Tuesday 2 February 2016

Done-Up Dining

BEFORE





These chairs we bought last year at charity shop for £60 (including table). Fabric remnants were bought at charity shop in Wolverhampton for 99p each. You can see from the 'before' photo that the chairs had water marks on them from where I had attempted to clean them as they were quite grubby! My hand ached for days after this project from removing dozens of industrial staples from hardwood and hammering in hundreds of tacks! Worth it though.

Woodstock-Worthy Waistcoat


Ok, now my friend Paul is going to be cross with me for failing to take a 'before' photo, but sometimes I just get a bit excited to be starting a project and that part gets overlooked. So, with the total absence of a before photo, I will describe instead.

I found this thing - not sure if it was a long top or a dress in a charity shop in Wolverhampton. Initially, I tried it on as I liked the embroidery, but I hated the shape of it, so put it back on the rail and walked away. Then I had a lightbulb moment!! As its jersey fabric, it wouldn't fray, so I knew I could easily transform it. It had tiny buttons at the front, down to the waistline already,making it very suitable for a waistcoat. I cut off the sleeves, then cut from where the buttons met, down to the bottom. Then cut all around strips of about a centimeter wide. I gave each one a little tug and they roll in on themselves an make great fringing.

The finished look is really folksy and will be great for gigging in. Roll on next gig!!

Darling Driftwood


I was frustrated by my longer necklaces tangling up,and hanging them from drawers and cupboards got annoying, so I threw together this natty hook rack from a piece of driftwood from a beach visit, some old hooks from the 'hooks' box,and little bits of broken china,which I have been collecting from in the earth in our garden- you know- the bits that just turn up when you're digging about. It certainly does the job well and is hanging on the side of my wardrobe.

Monday 1 February 2016

From Dull to 70's Dreamy

BEFORE

AFTER
I got a little bored with the plain green lamp in our lounge. Then I remembered I had bought this vintage fabric in a charity shop a month or so back, with the intention of re-covering the dining chairs (more on that soon), but the fabric didn't really look right for that project, so I used a little bit here, and at some point I might make a dress with the rest. Easy enough to do -I just cut it to size, then stuck it to the edges of the existing shade using my hot glue gun. Quirky enough to sit beside our second-hand (what else?) sofa which is looking very groovy with its crochet throw-picked up for around a fiver from a charity shop in town.