Dress making and home decorating

Yesterday I had to rush off and make a dress well it is all finished and I have a picture to show you however it is only on the hanger and this doesn't really do it justice. I will post another when the lady I'm making it for is back from her holiday and hopefully she will not mind having a shot taken with it on.  It is a halter neck  style and has a concealed zip at the back. The skirt has a nice round fullness to it and will be worn with a co-ordinating petty coat under and I have also done some belt loops so it can have a red ribbon tie ( this is yet to be bought)  I love this style and will make one similar for me when I see some bargain fabric but I will  have traditional straps as I don't feel the halter neck style suits me.

I have some cotton jersey that needs sewing up first though, it was only £2.99 a meter and I bought a meter and a half so I really need to get on and design something for that first. I'm off on holiday this Saturday so I should really get up early and do it in the morning to take with me.. Ii will see how energetic/inspired I feel. 

Has anyone else been enjoying Kirstie's fill your house for free, I have really enjoyed watching the different transformations of peoples homes without spending a fortune. If anyone hasn't seen it  you can watch it here

I think it is such a good idea to encourage people to transform their existing furniture and accept help when it offered in the form of sofas etc. when they are first starting a home. There are so many people who think they should have everything brand new when they really can't afford it.  When we moved into our first house 20 years ago I did have enough saved for a new sofa and kitchen table but there were other items we saved on. My husband got all the kitchen door fronts from a business that sold only these, they were plain white and were hugely discounted, he took the old doors off and replaced them all. We also got white tiles from another bargain warehouse and he did the back splash, it looked fabulous and hardly cost anything.  Now it was only one wall and our fridge and cooker at that time were free standing but that didn't matter.  I also got some drawers , a dressing table and a blanket box from a market that did house clearance furniture, the stall holder was really helpful and even told me how to strip the varnish as it was very dark. I spent the afternoon applying many coats (they also delivered fro me) I varnished them a much lighter colour and we used them for years. Some people turn their noses up at used furniture and I really don't get it as the older stuff is usually real wood

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 Painting dark items also works well. I think the cabinet above is great and I found it here

What about this next one, the chair here makes me want to go and find some old chairs so I can have a go!

I found the chair on Home- Dzine

I have a blind to make for my bathroom as well, so many things to get on with. The one that is up is dull and in need of replacing so I am keeping the mechanism bit with the roll and I got some fabric a while ago from Ikea only £5 I am going to replace the fabric put the long flat bit back in the bottom in a channel (I don't know the technical term!) and then glue along the top to the original roll and hope it works, I will let you know how I get on.