The laundry gets a facelift :)

Here is the laundry after a bit of a 'lift' and change of colour.

The bench is an old one rescued from a yard sale, which got a few coats of paint a couple of years ago. During the summer it stays outside on the front veranda, but each Autumn we bring it indoors for the Winter months. A made to measure padded box cushion came from the local fabric store. Covered with 100% cotton red buffalo check fabric from Etsy seller Honeybeehumble. The red and white striped oxford style pillow is a shirting fabric, also from an Etsy seller 'Vintage Urban Girl' . I was still missing some plain co-ordinating red fabric, which I managed to find at a local thrift shop in the form of a torn red wool blazer that was hiding in a box, for just $1! Once I had used the pinking shears to cut up it up I was surprised at the amount of fabric I could use, more than enough to make the little square pillow below. The rest has gone into my fabric stash to be used at a later date. Inspiration for the hand embroidered birdie pillow came from a wonderful book called Sew Pretty Homestyle, mentioned in a previous blog post last year.
It's now a nice cosy place to sit and read with a cup of coffee or glass of wine by the fire.
Of course Archie couldn't resist jumping up and claiming a spot immediately!

Hazel x

Let there be more light!

Last week I made a 'light tent', in preparation for the winter days when there won't be as much daylight to take decent photos of my 'sewing projects'.

First I had to find a sturdy cardboard box.

Then came some careful measuring .....

Some tricky cutting out .....

Finally I covered the inside of the box frame with white card and the holes on the outside with some polycotton sheeting, taped down with cellotape. 
The final step was to find a suitable light to place over the top so as to eliminate any shadows.

I am still in the process of finding the best way to position the light and I could possibly do with another one, so I can have one on each side. I found that the light from the energy saving bulb worked best, as it gives a white glow rather than yellow.

The tent (or box) definitely eliminates most of the shadowing but with an extra light source it should be even better. I shall try it out with coloured card too, as I prefer a soft blue background, especially for the felt animals, the white card looks a bit grey.

This week I am working on my laundry room, having ordered some fabric online from Etsy, I am very excited to get measuring and snipping once it arrives in the mail box :)

At the moment I just have a bare canvas, Craig repainted the bench as it was a teensy bit worn from being outside all summer. The blue accessories have been moved elsewhere and it is ready for a make over .....

Hazel x