A snatched weekend away

Life is good.  We managed to organise a weekend by the coast at Tora, renting a tiny little house for a few days.  No cell phones.  No TV.  Only a view, some magazines, and lots of food - including this perfect breakie.  Yep - its good.

An owlie little seat

I love that something like this stool is so easy to renovate. 

I picked this up from the dump shop for $2.  It was stained icky wood with a horrid dirty pink cover on the seat. 

A coat of paint (the grey is left over from the feature wall), some new fabric (this Alexander Henry Its a Hoot print brings a smile to my face), and hey presto  - cute new seat for the baby room.

*sigh*

Can someone please tell me how I'm suppossed to get any sewing done.  Its a pointless exercise

Introducing ....

Productivity has dropped through the floor with the addition to our household this week. Dexter, our new 4 month old burmese kitten has prevented any task being started or completed. If we are no entertaining him by pulling shoelaces around the house, or acting as a warm blanket, we are snickeirng at his vertical air leaps and crazy antics. He's so gorgeous and creates so much laughter I can't imagine how we did without him.

Flushed with achievement

Well, it is certainly not short of its imperfections and idiosyncrasies, but I am so delighted to have finally finished reupholstering this chair. 

 

It has been a not-very-active labour of love for about 2 years.   This seat was borrowed from a friend when we came back to NZ and had no furniture.   It was old, filthy and ripped, and recently has been un-needed or un-loved.  But rather than going to the dump, it was always intended for a refurb.

Its sat down in the garage for the last 18 months.   Every time I'd get some heat from the other half about "cluttering up the garage with junk", I'd spend another 10 minutes prising out one or two of the 1000s of staples as I tried to dismantle the covering.   But it was so depressing working in the dark, and making so little progress - I always lost interest after a short while.   Hence why its taken so long.

What I had done was photograph each stage as I peeled back layer upon layer and revealed staple after staple.   When I finally got to the bare bones I carried the chair upstairs so I could work in the much happier surrounds of my sewing room.   Using those photos I then tried to reverse the process with the new fabric. 
 

Its not quite right - I got lazy in the end and decided it looked fine without a bottom skirt and without the piping on the cushions.   Also, there are a few points of less than perfection.   But I am really pleased - and who is going to be accrediting my chair after all. 

The important thing is it is still the super-comfy chair that it was initially. So yay - perfect for a snooze or nursing in the soon-to-be-baby's room.   Hmmm - must scotchgard it this weekend.

Wonderful book from Alabama Studio

My goodness.   Thank you Alabama Studio.

In the true spirit of Christmas (????) I have committed that common crime of buying myself a Xmas present or two perhaps more often that I bought one for someone else.   I go shopping so rarely that being forced into the world of shops and pretty goods - I find myself going "ohhh, that's nice - might get that for myself" with frightening frequency. Not confined to physical shops, it also happened when I was online finding some books for friends and family.   I have ended with 3 for myself.... is this so wrong?

However, I can't feel bad about it because one of those books was Alabama Studio Sewing + Design by Natalie Chanin.   I found it very difficult to focus at work today once I opened the Alabama Studio book and couldn't wait to get home, tuck in to a chair, and get reading.

I have devoured this book.   It is truly hands-down the most helpful, un-naff, stylish, creative sewing book I have read to date.   No more frilly apron patterns or plastic bag holders - these guys have packed so many useful hints, tips, techniques, and styles into this book I feel I need to say thanks irrespective of having paid for the book.   The instructions for stitch styles are very clear.   The designs are effective.   And the generosity of laying bare all these wonderful ideas just makes you feel lucky to read the book (in a day of meagre offerings and stretching things out to make more money - it is so enjoyable to find a book that keeps giving on every single page).

I am very keen to try out some of these techniques which will all be very new to me.   If I can get myself organised in the next week, I might be able to take a few portable projects with me to pass some time whilst camping over the holidays.

Pleated handbag

I picked up this fabric at a fabricabrac sale and knew it would be perfect for a couple of bags as the prints are so eye catching and happy.

Recently I finally decided to action the plan (rather than think about the plan).  And here are the results. 

I think they have turned out great. I made the bags quite large so they are almost totes, fitting all you stuff and a book easily. This meant I only had enough fabric for one bag each, but I think its worth it. It makes them absolute one-offs.

Am in the process of popping these three handbags up on my felt site.