Fabric Stash Not at its Best!

Do I show and tell or hide away all incriminating evidence of how much of a mess my fabric stash has become? Believe me I have asked myself that a few times over the last day or so!! You see I'm lucky enough to have a lovely large cupboard from IKEA that was bought especially for my fabric but over the last few months as 'a crafty hen' has got busier and busier so my 'cupboard' has got untidier and untidier to the stage it has become impossible to find anything or even to put any fabric away in there. So the question has been do I admit to working in these conditions or lead you to believe that my work space is one of calm and serenity. 

Oh well here goes!

  

It started off as such a lovely space to organise and display my stash in lovely neat stacks of colour and pattern. A way of finding fabric quickly and being constantly inspired but alas no! My work time has swapped from nap time which is no longer to an hour or two of an evening and most nights I work until I can no longer focus on my sewing as my eyelids are closing or until my OH wants to claim my 'work space' back to the bedroom it shares with and kicks me out so he can go to sleep! So I inevitably leave my fabrics out or do I quick tidy away which has over time become a case of 'folding' and placing in a bag conveniently placed by my cutting table.

  

So enough is enough! I can't continue like this with such a mess and a disgrace of a fabric stash on my hands! So a plan of action has been made and my plan for the Easter holidays is to have a BIG tidy up!! 

My plan is to remove most of the fabric on the left hand side which is vintage or thrifted and in general the fabric that I am not using as much at the moment and to store it in the loft, you didn't think I would be able to part with any did you?!! This is where to me my plan has faults as I really don't like the idea of not having all my fabric to hand! But I'm going to have to learn to cope! I'm hoping to them rearrange my piles and hopefully to leave at least one shelf clear that will house the fabrics that I am currently working with which means they have room to go even when time is short.

So yes when others have Easter plans of camping trips and days of relaxation mine are of folding and stacking fabric! With the odd day out of course! I have already made a start and already it feels good! A little organisation and tidy up is, I think going to be good for 'a crafty hen' and as I've already managed to do a little I'm already beginning to notice a difference. 

So there it is a little like airing your dirty laundry in public! I've gone and done it and it feels ok!! In fact I feel even more determined to sort it out though it's going to be slow progress as I keep getting distracted by all the fabric I had forgotten about and remembering what I bought it for and all the projects I have yet to sew!

But one thing at a time!

Me Time!

Tonight I am enjoying the view of my sewing area.
For today I have finally managed to do some sewing for myself and family! 

And it feels good!

At Home With The Blues

I love the colour blue, especially when found on this Cathrineholm coffee pot that Mr D spotted at a vintage fair on Saturday for the ghastly sum of £6! 

 

 

I'm hoping this means that our thrifting drought has ended! 

It's now taking pride of place in our kitchen. And taking centre stage in our garden is my new blue hydrangea. The photo does not do the vibrancy of the colour justice. It is such a gorgeous blue and a welcome splash of colour in the garden especially under the grey skies we have been having lately.

And on my work table this small fat quarter makes my heart jump, every time I catch a glimpse of it. It is such an attractive blue and being voile it is so silky to the touch.

My regret is that I only managed to buy such a small amount off Kate from misformake. It is such a powerful blue and I am having to stop myself from getting too distracted by it's charm. 

Vintage pizazz!

Doesn't it feel good to tick things off your to do list! 

And this project has been waiting in the wings patiently for quite a while. I'm eager to turn our box room into a lovely girls retreat, with just enough pink but equally filled with a mix of new and vintage fabric and finds. So transforming this;

 

into this,

was high on my list, but it still didn't have that pizazz. 

It needed something. So after a quick rummage through my vintage stash, 

cushion one appeared,

And just in case it got lonely and to make the chair extra comfy a second cushion appeared.

It's lovely as little E who is now a whopping 8 months old got all excited when she saw her transformed chair, her chubby legs went berserk and she grinned like a Cheshire cat.

I'm beginning to think she might already share her mummy's obsession with fabric! 

A Gourmet Mushroom!

I have been eagerly waiting for the postman to knock at the door for some time now. Every morning I have been checking almost stalking the poor postman for I have been waiting for a lovely prize to come all the way from Canada.

A while ago I stumbled across deedee9:14  a great design blog. I think it appeals to me as it features a lot of posts on vintage chairs and they are something that given more space and a lot more money I know I could quite easily become an obsessive collector of!

 Whilst I was taking a look around I happened to notice that they do monthly giveaways. Now normally I don't enter, I tend to have a "I never win" attitude but for some reason I was feeling very positive and thought what the hell. So I'm sure you can imagine my surprise a few days later when I read that I had won the April giveaway a pair of vintage wooden mushrooms from "hindsvik" who were sponsoring the giveaway and have an etsy shop selling vintage home decor and furniture.

 I must say I'm very taken with these little guys. I love the fact that they have flown over the Atlantic to get here, making them better travelled than I. There cracks give them aged beauty much like the wrinkles around my eyes!!  And I no longer have the opinion that I never win anything, in fact seeing as it's Wednesday maybe a should pop off and do the lotto.

Well you just never know, think of all those chairs I could buy!!

Orla Kiely Extravagance!

Just when I thought the week was going to end without any sewing getting done, 

Mr D comes to my rescue!

I've been wanting to make more cushions for the lounge for some time and after seeing this lovely Orla Kiely fabric on ebay a few weeks ago I just knew it would be perfect.

So with the kids occupied I grabbed the chance to knock off another project on my to do list.

I've used some ticking fabric on the back that I bought for only £1.99 a meter so that makes me feel better about the price of the Orla fabric.

Then again sometimes you deserve a little extravagance.

So now with all 3 kids tucked up in bed, some music playing and a glass of wine on the go, well it is Friday night! I think I might just go and collapse on the sofa.

Have a good weekend xx