A Quick Dress Between Painting

I have been painting all day, well I had to have a brief period before I could add another coat to the first items so I decided to run up a quick dress to have a change of activity.  I started painting my table this morning, then moved on to the chairs while that was drying then a cupboard in the bathroom that needed touching up.  I have to say by this point I was ready for a change, so I thought I would use this paisley print I bought in  a sale a while ago.  Nothing too fancy I just cut around a t shirt shape I like with cap sleeves and made the back longer than the front, I cut it out long enough to make a dress and also a long strip for a belt.

I think I will add elastic at the waist as I feel when it is just a belt I am constantly arranging the pleats that gather at the waist, an elastic keeps them nice and even for you and doesn't take long.

This is comfortable as the fabric is nice and soft, it is a woven fabric no stretch so I cut a bit bigger to allow for ease of getting it on and off without the need for fastenings.  It was a good easy make and a nice break from decorating.

Having only just finished the second coat on everything, three coats of varnish on the table, I am ready for a rest!  I have a copy of Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope to get on with my next instalment of the Austin Project, I have seen a few poor reviews for this so I will see what I think.  Sometimes it is best to find out for yourself as I have read books with rave reviews that have been terrible so you never know.

Tomorrow I will choose some fabric for the chair seats so I look forward to sharing the finished items with you and early next week my hall and stair carpets should be fitted so hopefully things will be looking more presentable.

A Sew Day

Today I have had something of a sewing frenzy, a friend of mine dropped off a bag of alterations she needed sorting yesterday and I thought I would get them all done in one swoop.  Sometimes I think it is better that way as if these things  hang around in the background they are sort of there on your mind niggling at you.  There were hems, sleeves, turn-ups, buttons to be changed and curtains to be shortened with tie backs made.   To be honest there was only a thin strip left for the tie backs from the bit I chopped off the bottom but she had brought pom pom trim, can't everything be improved with pom pom trim?  Well here they are and I suddenly have an urge for tie backs decorated in this fashion.

So now that is off my mind I can move onto my next upcycle job and that is to restore some life to  a set of dining chairs that have been given to us by my mum.  She has been saying for quite a while that wanted a new set and I have to say that we have had four sets of chairs yet she has had her set nearly all my life. My current set have two splits underneath, we are not a clumsy family they just don't seem to last, my mothers set on the other hand are very 70's well worn but solid.  I think with some attention they could be great and maybe be a set that will last us too. Here they are at the moment and they are not pretty right now...

They are scuffed and some of the seats have small areas of wear but that is ok as the frames are solid, I need to rub them down to prime and then change the colour.  We have also removed the seat so I can add extra padding and new fabric to the tops.  I will take more pics once this is all complete, my dining table is still in its rubbed down state too so I will be painting the legs on that to match the chairs.

I don't know how I will be able to go back to school in September there is just too much to do ;)  well best not think about that just yet and enjoy the remaining time left.  My oldest son and my mum both have holidays to Spain booked as we all go back in September, the nice bargain kind of holiday that School staff can never have.  I know it is the same for families with School age children but that said there are a lot of people that choose to take them in term time and I can see it may be the only way to afford a family holiday.

This week I need to get back into doing my pilates, I did months where I never missed a day and marked it off my checklist each time then we went away and I just stopped.  I think I have done two half hour sessions since we got back.  It is very strange do I need a list that badly? Maybe, so I will start a new one immediately I don't want it to turn into months of not doing it.

Right I am off to start the dinner as that is one thing I can't forget to do as there are people asking what we are having.

This and That

Argh! I am a day late with this post after promising myself I would stick to Tuesday and Friday posts oh well it is done now.  Last night we went out for tea with family to a place we haven't tried before and it was fabulous.  They offer small servings as well as full meals so you can have tapas style dishes instead of choosing one big meal. We don't go out often but try to meet up with my mother in law and her partner every few months and go out. We will definitely be going there again as they had a choice for vegetarians and vegans which is rare.  If you are from the Sheffield area it is called The Pheasant and well worth a visit the website is here if you want a peak.

I got this image from the website as it was pouring with rain when we went out, I am sure it is good to sit out front in finer weather. There was also live music on and they were good, acoustic guitar and singing a variety of music.

Today was supposed to be when my tiles went down on the hall floor, unfortunately after another layer of old tiles were pulled up an large crack has been found underneath.  So not wanting to lay expensive tiles on this even if it was filled we made the decision to take them back and choose a floor that would withstand possible future movement.  We chose a grey herringbone effect vinyl and a grey stair carpet, I am a bit sad  about returning the tiles but it would have been worse if they were down and then later cracked.  It is a bit worrying about how much movement is going on with the house but I suppose any house of a certain age will have some of these problems.. My husband has put down insulating material and now says he will board it over before they come to lay the vinyl, I have to wait until the 27th for that.  I think one of the reasons I like painting and wallpapering is that I can do that myself,  so if it needs doing I can just think right I will do it on these days and then it will be done.  Waiting for people to come out and sort things I am not great at!

I have just finished reading Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid, I really enjoyed it but I must say this was in the general category of new books but I would class it as YA due to the central characters and the teen speak used throughout.  Set around the Edinburgh fringe festival rather than Bath I thought it was cleverly done and also quite amusing that Cat the main character keeps mentioning the Twilight series throughout.    It is part of the Austin project and this has made me want to try some of the other adaptations, I had a look around and a few people are being quite negative about some of these works including the one I have just read.  It is full of the language of young adults (I don't mean bad language) and if this bothers you I can see how that would put you off.  However it is also witty, engaging and mostly good fun, so if people are horrified by the differences they need to consider how much times have moved on.  If you have read any of the other works in the Austin project let me know what you thought, they are Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope, Emma by Alexander McCall Smith, Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld ( Pride and Prejudice  updated) and the one above I have just mentioned. There is to be a Mansfield Park but that has not come about yet and possibly one other I think.  I think it is an interesting idea to do this but I am sure there will be purist fans who are just appalled.

What are you all reading this week?