plump pudding

Beauty and the Beast

I have been thinking about an industrial sewing machine for some time.  But there have been two factors that have put me off: price and size.  The space issue was resolved during my clean up of the studio.  The price was the next factor.

I had been watching an industrial machine on e-Bay for the past week and Stephen said that it could be an early birthday present.

So Saturday night I was watching the auction and put a bid on - and it was mine!  Hooray!  Stephen and I collected the machine Sunday and lugged it to the studio.  So here it is in all it's glory.  The Beast



It isn't a new machine but it all seems to be present and correct.  The lady showed my how to use  it, but I will have it serviced just to make sure that it is OK.  Apart from giving it a wipe over, I have re-painted the legs with Hammerite, so that it does look a little tidier now.




I have never used and industrial sewing machine before and the difference in speed is amazing.  It's about 3 times as fast - almost too fast.  But I have plans.  The first being these vintage barkcloth curtains that I won from e-Bay last week.



They are 1950s curtains and are so pretty.  I wasn't disapointed when they arrived from France. 


Stephen doesn't know it yet, but they are destined for our bedroom.  They are unlined, so I will need to take off the curtain headiing, line them and shorten them as well.  Pot of white paint for our bedroom walls and St Theresa, hang the curtains and voila it will be finished.  I know that Stephen won't like them, but I am determined to have some feminine touches in our bedroom.  And have them I will.



But before that, I have to transform this gingham into 30 washing up liquid aprons for a wholesale order.  It'a all about priorities.  Something tells me the Beast and I are going to be having a long and meaningful relationship.

The End is Nigh

Thankfully the studio sort out/re-vamp is drawing to close - but not before another trip to Ikea. 

All my bits and bobs have been transferred to my wardrobe/storage which has meant more free space in the studio, but I used to rest my feet on a pile of boxes containing my carrier bags.  It was only when I sat down to do some sewing that I realised there was nothing to rest my feet on.

One trip later (plus some help from Stephen as I just cannot get to grip with all this flat pack malarky)




I was determined not to buy any more paint and used cream gloss plus a small tester post that I had in the shed already.  A coat of varnish for the steps and they are finished.  Plus, I have to say they are so much better than a few squashed cardboard boxes - just the right height.

The last job on the list was to make the curtains that hide the freezer and the tumble dryer.




That's it.  The on-going saga of the studio revamp is finally over.  What was meant to be a quick sort out turned into a major project.  But I am pleased and I have come to love my candy pink walls (I was a little nervous when I first put it on the walls).  It's turned out to be pretty colourful, but in a subdued way.  Which suits me down to the ground.

In between, finishing off three bean bags for a friend who is coming over tonight and washing and drying four loads of washing, I had some time to look through my parcel from Repro Depot that arrived today.

I just had to buy these patterns as they were incredibly cheap.





And of course some fabric.  I just couldn't resist this pretty nursery cotton print



This Swedish style print in navy and white which is not my usual type of print, but I loved it



And finally this giraffe print fabric



I'll just have to think of some new projects to use my fabric up.

Hope you all have a good weekend.  I am writing this in my heated rollers as I have some friends coming over for a pot luck supper.  My contribution?  A large pot of curry, basmati rice, naan bread and roasted baby peppers.  Plus a batch of rock cakes. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Stash Sorting

Well, I am still sorting my way through my studio.  You'll soon be getting fed up of all this studio talk and photographs. I know I am starting to.




The Ikea filing cabinet has been assembled and the drawers filled with my staple gun, glue gun and various other bits and bobs.

Goodness knows what came over me, but I had this urge to organise my fabric into types - yes y-types, into the specific boxes.




In reality it just means that all the vintage fabric is in one box, the striped fabric in another etc etc.  It should make life so much easier, rather than wading through boxes of fabric, I will know what's in each one.




I am going to try my best to keep them in this sort of order.  I just have to keep looking at them.  My fabric has never looked this tidy.

After sorting through all my stash there were some fabrics that I have decided to let go.  Some of them (and there is plenty left) are listed in  the SHop

They are this beautiful cherry print chintz:




Dress weight strawberry print cotton



Flying Geese



Hearts and flowers dress weight cotton



And this pretty vintage floral print



Anything catch your eye?  Pop over and have a look.  They are all reasonably priced, so you can grab yourself a bargain.

In The Pink

I painted my little heart out yesterday and put the paintbrush down today.  It took two coats of pink paint for the walls, one of white gloss for the skirting boards and one of blue satinwood for the worktops.




Actually the worktop colour was a leap of faith.  Ever the bargain hunter I spotted the Dulux paint in our local cheap Hypervalue store for £2.49, but didn't end up buying it as I wasn't sure where I would use it.  Inspiration struck last night.  So before Stephen letf for work today, I popped into Penath and came home with a pot.  There was no colour name on the pot - so goodness knows what it is called.  It is definitely darker than it looked on the pot.  But once I got over the initial shock, I think it looks rather good.




The thrifted shelf has been put up (not quite straight) but who's going to be checking?  Halfway through I wished I hadn't painted it, but after a little distressing and some gold wax to highlight it, I like it. 




I have been looking for a place to hang this straw basket which a friend brought back from Britanny for me.  I lined it with Ikea ticking and glued yo yos and vintage buttons all round the edges.

My last bit of faffing around was this peg hook that came from a charity shop for £1  Painted in the same colour as the walls it's perfect display space for this little vintage doll's dress.




I am strictly a white walls sort of girl -so this colour combination is pretty radical for me.  Can I cope with sewing in a marshmallow?  Only time will tell.

Tears Before Bedtime

The school holidays started with a bang (literally) on Friday.  Just as I was on my way to school, I had a phone call from Ethan's teacher to say that he had been involved in an accident and some of the solution from a chemistry set had gone into his eye.

To cut a long story short, one of the children had taken a chemistry set into school.  Instead of confiscating the set, his teacher had told him not to mix the acids.  I'm sure you can guess what happened.  Ethan helpes clean up the mess in the toilets and either didn't wash his hands, or didn't wash them adequately.  He then rubbed his eye and transferred the chemical into this eye.

His last day of primary school ended short with me taking him to casualty and then having the wash fluids over his eye to rinse out any chemicals.  The poor thing was so brave and he ended up missing the class party in the afternoon, DVD and most of all a ride in a limo that one of the mums had organised. 

Thankfully there was no damage to his eye but timing wise it is very difficult as the school  has closed for the summer.  Ethan has left and wil be transferring and starting at secondary school and Keanan will also be starting a new Welsh school in September - which effectively means we are no longer involved in the school.  So this whole matter will have to be put on the backburner until September when I can sort it out with the headmistress.  As compensation for Ethan misising his limo ride, he is having some of the boys over next week for a DVD and pizza.  Not much compensation for me though!




This is the current state of my once (passably) tidy studio.  It was all fine yesterday.  I finished up a wholesale order and dropped it off and then decided that I should start putting items in my new wardrobe/storage area.  I then changed tack and started to sort through some boxes hidden under the curtains.  Lethal.




Goodness knows what possessed me, but I then decided that the studio needed painting.  Rather than plump for my usual white, pale pink was decided on.  Think marshmallow, but a little paler.  One trip to HomeBase later and my quest for pink paint was completed.  You can just about see the pink in the photo above - I stopped partway through the wall just for you all! 

I think I like it - usually I am a white girl through and through.  I am going to give it the second coat tonight and then I can start putting the studio back together.  Still on the list to be done are making the curtains that cover up the freezer and the tumble dryer and painting the worktop.

I did manage to go the the car boot sale on Saturday and ended up buying this lady.




She is made from plaster and she is from South America.  I really don't know whether she is supposed to be a particular Saint?  I don't think she is Mary.  Stephen's heart sank when I showed her to him and mentioned that she was for our bedroom.

Except I got a litttle bit carried away after that.  After buying her, I decided that rather than just put her up on the wall, I need to re-paint the walls.  They are rather scruffy - nothing radical, just white emulsion.

Then I started loooking on e-Bay and ended up winning a pair of 1950s grey barkcloth floral curtains.  They are in France and are being posted tomorrow.  So that should give me some time  to get out the paint and soften Stephen up.

Why can't I have one of those men who just love everything I do?  I think I am going to have to have to sneak the curtains and my lady up and present them to Stephen as fait accompli!

Completion

Well, the wardrobe is now completed and I am pretty pleased with how it's turned out.  I have to keep looking at it when I am in the studio - just to reassure myself of it's loveliness.

Please ignore the mess behind the wardrobe - that is my next task.  A HUGE fabric sort out and whatever I part with is destined for Etsy or e-Bay.  So keep checking back




First job was to remove the door and fill the holes left behind.  Then it was sanded and after a coat of primer/undercoat, two coats of Laura Ashley Eau De Nile eggshell.



Whilst I was in B&Q getting the MDF cut for the shelves, I couldn't resist these little wooden cut outs.  I bought four and glued them on to each corner.



Then of course I had to add the Laura Ashley frill - only to brighten it up a little you undertand.




And some more Laura Ashley courtesy of the wallpaper.  I am really pleased with the outcome - so much more than if I had gone to Ikea as originally planned and bought a shelving unit.  Apart from the fact that I enjoyed every minute of this makeover - all that fussing and faffing - it actually worked out cheaper than the unit.  And I do like a bargain!

And speaking of bargains, I have become a little obessessed about this studio sort out/make over and ended up back in Laura Ashley buying this beautiful fabric.




This will be the curtains that cover up the tumble dryer and freezer.  I will be stopping after that.  Promise!

Pimp My Wardrobe

I had a sucessful wardrobe hunt on Friday and ended buying a post-war Utility wardrobe from a local charity shop.  The best thing was that it was delivered Saturday morning.

In my haste to make over the wardrobe, I dragged it outside, removed the door, sanded and painted in over the weekend.




I did go slightly overboard and took a detour to Laura Ashley.  They were having a sale, so I couldn't resist.    All the pretty bits came from there: the wallpaper which is backing the wardrobe, the egg shell paint and the fabric for the frill.




As you can see it still is a work in progress.  I need to put in shelves and then paint and paper them.  Bit of a sticking point as the cutting machine in B&Q is broken and HomeBase don't sell sheets of MDF.  Once the shelves are in,  it will be just a matter of sorting through more craft stuff and arranging them artfully (obviously this will only last for a limited time) on the shelves.

Whilst in a titivating mood, the Ikea boxes were also given a facelift.  Courtesy of scrapbooking paper.




The worst part was taking out the drawer contents and filling them up afterwards.

Doing this I discovered a packet of used stamps that I had picked up on one of my  charity shop jaunts.  I liked the idea of having one odd box out of the rest.




Although you can't see it in this poor lighting, the front really shines dues to a few coats of PVA glue.

After all that frivolity, it was down to some work.  I put together my box for Claire .  She kindly agreed to take some of my items with her to a craft stall that she is doing.  So that will be in the post today - thanks!

And then it was back to the pincushion.  Hopefully  Sarah  will like it. 



I used beautifully soft creamy yellow wool felt for two sides of the pincushion.  The other two are vintage 1940s Sooty and Sweep Fabric.  Again, this one is weighted at the bottom for extra stability.

And if you can't resist, it is in the Shop

Thrifty Goodness

After my clearout this week, I am pressing on with the clearing out.  Plus there always seems  to be something going on with the boys and school.


Tuesday and Wednesday evenings were the end of year school play: The Wizard of Oz.  And of course Ethan wore his tree costume.  My parents went the first night and brought the boys back home with them and I did my duty for the second night.




Whilst I do enjoy the plays, there is always an element of missing something as the boys go to a Welsh school and I don't speak Welsh.  My level of proficiency is enough for me to catch the jist of what they are saying - although there are parts that I just miss altogether.  Still that's the price I have to pay for not learning.

Last night was the last Youth Club for this term. Which meant a BBQ and a later finish for the children.  Keanan was in his party pooper mood and we watched How Clean is Your House whilst Ethan went out and enjoyed himself.

I am slowly making inroads into my sorting out of the studio and my lastest purchase is this vintage work basket.



It is a little grubby but the inside is all intact and not too bad.  I bought it with the intention of being able to  put a few sewing bits and bobs inside it when I need to take some sewing out and about with me.

My pear pincushion fits perfectly inside it.




Still on the pincushion theme, a pincushion in progress




Sarah from Pink Petal Designs   Liked my pear pincushion but I didn't have any of the blue wool felt left.  But I did have a large piece of this buttery yellow felt.  Which went perfectly with this vintage 1940s/1950s Sooty and Sweep fabric.

I need to finish this one up and show it to Sarah.  Let's hope she likes it.  Please mail me if you feel the need for a pincushion.  I can always put a few in the shop



This next part is for my friend Theresa who is convinced that the charity shops I go into, keep items back until I go in and then they put all the lovely items out for me!

I have had a beanbag order and needed to go and buy the fabric.  Killing two birds with one stone, I popped into a charity shop that sells furniture and bought myself a wardrobe for the studio - to be customised of course.  And in the charity shop opposite was this shelf.

The lady working explained that so many people had picked up the shelf, but were put off by it's distressed finish.  Which is EXACTLY what drew me to it.  Rather than inflict this on Stephen, it is destined for the studio.  But not before a lick of Laura Ashley's Eau de Nile eggshell paint.

More jobs to add to the To Do list.  Along with my wardrobe that is being delivered tomorrow.  Time to crack  open the paint.

 

  

Plodding on

After posting yesterday, I popped to Ikea, had a good old mooch around and came home with a cream filing cabinet.  It wil be perfect for keeping my glue gun and smaller crafty items in.  If only I could figure out how to assemble it.




I think I have it upside down which explains why the one drawer I have put together won't fit.  I think I am going to have to admit defeat and enlist Stephen's help.

As a result of Monday night's sort out, there is a small pile of craft items surplus to my requirements.  Here they are all and they are for sale ibn my Etsy Shop




Oodles and oodles of bright red 25mm bias binding



Mixed rolls  of bias binding in yellow, black and burgundy



More 25mm bias binding - this time in baby pink Sold thanks!





Vintage rugmaker in its original box  Sold Thanks!



Master Bavaria: a vintage peg doll kit



Master China peg doll kit Sold Thanks!

and finally the cutest vintage party invites  Sold Thanks!




I was rather loathe to part with these, but somehow I don't think my boys would want to send these out!

Studio Love

It all started with the "need" for a new pincushion.  I had seen a pear pincushion on Etsy and dithered before deciding that even though I could make one myself, I was going to treat myself and buy one.

When I went back to the seller's store, it was sold!  That'll teach me to dither. 




Undettered, I decided that I would sew one for myself and even used some 1950s vintage fabric that I have had for ages.  Perfect.




I used rice to weight the pincushion down at the bottom.  It feels just like a baby's napkinned bottom.  Perfect for patting.   But after I had made the pincushion and decided to photograoph it in the studio, I realised that my studio was in a real  mess. 

So no blogging for me last night, just some sorting out and weeding.   The result?

A perfectly tidy(for now) worktop and pidgeon boxes.  Fancy a tour?




Just to the right is my sewing machine and this is where I cut out and sew.




All my ribbons have been put on this old spice rack instead of languishing in baskets.  Bows and embellishments in a jar, along with buttons and all my pens and pencils in my vintage Cadburys Roses tin.




The radio just above my sewing machine.  Tuned into Radio 4 ready.




Storage boxes from Ikea which hold fabric scraps and buttons etc in another.  Lampshades ready to be recovered.




Vintage 1940s/1950s clogs hang just inside the door.  Until last night these were hidden away in a box.



Eye candy that serves no purpose.

And  just to show you that I still need  to tackle  my fabric and the other side of the studio, here's a photo of some of the mess that still  remains.




I am off to Ikea to buy some storage solutions.  I think this studio tidy up may take some time and will necessitate a Studio Love Part 2.