A finished cushion

Well my cushion for the bed is finished. to make the back I ironed the patchwork, then cut two pieces from an old white sheet. Using two good ends for the split bit. I applied the longer one first, which is going to be the bigger fold when turned inside out. then the smaller. I have to let you see the pics. For stuffing, I washed an old saggy pillow from the childrens room, then cut it open and re shredded the poly stuffing. It goes all flat but if you pull it to bits, it regains it's fullness. To make the inner cushion lining, I simply sewed along the pillow case again creating a square. To think I was going to throw it out - Yikes!!!

I really do need a few days clear to get the bed & drawers done. But when I have time, the weather hasn't been on my side. Roll on Summer eh?

Bunting Glorious Bunting

Bunting reminds me of village fetes and lemonade. It's also a really really cheap way to jazz up a plain colour scheme. It's really really really easy to make as well. I cut a triangle from a bit of A4 and traced round it on a cereal box so it became a bit sturdier. I then used this as my template. Cut two triangles, different colours if you want. Leave about half an inch at the side. Sew the two long sides up making sure that your biro marks are on the outside. Turn inside out. I used a pencil to squish through the points. Then the most important bit. Iron. Don't worry if the top edge of the triangle pocket is a bit rough. When you have all of your triangles, cut the tops straight. I bought some white tape which was about 3cm wide and ironed it folded over. Then I pinned my triangle tops into it, sewed right along the edge of the tape and voila!!

It's one of those things that I am glad has made a comeback.

A finished Box!!!

I have finally finished the box!! Yayyyyy. The addition of an anchor & a light house to the front gave it a nice touch. I made stencils for both by folding a bit of paper in half and sketching half an anchor and so on. It makes them nice & symetrical. I added a bit of writing to personalise it and gave it a couple of sprays with plastikote clear varnish. It has cost £16.00 plus a bit of white acrylic paint. I reckon it was worth it.

Quick exciting note.

I got the quilt today and it really lived up to my expectations. I am really thrilled with it.

I can't post pics because I am too darn tired and haven't been crafting for two days - YIKES!

Leftovers from the bunting

Well, I couldn't let them go to waste so I started this today. I know I haven't posted pics of the bunting yet, but I was excited about this cushion cover which really was dead easy and I didn't use a machine for this. I googled square template and found a 4 inch one, printed it on A4, then drew round it onto a bit of card. I then made lots of templates from thin card (greetings cards are good for this). Pin two opposite sides to the card and roughly sew the fabric (see pic). Once they are secure you can start to sew them together. I did 16 and laid them out in order and wrote it down so I know which bit goes where. I simply drew a grid and named them; plain red, Broderie Anglaise etc etc.

Nautical Box

I have painted a boat on it. I used a piece of acetate on a white sheet of A4 (so I could see what I was doing), drew roughly what I wanted after looking at cartoon type boats using google image and then cut them out. I then used felt tips in whatever colour I was using to draw round the acetate and painted. It needs another coat at this point, but I am happy. I was going to paint some lighthouses round the sides but am not sure.

General on the box & bunting

Well, to be honest I am exhausted. After working all day, I came home to find my two having a kip on the sofa. Aha says me, I will start on my box (it's primed, so I am painting a base colour which is a light aqua). I mixed one big tube of poundland blue with a bit of white acrylic that we had in the shed. Added a tiny bit of yellow (from original poundland set) and it's gone a bit more aqua-ry!!

After making home made pizzas (must do a whole post on those) and sitting sewing bunting, I am a bit frazzled, so not in order are the blue box and a pile of fabric. I visited John Lewis in the week for fabric and nearly fell off the floor at their prices. £10.00 per metre and just for poly cotton. Nope - I couldn't pay it as they didn't really have the stuff I wanted anyway. I am so grateful as I visited my local market stall who sold these lovely fabrics for £4 & £2 and they really are just as good.

Scrapbooking

I thought I would show some willing with the scrapping at this point, as it seems to be 'de rigeur'.

Soon to be Nautical Room

It's probably fair at this point to show the said room. I leave all of the building work to Hubs, he knows about these things. It's just up to me to make it look pretty. We had very flimsy doors in this room leading to a balcony. When the roof needed redoing we took the balcony out and put a new roof on thus doors leading to a very big step to nowhere. As our 5 year old son Max, is about to be in here, we decided that a window was cheapest, so we got the window for £200.00 and the bricks were free, we raided skips over the last century.

Nautical Quilt & a box

Two things to report on my quest for a nautical bedroom. I sourced a quilt from Ebay for £30.00 from Laura Ashley.

Also I found a box at B&Q, see pics, which is currently being primed as I speak, for £9.98. I will do it the same as the knobs but might have to get a template for the pics on this one. I want to put boats/light houses etc on it. I thnk for the lighthouses I will make a stencil from some A4 sheets of plastic I have. Oh and by the way I did spray the knobs with Plastikote clear varnish and it's really bought the colours out.

The Knobs

I have decided to start with the knobs as they are small and don't look like they are too frightning to start with. I sanded them with £1 shop sandpaper. After this I screwed the screw things back in to hold whilst painting.

I am doing two bits of furniture so I have splashed out on a tin of primer. This is important as I did just paint the acrylic paint on at first (against advice from Hubs) but ended up washing it off and starting again. So prime first. Let dry thoroughly. I used an eggbox and stuck a few holes in the top and perched them on there to dry. This is the best bit. I used a £1 box of acrylic paints from Poundland and mixed up white & a bit of aqua to make a seaside/sky base. Apply one coat, let it dry properly then another and you should end up with the blue knobs. After this has dried, I drew a very simple boat on the knob. Again using the acrylics from Poundland.

I am going to wait until they dry and either add another coat on the pics or just varnish. Thats the technical bit out of the way.

Tangerine hideous pine chest of drawers

This piece of furniture is amazingly solid and doesn't have any clapboard in at all. The joints are all dovetailed and nice. Therefore, I can't give it away or chuck it as there simply isn't anything wrong with it - apart from it has turned from a previously nice piece of pine furniture to the same colour as Posh/Jordan etc from being in the sun. There is a bed as well, but more of that later. I have taken the handles off at this point as I want to start on them first. Small steps and all that.....

First Post and Why?

Well, this is my first post on my shiny new blog. I have decided to write a blog because so many crafty sites/blogs involve lots of money. I do not have lots of money and tend to craft on the cheap. I love to snap up bargains and have often made something from nothing. I am about to embark on several different projects one of which involves getting my sons bedroom to look like the one from the Laura Ashley Nautical theme, without spending LA money. I have decided to paint the entire room white. White for me is good, you can spot paint walls with biro/crayon/stubborn marks and it's cheap. I can also add tons of stuff in loads of colours and hopefully (in my mind anyway) it will not look overdone.