Oh How I Heart My Rocking Chair... X

I have fallen head over heels for my new rocking chair.... Believe it or not but I found this beauty in a Thrift Store looking quite sad and sorry for itself. As I approached this little gem I immediately saw its potential. Stupidly enough I was so busy and excited restoring it that I didn't take any pictures of it in its sorry little state (Probably for the best though......as it would make the hardest soul shed a teary tear....As I approached it I swear it was rocking back and fourth in a whirlwind of tumble weed).

So anyway one quick trip to the thrift store, £15 out of my pocket, chair shoved in car and home we go...!

As I take the chair into the house I am visualising paint shades, fabric prints for perhaps a cushion, a lifetime of rocking! I am so unbelievably excited and full of wonder at this poor little chair. I get on it straight away and spend the afternoon shedding its skin with a sander and with each stroke I see that this chair is going to be the envy of all chairs.

I decided to paint the chair in a bright white satin paint (I contemplated a Devonshire cream but I feel a bright white shade would bring this chair out and make any room that graced it look lovely and fresh and full of spring!) I’m thinking Shabby Chic!

I also spent hours trawling the internet looking for a suitable fabric for the cushion...I wanted something in a Laura Ashley / Cath Kidston style print but clearly not one to follow the herd I wanted something completely different and to almost give the impression that I had broken in to granny's house, stolen her curtains and made a delightful cushion out of it! And I think the globaltex fabric I choose completely works. I purchased this beautiful medium weight fabric for £3.99 per meter. This unique print incorporates large floral clusters consisting of a pair of peonies, with small clusters of flowers and leaves on a gorgeous duck egg blue back ground and just looks exactly like what I envisioned...actually I tell a fib, having bought this online and being too cocky to read the measurement of the print in the description I expected exactly what I saw in the photo and was slightly shocked when the postman bought a package with my fabric wrapped up nicely and the print was x10000 bigger hehe but all is ok because luckily I quite like this style just the same.

So I bought some thick foam from the foam shop..(I'm not sure if everyone is lucky enough to have a foam shop or whether we are the lucky ones or whether it is a national, international, multi national thing. for everyone to have a foam shop....I just don't know so if you haven't seen one in your local town than have a look on the internet as there are lots of places selling foam.) For a bargain at £5 (+ 50p charge for using card as I had no cash...Eeek!!)

So with everything I needed at the ready and the chair all prepped and ready to go...I set about making this chair beautiful again. I slapped a white coat on the chair and left to dry in the garden, whilst I broke into grannies not to steal her curtains but to beg her to help me make a professional looking cushion with zip. Luckily enough for me she wasn't too alarmed, she put the kettle one and set about showing me how to make my cushion. Now I can use my sewing machine and quite well but I am a beginner and tend to do things unconventionally and yes most of the time muff it up, I am an experimenter, extraordinaire, alchemist trying to make something out of nothing so on this occasion I thought it only sensible to get Nan to show me the ropes and hopefully make me a gorgeous, mind blowing, most comfortable, well fitting, pretty cushion.... and she did...within minutes! She cut the template out of newspaper for the foam, worked out a few seam allowances, and clippty clapped a zip in!!! I was so impressed and I have taken what I have learnt (from the best.... She used to make shoes for Clarke’s, she does loads of alterations for people in the town and she started off stitching up dead bodies in the morgue...I tell no lies, she is Pro-Fesh!) And promise in the near future to make one of my own with all the gold dust advice she gave to me!! But I think this is fine, this is what life is all about, learning from others, taking what you need, giving what you have and adapting it in your own little way...this is what make the world go round...so don't be down hearted if you need a little help, feel lucky that you can learn and are not scared to.

So Walla, shazam, puff…...Here is my Rocker....I am so happy...She is called Robyn...Robyn the Rocker....and she is perfect in her own pre loved way...She is by no means perfect but who is? She is just lovely and that is all that matters! (For the more technical bit all in all she cost a grand total of £25 to buy and make all in all.....BARGAIN!!

(P.s As Robyn has obvious signs of previous Loving…Like a few dents and dings here and there I cleverly distressed her with a bit of sand paper after I had painted her (Crazy?!) so she looks old and worn yet fresh and lovely…this all adds to the shabby chic charm I was going for!)

After having taken on this project I have been wondering who would ever want to buy something from a catalogue, something that is exactly the same as everyone else’s, something that is off a conveyor belt, out of the factory, mass made for the masses when you can adapt, adjust, refurbish, restore, renovate to make something one off, something that ONLY YOU will have and something that will make everyone come in to your home slightly envious and Say...Where did you buy this, where can I get one?

LOVE LOIE X X

Cry Baby Bunting..

And I could because I have just finished making my own bunting and it looks A.M.A.Z.I.N.G if I don't say so myself...and it couldn't be easier!!

There is something really lovely and special about bunting and I think it has something to do with my childhood.
Whenever something special was happening in our little town the bunting strung up from lamp post to lamp post would send out a silent alarm screaming....something special is happening!! Whether it would be the town market, or the outdoor swimming pool gala, or the flower show (Yes, it all went down in our town ha), roller disco and even the good old V.E.Day rendition – that went horribly wrong!

(I think the V.E Day rendition needs to be explained and could possibly explain a lot .... I don't know whose idea it was or why they did it but it was organised that the street in our main square would be closed and the roads lined with trestle tables, full of cake, sandwiches, and drinks to celebrate/ Commemorate V.E Day. Mum dressed us all up in Evacuee outfits (Which involved a brown hessian type coat and black shoes) and tagged us with a pin and a brown label that proudly displayed our names in big black ink!!
We arrived at the square only to find a sense of hysteria with children crying and wailing and mums trying to calm everyone, it seems the faux evacuee send off had gone horribly wrong and the children had actually assumed we were all being sent away.
After a few crisps (yes mum said we should only eat food that had come from a packet, because there were a few undesirable types in the town whose hygiene needed to be questioned) we left rather excited that we were going home, to OUR homes, to play with OUR toys and to sleep in Our own bed! I can still remember blinking up in to the evening sun at the white, red and blue bunting flapping around in the breeze and to this day you will never see Royal blue in my bunting ...Oh no!)

So anyway, Bunting...Bunting is a brilliant way of signifying an occasion, for celebrating the seasons or for just cheering up a room! You can have all kinds of bunting, all different size, colours, textures...It is never ending! I have chosen medium weight cotton fabrics with a medium sized triangle and have deliberately chosen mine to contemplate and yet clash... (as you will see in the photos). You could use really clashing fabric prints for instance, dots, stripes, cheques, florals .....or colours for instance, Pink and Reds, Blues and Greens. You could break all the rules and have different size triangles or shapes, and if that isn't enough to think about try using paper....The possibilities are endless!

Fabric Bunting

What You Will Need:

Fabric

Bias Binding (Or ribbon)

Card / Paper Template

Pinking Shears

Pins
Sewing Machine Or Needle and thread

Instructions:

Cut out a triangle template on to card or paper or even better baking paper. I drew my own up and each triangle roughly measures 7.5" Width by 7.5" straight down the centre. But play around and decide on a size that suits you.

Pin template to fabric and cut round with pinking shears. (Pinking shears are a handy jaggady edge scissors that cut the fabric to prevent it from fraying) Ensure fabric is right side up if it has a print. I have used 10 triangles on a 3 mtr length or bias binding but do more or less according to the length you want your bunting.
I also only did one sided triangles as they are strung up on my wall and no one will see the other side but if are hanging the bunting outside from tree to tree for example, or in a window it might be pretty to see both sides so you will need to either use double sided fabric or double your amount, pair them up and stitch / whizz them together on your sewing machine.

Lay bias binding out and place triangle where you want them, I have measured the gap between my fabric triangles and have done 3" between each but you can do it however way you want it....! It's also important to remember to leave enough room at the ends so it can be tied or pinned to tree or wall for example...I have left 12" free. Then when you love your layout fold the bias binding over the top of the triangles so that the fabric is tucked in and pin along. Or you can do opposite and fold the fabric over the binding...This is more time consuming as you will have to keep measuring the length of fabric so it all hangs well but again it’s completely up to you.

Now finally stitch / sew along bias binding to secure triangle to binding! I used a small straight stitch but zigzag looks good. Either stitch along whole length or just on triangles. Remember to remove pins as you go and there you have it!

Now let the addiction begin...Not content with my gorgeous shabby chic red dotty bunting I now have walls and walls layered with all different types of bunting....There is so much fun to be had with this and it is so easy...I made mine in about 30 mins! The most time consuming bit was picking out the fabric...!! My second attempt I decided to do a bit of a lucky dip in my fabric drawer and picked out whatever my hand (not head) chose!

Hope you love it.

Love, Loie x x