You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘DIY’ category.
So the big reveal on the pillows!
I am positive I have mentioned my love of Ikea’s Saralisa fabric in a past post, but let me say it again….I love the Japanese-kimono, fish-scale-like-pattern (say that all in one breath) in this print:
LOVE IT.
I used the fabric a few years ago for some bedroom blackout curtains – below in the old flat with the much hated Ikea bed that came with the flat (the sharpest corners in the world. If you love your shins avoid this cheap hunk!) – and still love them today.
I kept telling myself the pattern was too graphic and distinctive to re-use…but then broke down on the pillow front!
So here they are, my new Saralisa cushions.
I decided I didn’t want them matching, as for some reason matching pillows make me slightly retch at the moment. I also decided they should have zips. Don’t ask me why, though I guess it was because I was telling myself that it would make them more reversible – I put a black and white stripe fabric on the back.
As a result, they took me most of an afternoon as I struggled to figure out how a zip could be hidden in the seam.
Here are a couple of detail shots of the process – minus the endless unpicking! (well, ok, it wasn’t as bad as some other projects, but it did take me a while to sort out.)
Did you see that? I even hand-basted!!! Out of necessity, but STILL!
I think they turned out fairly well, and the zip is fairly concealed. I am well pleased.
( The more observant of you might notice that I snuck a shot of my beloved Glerups in there!)
Sweet Saralisa. I love you.
After months of looking at our once prized cushions, bought with our sofa only 3 years ago and already fraying in a horrifically ghetto way (grrr), a few weeks ago I decided to get on with recovering them.
(Especially as the inner feather cushions were slowly shedding their bounty all over the damn room and making it look like a chicken coop! Enough was enough.)
Here are shots of the offending covers:
So pretty, and yet so fragile, despite the deceiving weight of the fabric.
You’d think for the £50 each Highly Sprung tried to charge us for them, they would have let us know the fabric wasn’t suitable for pillows when we selected it! My only consolation is that I managed to wrangle them into throwing them in for free…so can’t complain TOO loudly. Sort of.
But just look at the fraying:
Three years, and we weren’t rough with them…it is shameful.
Alright, my moaning over, I was telling myself I would go with something understated. Maybe a natural grey wool. Something classic and probably…felted (still obsessed, yes).
So I ordered some beautiful wool swatches:
…and though I saw some beautiful fabrics for future projects, nothing really worked with the sofa.
Too dark or too light in the greys, and looked dull in our nook of a lounge. Even the brights like that fantastic orange didn’t feel right.
Back to the search I went.
I will let you see what I chose later in the week…a bit of a tease, but have to run!
I’ve been seeing more and more embroidery hoops being used for wall decor lately.
The best one so far is below:
via
What a great, easy project idea that could be done in one afternoon!
Print out your image – like the repeated eyeball above in different sizes- onto iron-on fabric transfer paper. Then transfer to fabric with iron.
You can then get a bunch of different size embroidery frames to stretch the fabric on.
I saw some at John Lewis the other day for about £1-3 – so a relatively cheap project too!
Way back in 2010 I created the Roost banner with a jpg of Cole and Sons Woods wallpaper and then later posted a shot of the bedroom in our old flat with its new wallpaper blue-tacked up and magnificently in place.
I was so pleased with the pattern back then, but always thought – as tends to be the way with me- that I would tire of it soon enough, and part of me worried that I had gone a little overboard on the spending for decorating a rental flat. I consoled myself with the fact that the paper wasn’t permanently pasted and I could take it with when we moved.
Two years on and a move to a new home, with a NEW blue tacked wall (this time in the lounge) and I STILL love it, which is unusual for me!
Every time I see it’s birch-y perfection I give a little sigh of satisfaction.
Below is a little slide show of images – starting with the new house, the same paper in the old flat , then random images I have collected over the last months.
The third in the first row even shows the paper in a caravan! FAB.
Click on images for the slideshow:
Thinking about it while writing this I have just clued in to why the paper thrills me so much (and only the black and white, though it comes in several colour ways).
The white on black, line-drawn quality reminds me of Pauline Baynes’ illustrations in the original Narnia books! (Such a shame the first movie was so flaccid and ruined the books for so many people. The series was so magical for me as a kid.)
All those black trees on yellowed pages from my grade school books. Weird that it would take me so long to clue in, but there you go.
Guess that is why I always get a somewhat snowy thrill when I look at Woods wallpaper… Nice.
The more I learn about felt, the more excited I get!
There is nothing quite like willfully doing the exact opposite you have ever been taught with wool – use hot water! SCRUB! Steam!
Fantastic.
It really calls out to the destructive bit of me that revels in crowbars. But then, with felting, you get thing fabulous, solid, water resistant…thing.
Such fun.
A dear friend of mine mentioned that she was thinking of pulling out her felting gear, so thought I would post this project early…felted ball trivets!
From one of my new favourite blogs Purlbee – a knitting blog with some jaw-droppingly beautiful projects. I wish I could knit more complex things than squares. Hmmph.
See the full tutorial here.
Another dear friend gave me a box of wool roving for xmas, so guess what I am going to be making?
Here is a quick video on how to make felt balls for those interested. Super quick and easy.
If you are feeling like something a little less restrained, what about multicoloured squares?
Snowflake shaped?
So much felt…so little time.
|
After getting my marvelous Glerup slippers for xmas I am (once again) caught up in a serious love of felt. I have been on the hunt for new felt placemats for a couple years now, and just realised that I will never find what I am looking for at the price I want…so I had better get on the making of them! This is the type of thing I have in mind: Chunky, organic and in natural colours. Likely in my favourite natural wool colours - grey and winter white. The plan? Look for some cheap, scritchy, scratchy wool sweaters at the Sally and then learn how to crochet circles. How hard could it be? (she asks, cringing) It couldn’t be much harder than knitting, can it? (more on the magnificent slippers to come once I take some photos!!) |
If you are like me, and have been somewhat avoiding the commercial madness of the holidays, you might also have waited this late for the big yuletide decoration bonanza…though I suspect I am one of the few!
I don’t usually wait this long, but it has been a busy month and time flew.
I really hate the wastefulness that comes around this time of year and cringe every time I read or hear of someone who changes their xmas decorations every year, changing colour schemes like a fashion whim. It just seems so needlessly…superficial.
It also generally means that the ornaments and decorations used are cheaper in quality and end up having that generic store display look. I know it is just my opinion, but it sort of makes me gag. !
Spurred on by a dear friend of mine who started collecting special xmas ornaments for her tree years ago, I am aspiring to only make or buy one or 2 precious new ornaments a year – unique, special ones that I will continue to love decades from now. This method also feeds my collecting obsession, and allows me to curate a precious little display (and yes, it is very little – we generally only have a small area for our decorations, so thinking a branch of ornaments hung on beautiful grosgrain ribbon with some fairly lights will do!), which I can pull out once a year and revel in.
I love this spare image below with its handmade branch star. The simplicity and uniqueness speaks of a simpler time where the holidays were more about spending quality time instead of how much money you rack up on your credit card!
via
The great thing about collecting beautiful ornaments is that you can also tell friends and family that you are collecting certain types/colours of ornaments, and it gives them something useful to get you that will remind you of them, year after year.
Also, you can create your own handmade ornaments, like the beautiful ones below for gifting to others. Use left over fabric scraps and iron on fabric transfers for the images and then sew and stuff, stitching the ribbon into the ‘pillow’ when you are closing it up. Simple but beautiful.
Don’t forget to use natural materials and real greens, like these moss wreaths below, to add a touch of classic beauty.
Not only is this method of decorating personal, creating a unique look, but it encourages a sense of tradition as you pull out those cherished pieces every year, creating heirlooms to pass down!
Only a little over a week left to go…hang in there, lovelies, and remember that the holiday is supposed to be about taking time to cherish loved ones and create beautiful memories.
Don’t get caught up in the commercial hype and stress yourselves to death!
Happy Holidays, all.
x Winston
