, along with sharing some holiday snaps which are still on the camera...

Friday 2 September 2011

A spot of customisation

Today was day 1 of a child free house and it feels so quiet - no friends door knocking, the dull sound of electronics and TV's in the background, the clank of lego being tipped out, the bickering.....,requests for endless food and drink - I actually miss those sounds! even though they drove me mad.

Jack went back yesterday and Toby had his first secondary school day today and boy was he excited - despite the early start to walk to the bus, not relying on me to remember things, learning how to do a tie! and not returning till 4.30 each day.  We took a photograph of him in exactly the same spot as we did when he first went to school 7 years ago - how time flies.

I'm really looking forward to his return and the success of accomplishing so many 'firsts'

Anyway, with the onset of chilly mornings, I thought I would customise an old denim jacket.  I've had it the best part of a decade and really wanted to jazz it up a little.

I sewed a CK patch I've had for a while on the arm



and with some Liberty print bias binding I then sewed this around the cuffs.


and then round the bottom edge





I'm pretty pleased with the overall look and has given my old jacket a new lease of life.


(double click to zoom in)

Have a great weekend!


Wednesday 24 August 2011

On the turn

I'm back after a little break down in the beautiful Kent countryside.  I'll share more of that with you once I've sorted through the enormous amount of snaps taken!

The end of August is well and truly upon us and there is a distinct 'change' in the air.  The morning and evenings are getting darker, the leaves are on the turn and the berries are bursting with colour.



All in all we can't complain too much with the weather this summer (maybe in my part of the country at least).  I do however, always feel robbed when the summer comes to an end.  Perhaps because the winter is not my most favourite time of year.



For now, I shall take pleasure in a few balmy days, the dew on the grass, the last few flowering plants and the glory which September brings.














I'll be back shortly with piccie overload, but for now, I better catch up with your lovely blogs!

TTFN.

Thursday 4 August 2011

From one to another

Hope everyone is keeping well?

We took a jaunt to Greenwich last weekend, and what a pleasant time it was too - even more so when we can indulge in some free museums which entertain the boys and a couple of vintage markets for me!

The weather was beautiful, if not a little hot (if I dare say it).

This view, I could never tire of..............






The beautiful building is the National Maritime Museum.  In front of the building was where the Olympic Equestrian Trials were taking place.  It'll be in beautiful surroundings next year, and there seemed to be a lot of active work going in to make everywhere look good.

At the top of Greenwich Park is the Royal Observatory, again another beautiful building.



I was pleasantly surprised by the number of lovely old buildings in Greenwich - a lot of which I ashamedly didn't take pictures of.  If you're near the area it's well worth taking an amble there.

On Sunday we went into London and took a walk along the Southbank to the Vintage Festival which was taking place from the Friday to the Sunday - lots of free activities for children, music and most importantly a Vintage Market Place.  Serious lack of photo's, in fact none - oops.

Good old Cath K was there with a great pop up shop.  My purchase was this vintage fabric peg bag.


My old one -


also a Cath K one, but it's seen better days.  Interestingly enough, it was my first ever CK purchase over 12 years ago!  It's done well!  She had a concessionary shop in Harrods at the time and my mum took me to it saying I would love the style, which of course I did.  I didn't know who she was and probably most other people didn't either.  I can't remember how much I paid for it back then, but of course the cowboy print is no longer.

It's certainly not going in the bin, but I shall keep it for prosperity - you never know it may be worth a bit in a few years time - despite the damage!

TTFN.

Friday 29 July 2011

Smile

Well, here it is - 'The Chair' - completed.



I have to say that the anticipation of making it was far worse than actually making it (like a lot of things).  I did make sure I constantly checked, pinned and tacked which made a huge difference.  The back is by no means perfect, but on a scale of 1-10, I'm at a 9 so feel very satisfied!





My slight gripe was when I was sewing the patchwork rows together, I didn't notice that there were 2 squares in the same place on 2 rows - grrrhhhh, but as it's on the curve of the chair you don't actually notice too much.






With regards to patchwork - there's an awful lot of it in the house now, so better stop in my quest to patchwork the entire house!

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer holidays so far (or not?).  We've had lots of scrapes, bumps, cuts, falls off scooters down big hills etc etc etc.  Plasters have run out and TCP is running low but apart from that all is good!

Have a good weekend!

Wednesday 20 July 2011

The Chair

Well, day 3 of the summer holidays, and all seems OK at the moment!  Plans are afoot and I feel somewhat more relaxed than I did last week.

Do you remember my post about the chair I was planning to revamp and patchwork? Well, it's moving on quite nicely.  I managed to get the seat completed at the weekend so will now move onto the back of the chair.






To an upholsterer I've probably made 101 mistakes, but considering I've never upholstered a chair before, let alone in patchwork, I feel mighty pleased.



The front part was a little tricky and required a couple of 'hospital type corners'  and then trying to get the lines to line up was somewhat interesting.





Unlike various other projects where I tend to bulldozer my way through, I took my time and even tacked where I needed to, and it paid off tremendously especially when trying to get it straight and even.






I'll keep you posted with the back and will hopefully have one of those tra-la la moments very soon......!

TTFN.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Chapters

I apologise about my lack of posts and comments at the moment - it's been a whirlwind and frenzy of activities these last few weeks, and more so with the end of primary school for Toby.






We all know that at some point our children leave the comfy confines of primary school to move onto bigger pastures, but I didn't quite realise how traumatic the whole experience was.  More so for parents I think.  Having been to a talk by the head of Yr7 at the new secondary school, he highlighted the anxieties the children might have.  In actual fact, they were more about my anxieties rather than my child.



I don't mean about making new friends, getting lost in a big school, homework and all of those things (although they are present in the back of my mind).  It's more about my little boy growing up and becoming independent.  He doesn't look like a primary school boy now - he's definitely ready for what secondary school throws at him.  I only wish I was at the same level.......



Don't get me wrong, I will rise to the new chapter in his life with him, but I think we as parents' can feel a little sad about the transition.



I'm ready to wind down now - fortunately we finish on Friday (all our teacher training days are in 1 week, which is next week).  Reports are out, SAT results are back (no complaints, phew), leavers service is over, leavers party done, music concerts done, sports day done.  Just got to get through today and half of tomorrow, teachers' presents to give and then we can slob out!

Enjoy the day!

Friday 1 July 2011

A bit of a boy thing

Hooray! the sun is out and the weather is set to be good for the weekend.  Hopefully summer is here....

Toby went on his first residential this week (albeit for 2 nights and 10 mins up the road - don't ask).  Prior to him going, I ran through all his bits and bobs explaining don't put wet clothes next to dry, all dirty clothes in a carrier bag, and flannel etc to go in the plastic bag to save getting everything else wet. 

Well, he returned after having a great time.  I unpacked everything and at first glance I thought he had done really well as he had done exactly what I asked. I unloaded the toilet bag, and guess what.........nothing had been used...apart from brushing his teeth which only got done once..........I didn't investigate any further as I didn't really want to know.  Let's just say he had a really good shower and a long session with the toothbrush! BOYS.....

A couple of weeks ago, FIL came round with a big plastic box full of cars.  We left it in the garage until last night when I thought I'd have a rummage to see if it was worth keeping any of them.  Now I know you ladies are probably not into toy cars! but I thought you might appreciate this little beauty.










I'm definitely claiming it for myself - loving the little plastic plant on the table.



Just to finish off with something girly - my next project -




We've got a chair in our bedroom which could do with a makeover.  I've always lusted after the patchwork chairs in Cath Kidston but I don't lust the price. 







Having never done upholstery before I thought I'd give it a go - starting off with the seat and then going from there.  It might require some mathematical logic to get it right so will rope in  hubby for that one!  I'll let you know how I get on.

Have a great weekend!