Craft chaos

I almost didn't do this post because, well, it's just too shameful.  In the end I agreed with myself that I'd take one (and only one)  iPhone picture of my craft chaos, and hope that you wouldn't be able to see the full horror...

This is our bedroom which has a beautiful fireplace and a nice wood floor, oh, but you won't be able to see that because half the room is covered in fabric!  Every day, James quietly steps over fabric to reach the wardrobe....it's not good.

To be fair, it's not ALL my fault.  My dedicated craft room is in the basement below the path to the house. It has a leaky roof and bad damp, and, despite doing some work on it, it's just not suitable for fabric at the moment.  I decided this shortly after I found a batch of mouldy fabric in the cupboard, luckily not my favourite fabrics, but still somewhat distressing!

Anyway, we've decided that I can use another basement room for my crafts - this one is part of the main structure so is at much less risk of damp but is currently full of all the tat that happens when you move two houses into one. 

So yesterday, I made a little progress.  Gone is Mount Fabric in the bedroom, hello to a tiny area of order in the basement - I filled up this storage unit...one of the drawers is dedicated to scraps - it's brilliant!

Plus four plastic boxes....see doesn't that look better?

Now I just need to throw away a roomful of tat so I can fit a table and my sewing machine in too!

Oh, and if you came here for patchwork, two more creations dropped off at the shop.

I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into something different, which is good because Sarah - Brit Bee queen for August, your blocks are in my head and soon to be transferred to fabric - I haven't forgotten!

x

The one that almost didn't get away...and a spot of virtual reality

I finished up a couple of items for this new shop I'm supplying in St. Leonards-on-sea.  The first is one of those cushions I posted about a couple of days ago.  It has an envelope back using a light beige soft furnishing fabric.  This a bit of a diversion from my normal dark grey backs and I like it, with the lighter back and apples it feels all a bit retro Scandinavian!

The second is try number two of a bag.  It's another tote bag with an external pocket but this time I went for a single strap, made from the bargain car boot cotton webbing I picked up and a strip of stripey fabric.

I bit the bullet and cut into my Melody Miller Ruby Star Rising print, for a patch on the front and an inside pocket...

I wasn't sure about this bag in the process as I used another biege-ish furnishing fabric (a bit so-so, I thought) for the body of the bag, but by adding that delicious print and the strap, I suddenly found I was really really quite fond of the finished product!

I handed it over to the shop though, through smiley gritted teeth, and silently vowed to make another similar one, and maybe pop online and treat myself to some more Melody Miller :)

Whilst on one hand I'm selling some handmade things, I did also manage to purchase a handmade gem today.  We went to Brighton on shopping mission for James and stopped by at the Brunswick Festival because my virtual (and now real!) friend Ilona from I Drew this had a stall with her mum-in-law, selling clothing under the brand "Oui made this". Not only did I get to meet the lovely Ilona but also her gorgeous daughter Olive, and clever stitching mum-in-law, Maureen!

(here's us trying to get Olive to look at the camera!)

They had set aside a big bag of scraps at a bargain price for me, and look what I bought for Felix!

The fabric is designed by Ilona and the reversible top is made by her mum-in-law (as well as those fab hats the littles were modelling!).  No chance to get a photo of Felix in her new top yet  - she was far too grubby by the time we got back from the beach this evening!

x