Project: Dresser { Notes }

I thought I'd talk about the choices I made, the inspiration behind them and the tutorial I used that resulted in my favourite piece of furniture in my house (to date anyway).

The original plan for the alcoves on both sides of the dining room fireplace had been to put in shelves, because that's what normally goes in alcoves, right? I'm a big fan of different sized shelves, I like having books and curiosities displayed for all to see, possibly because it reminds me of those little magical book stores with all their nooks and crannies. I'd pinned some inspirational pictures as per normal:

{ Source: Flikr }

{ Source: Pinterest }

That plan had been in place several months now, I'd even talked over building them myself with my Mum, and how we'd construct them. It stayed my plan right up until I visited some friends in the village who moved here around the same time as me and are also doing up their own house. They'd bought a lovely pine dresser from eBay for their dining room. I love dressers, I'd just not thought about getting one as it didn't fit in with my idea of what storage I was after. After seeing theirs I completely changed my mind!

As it turned out, I had pinned a couple of pictures of dressers to my house inspiration board. The second was my direct inspiration for the style and colour of my dresser.

{ Source: Sally's Zuhause }

{ A Tapestry of Dreams }

I toyed with the idea of keeping the table top part natural wood to match my dining table but as it turned out it had been stained far darker and would have looked wrong.

I was very clear that this was going to be my sewing cupboard, everything crafty was going to be stored in the one place. I also loved the blues and greens that shabby chic seems to be predominantly painted in.

1. Cupboards 2. Door 3. Door
4. Mirror 5. Shelves 6. Crate
7. Cupboard 8. Cupboard & Shelves 9. Drawers

Picture #7 was a direct inspiration for the way that I wanted to shabby up the paint. I love the white and blue, and I did toy with painting the entire thing blue but I plan on painting the double doors to the lounge a light blue and felt that it would be too much to have another large piece of furniture the same or similar colour, and I do love white furniture. The corner the dresser's in doesn't catch an awful lot of sunlight, despite its placement right next to a huge window. The back faces north and between the mountains on either side and the house next door my little dresser's corner doesn't get very much sun, it made photographing it very difficult! Painting it white brings a little more much needed brightness to that corner of the room.

I'd found a couple of tutorials on painting, pinned to pinterest of course! I loved the idea of pulling a colour through under the white and this tutorial offered just that.

{ Source: Brassy Apple }

I didn't have any solid soap, so I borrowed the idea of a candle from this tutorial and it worked perfectly. I got a bit carried away and in a couple of places used the candle on the blue undercoat where I shouldn't have because I wanted blue and not wood, but live and learn!

The end result is some great flashes of blue, not really noticeable but visible when you look.

The ceramic striped handles were another eBay purchase and cost ... well, rather a lot actually, but are totally worth it! Aren't they great?

The only real issue I came across (other than tired arms from all the damned painting) was the very large gaps above the doors on the bottom cupboard that hadn't really been noticeable when the wood was dark. As you can see, the white paint made it very noticeable!

Luckily it was easily fixable and for less than £1! Usually, where drawers are built in to cupboards there are strips of wood running horizontally along the underside of the drawer to prevent just this sort of problem. In this case no such strip existed. In the picture below you can see the support for the drawer on the left, basically the drawer runner, but no wood under the drawer itself along the front as you'd expect.

So I nipped to my local B&Q and picked up a small piece of trim for around 79p, measured and cut it to almost the right size (I used a saw and didn't cut anything vital, yay left-handed me!). I then painted it, sanded the edges and got this:

Which I then wedged in place:

Ta da! Instant hole filler! See:

Have you painted your own furniture? Have you any tips? I've got several more pieces in mind to purchase that are all going to need to be re-vamped, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by,

Project: Dresser

Firstly I just wanted to say a massive thank you to Sarah, Suzy and Sølvi (ooh, I alliterated and didn't even realise it!) for stepping in with guest posts at incredibly short notice whilst I was away. I don't know about you but I loved every one of them. Thank you girls, I couldn't have asked for better posts!


So recently I took a road trip to pick up a dresser I'd bought with my friend, Scott, who came along as the muscle. The dresser was another one of my bargains off eBay, scored for £50. It wasn't until I'd painted it, re-attached the doors and added my new door knobs that I realised just why it was only fifty quid.

The dresser was advertised looking like this:

Blurry certainly didn't do it justice, neither did the over-crowded room it was stored in. Scottie and I heaved my new dresser over a bed and around a drum kit, past the piles of boxes and out to my Mum's RAV4 borrowed specially for the occasion (via Bridgend and a cup of tea with cake). Thankfully, it fit.

Driving very slowly, paranoid I was going to break the glass doors, I edged my way back home where Scott and I heaved it up the front steps, past the new-to-me eBayed front door (I don't think I've told you much about that yet) and past the dining room table to it's fireplace alcove. It was the perfect size.

My new-to-me dresser in its new-to-it home

Knowing my flash-in-the-pan attention span, I immediately took all the doors off, took down the top piece and began painting it. Two weeks later I finally finished painting it, I knew if I stopped it would just sit there half done forever but it was a mammoth effort in self-control just to get to the finish line. Here's the end result:

I discovered, when I put the doors back on, that everything was a little warped. Gaps around the bottom cupboard doors were hidden by the darkness of the wood, and highlighted once painted white. The glass doors also fit strangely and don't close properly. The holes for the handles have been drilled unevenly and the drawers are too thick for my new handles to fit through. It's a crude dresser, made from sub-standard pine that stank of cigarette smoke. And I love it ... well, apart from the smell.

I've shabbied up the paint work, exposing the blue undercoat I gave certain areas. I still need to finish dressing it, I have some mini-bunting planned and I'm going to paint the wooden box green, but overall I'm very very pleased with the result.

The glass cupboard holds all my patterns and my button jars, miscellaneous bits and pieces, and elastics. The drawers hold all my sewing paraphernalia that I don't want on display and the cupboards hold ... stuff. Deciding just what to put in it took a whole weekend, after three years of no storage in my dining room I was suddenly indecisive over just what I wanted to put away!

All in all, definitely worth the effort. Still, I hope it's a long time before I have to paint any furniture again!

Thanks for stopping by,

Project: Kids Bear Costume

Back in September, Jessica of Running with Scissors posted a request on her blog for pattern testers. Having seen, and fallen in love with, her kids Wolf, Bear and Fox costumes (the exact patterns she was wanting tested) I jumped at the chance. 

{ Source: Running with Scissors }

Unfortunately, a combination of poor timing and the lurgy meant I didn't finish making the costume on time, but I did successfully manage to sew the entire costume in a day (less actually, but I faff about a lot ... just in case you'd not noticed that!).

Not having children of my own I made this costume for my nephew but my sister has been completely unable to convince him to try it on! I sent it to them at the beginning of October and have finally given up hope of having photographic evidence provided of him wearing it. This means you get boring hanging-on-the-wall pictures and a silly picture of me modelling the hood.

I thought about modelling the tail too but I just couldn't get it to photograph well.

The pattern was delightfully simple to follow, despite my confusion around the gusset (which I ended up putting in from back to front on purpose but not reading instructions properly as is my way and so getting a little lost). I've never sewn a gusset before and it was a definite head-scratch moment trying to figure out the instructions which, once I had figured them out, made perfect sense if I'd just been paying attention.

I made the costume out of a fleece blanket, the result is perhaps a little thicker than needed resulting in thinner arms and legs, probably not helped by the fact I didn't press the seams very well. Although I'm not sure if I was supposed to add seam allowance (which I didn't) because (as per normal) I didn't read the instructions properly. I made the 4 year old size as my sister insists Noah is very tall for his age (I think she's delusional) and then had to laugh when she received it and thought it would be too long for him. I'm guessing we might never actually know.

Thanks for stopping by,

Project: Blushing Ted

A couple of days ago I posted my to-sew/ to-do list for Christmas decorations on the Crafty Christmas Club, a collective of crafters who come together each year to share tutorials and gift ideas. At no point on that list does it mention a blushing teddy and yet that's exactly what I ended up with last night. I love it so much I'm fighting with myself as I'd originally thought to gift it to my housemate for her baby-to-be-once-born, but now I find myself hoping she has a boy so I can keep it!

The pattern came from Sew Pretty Homestyle by Tone Finnanger and is, as ever, remarkably simple to make. I cannot recommend her books highly enough.

Fabric: White - Ikea, Patterned - Tilda from Puddlecrafts

Buttons: Stash

Blush: Paint stamp swirled on with a dry brush

Thanks for stopping by,

Project: Sorbetto { Surprise }

I thought I'd show you the latest muslin of something I've been working on for, oh, about a month now. I've joined the ranks of Sorbetto lovers, and quite rightly as it is just another example of brilliant pattern making from Colette Patterns. This is a Sorbetto with a twist, however. A Sorbetto Surprise if you will ...

Whilst I love vest tops during the summer, we're rapidly heading in to Autumn here in Wales and I was after something with sleeves. Easy enough, I thought, as Mena at Sew Weekly had posted a cap sleeve pattern. I wanted something that came in around the ¾ length mark, so I just continued on the side seam lines until I'd reached the 13" I'd decided on. The ruffle edge came about due to a picture I've had saved for around 5 years and I really just wanted to see what they looked like in real life.

The big headache has been the collar. It's still not right; despite multiple drafts it still has a small gap at the front that you can't really see the full extent of in the above pictures. My sewing of curves still leaves much to be desired, but I assure you, that is a peter pan collar. I'm tempted to continue fiddling, reduce the neckline of the main pattern pieces by a seam's width so as not to lose anything from the original line perhaps. Overall though, I really like it and am planning on making a version in red gingham, probably without the ruffle on the sleeve as I think that has a more summery and floaty feel than the current weather requires.

If people want it, and I can find a scanner, I'll make the collar piece available. Just be warned it's not perfect and could probably use some more fiddling by someone a little better at pattern drafting than me. Even Gertie's tutorial couldn't help me get it completely right. I should also admit that after four drafts I gave up on making the undercollar that tiny bit smaller as I could never get it to work when sewing it together, so it's a small one piece deal. Hopefully with a little more practice I can get the collar looking right!

Thanks for stopping by,

Project: Personalised Picture

Remy (my 2nd Cousin) & Noah, both aged 3 (or thereabouts)

It was my nephew, Noah's, 3rd birthday on 30th April. At the time I began planning what to make for his birthday he still lived in Colorado but that didn't put me off beginning the reindeer hobby horse from my favourite crafting book Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle by Tone Finanger. Then, a couple of months ago, my sister and her husband announced they were planning to return to the UK to live. Shortly after, Liz and Noah arrived, with Michael (her husband) following once his spousal visa was approved. Not only did this mean that my nephew is now on the same land mass and closer and easier to visit, it meant I'd actually get to know him in person.

Unfortunately, upon meeting him for the first time since his first birthday, I realised that all he's interested in is Thomas the Tank Engine and cars (or caaaars as he currently says it, the only word he says in American). The hobby horse idea, whilst still going ahead, would need a bit of rethinking perhaps.

And then, the weekend before his birthday, I fell ill and was unable to make it over to see them when they visited my parents. The hobby reindeer languishes on my desk beside me, its stick against the wall ready to be attached. I never got to give it to him. Fortunately, this meant I got to make something else! Something a little more postal service friendly.  

I needed something quick and easy to make, inspired by this picture on Pinterest I made a quick trip to Ikea via Asda and put together the perfect gift. Something small, tailored to Noah, easy to make and postable.

What do you think? I'm really pleased with it, despite the first print coming out green (which should tell you everything you need to know about the state of my printer). And because he's three and every child should have something they can actually play with on their birthday, I got him a Hot Wheels rumble car ... thingy ... toy. It makes noises. And talks. Just what every kid named Noah dreams of for their birthday, more caaaaars.

Thanks for stopping by,

CiN Craft Fayre

Work held a Craft Fayre on Friday to raise money for Children in Need. Despite never having sold any of my stuff, mostly because it's made from other people's templates, I decided to sign up as all proceeds went to charity. Unfortunately, because I've never sold any of my stuff I had no stock and only managed to produce a paltry 3 Easy Teddies (we nicknamed them Neopolitan), 1 and a half Day Bags and 2 lavender stuffed hearts.

Pathetic, right?

I'd been trying to keep my hopes up when everyone passed me by for the extensive jewellery selection on offer, particularly as I was very proud of my finished green bag (isn't the Ikea fabric fab?!)

It took me 3 hours to sew the 24 poppers to make the bag removable for ease of washing. 3 hours. Which is why only one bag got finished in time. Everyone thought the teddies were very cute but nobody seemed to want to buy them.

So imagine my surprise when, at the end of the day, I discovered I'd sold 2 green Day Bags, the half made Day Bag (to be finished this weekend), 4 Easy Teddies and 1 lavender heart. Not only that but I have orders for 2 vanilla strawberries, 1 lavender heart on ribbon, 1 vanilla heart on ribbon and requests for samples of my make-up bags, hobby horse, angel wings and hot water bottle cover. A win overall I think!

Thanks for stopping by,

Happy Hallowe'en!

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy Hallowe'en!

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Tutorial: Easy Teddy

This is the easiest teddy I've ever made. I should perhaps mention I've only ever made two types of teddy, but this was definitely the easiest. You don't even need a sewing machine - as long as you can sew a running stitch you can make this teddy.

YOU WILL NEED:

Some fabric, twice the size of the teddy you intend to make
A length of ribbon
Needle and cotton
Pencil
Card and an existing teddy to use as a template (or just freestyle one)
Toy stuffing
Fabric paints/ pens

1. Put something on the telly to entertain you whilst sewing. Pride & Prejudice is my film of choice because, despite loving it, I have no TV boyfriends in it to distract me

2. Ensure your workspace doesn't look like mine

3. Create your template. You can either draw around a teddy you already own, in which case make sure it's a flat, unarticulated teddy like the one pictured below ...

... or create your own template. I'm using one from Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle by Tone Finnanger. I highly recommend her books, they're filled with fabulous projects.

When creating your template remember not to draw in ears, ideally they should be a seperate template to ensure they stand up correctly but, honestly, anything goes. As long as you can sew it you'll be fine.

You'll notice on my template I've marked where to leave a hole for each ear and a hole to allow me to reverse and then stuff the teddy. You'll need to mark these on your template too. The ear holes will, naturally, be the same width as the ear and the side hole just needs to be big enough to allow you to turn the finished teddy in the right way and also allow you to get your fingers inside to position the stuffing.

4. Fold your fabric in half and place your template in the middle. The entire template will need to be sewn around, no using the fold in any way (sorry!). Draw around your template and remember to draw around your ear template twice.

Comme ca!

5. I've found that when sewing together the bottom piece of fabric tends to move about so pin your two pieces together just to be on the safe side.

6. Running stitch your way around each template using the line you drew as your guideline. A very handy tip I picked up from Tone Finnanger, sew on the line! (sorry about the over exposure here)

7. Once it's all stitched (apart from your gaps!) cut out your template with a seam allowance added. Don't forget to clip the curves. I tend to veer into a fatter seam allowance around the area for the side hole as that will need to be invisibly stitched closed and I've discovered it's easier with more fabric. The choice is yours though.

8. Turn the ears the right way in and insert into the hole you left on the head upside down (trust me). Once you've positioned them to your satisfaction sew the hole closed. In the picture below the left ear is in place and the right ear demonstrates how the ear should be positioned. You just need to insert it between the fabric inside the hole, not lay it on the top like the right ear.

9. Turn your teddy in the right way ...

10. ... and stuff! (my favourite part!)

11. Slip stitch your side hole closed. Youtube has some excellent tutorials on this stitch if you're not familiar with it but essentially you're still doing a running stitch but each complete stitch is on opposite sides of the fabric. Remember to stitch on the folded-in fabric so you can't see the cotton and when it comes to knotting the fabric poke the knot in so it's hidden.

12. Grab your ribbon and tie, tightly, around the neck to define the head.

13. Draw on your face, add any other painted features you please, iron to ensure they're wash proof (or follow the instructions of your paints if they differ) and you're done!

Thanks for stopping by,