Sew On! Vintage Fabric Bedspread Sewing Project

I told you about the vintage fabric I picked up at the Vintage Fair the other week for a fiver. Well, I finally got around to sewing my bedspread and cushion cover with it!

Vintage silky fabric

It's such a pretty fabric with a slight sheen. The ditsy florals look to be screen printed as they are not on the reverse side. Part of the fabric was already hemmed (I think it had originally been curtains) so I cut off a strip large enough to make a single cushion cover for my bed and used the rest for the bedspread.

JL Mini Machine comes to the rescue!

I made the cushion cover a little bit too big! I'm always afraid of making them too small so there is a bit of room at the sides. I then created a flap to insert into the finished cover. It worked a treat!!

TaDa! The finished cushion.

That just left a giant swathe of fabric to hem for the bedspread!

I'm very pleased with the results though. As a novice on a sewing machine I don't think I disgraced myself too much!!

The bedspread in situ- looks lovely!

Have you been up to anything crafty over the weekend?
                              x

Cath Kidston for the smallest room in the house!

We've been wondering quite what to do with our downstairs loo- the smallest room in the house. 

 The position of the door means it's often left ajar and one wall can be seen so what better way to style in up than to give it some vintage glamour in the shape of Cath Kidston Wallpaper!

We have quite a bit of Cath Kidston in our home and the florals in the antique rose bouquet paper really echo my love of vintage and the 1930s style of the house.

Hallway. The colours in the wallpaper really match the original stained glass in the 1930s front door.

Lounge. Just the chimney breast in here above the original 1930s marbled oak fireplace.

What do you think?!

The Loo!

(Even the hand soap matches)

See what I meant about the door being left ajar?!

My eldest has got to be one of Cath Kidston's biggest fans! A few years back she created a vintage style Union Jack made from Cath Kidston oilcloth. What can I say? A love of vintage is definitely being passed on down!!

Vintage style Union Jack in CK oilcloth & fabric. (Artist/seamstress aged 11)

What does your loo say about you?!
                  x

Getting Crafty!

I'm not really one to sit still so I've been channelling some of my energies into a few creative and crafty outlets and encouraging my girls into these things too. (There is so much more to life than what's on TV!)

Even though the results are not always perfection, I love the fact that using a little imagination, a sewing machine, glue or a staple gun, things can be totally transformed and relationships are built in the act of creating together.

A little bit of make-do-and-mend, re-use and re-cycle and there is once again new life.

This is the latest mini-project: Tea Light holders from Jam Jars.

Jam Jar tea light holders

 As my daughters absolutely love Cath Kidston they've been using paper fabric samples from the CK magazines to decoupage cover the jam jars, don't they look good?!

Cath Kidston decoupage

Add a bit of CK patterned tape, a wire hanger, some beads and old money and you have a gorgeous creation to sit around in the dying light of a Summers evening.

Beaded holders

Resources!

Possible decoupage materials

They've also been decorating their jars as money boxes so they can allocate funds to save. I'm a firm believer in accurate stewardship of everything, especially money so I love it that they chose to use the jars to this end.

Kitsch homes for savings

Far more glam than a piggy bank!

I've found in these mini-projects that the final result is only a small part of the process; we've loved learning, trying and collaborating just as much.

What make-do-and-mend projects are you into?
                           x