Homemade Cloth Cushions

There's been a lot of crafting going on here lately and I managed to make the two Cloth Fabric cushions for our bed without too much difficulty considering I've done nothing like this for about 25 years!!!

Well, I did sew one side the wrong way which needed unpicking and then some of the ribbon got caught up and that needed unpicking and re-sewing! But other than that, it went okay. Needless to say, daughter #1 helped with some of the sewing while I measured, cut, pinned and did the final sew.

I used offcuts of the lampshade fabric and then bits I'd bought as remnants.

For the backing I used Cloth Cream Hemp fabric and cream ribbon (I didn't want to attempt sewing zips!).

I think I could get into this cushion-making lark!

More DIY Lampshades

When I was doing our bedside lampshades daughter #1 decided to give her plain white one some TLC.

With a hot glue gun and some braid she had it done in no time and now it coordinates even better with her bedlinen!

DIY Lampshades

So ... I had a plain lampshade that I thought could do with a zshush.

And I bought another one so we could have two new bedside table lights.

I found some instructions on the Beach Vintage blog (because I am incapable of working out how to do these things on my own!).

I bought some fabric from Cloth Fabric (Kangaroo Paw in Surf on Cream), some cream ribbon and spray adhesive.

And began ...

It was trickier than I thought as the shades taper in slightly at the top so the fabric couldn't be cut on the straight and needed to wind around the shade so it wouldn't bubble when sprayed with adhesive.

The hot glue gun proved tricky too. I'd never used one before and didn't realise how quickly the glue set and can become lumpy if not let to spread. Cue: daughter #1 who is an expert and helped me glue on the ribbon.

Between us, the lampshades were done in no time and if you don't look too closely, they don't look too bad!

During the day and at night ...

I'm now going to make some cushions for the bed from Cloth Fabric remnant samples!

Fabric Love: Ink and Spindle

Am feeling a creative urge coming on and have found myself oogling and googling online fabric stores with a view to making some cushions.

And I really love Melbourne-based Ink and Spindle's hand-printed textiles. These are some of my favourites ...

Wrens in Inky Blue

Gingko in Dusty Pink & Red

Kangaroo Paw in Charcoal & Sage

Birch Forest in Robin's Egg

But then they have all sorts of others in different colours, too ...

Little Forest in Sage & Lime

Lace Fans in Saffron

Bonsai in Deep Red on Unbleached

Birch Forest in Almond

The fabric bundles are tempting ...

Check it out for yourself at the Ink and Spindle website or follow their blog.

But that's enough from me! I have a deadline looming ...

DIY Project: Foot stool

I started a small DIY project over Christmas and thought I'd better finish it! We inherited a foot stool with a colourful printed base and cushion when bought the Bach but it now doesn't go with our decor and it needed a little TLC.

I thought I'd paint it white for starters.

Then I took off the old base fabric and replaced it with part of the leftover hem from ready-made curtains from Freedom. And my 12-year-old daughter (with not much help from me!) made a new cushion cover with the leftover fabric from Yardage Design used for the cushions on the cane chairs.

Now it all co-ordinates beautifully and I feel quite chuffed as it was my first dabble in upholstering (which was quite easy, really) and I had to delve back 20 years to remember how to sew a zip into a cushion!

Framing Vintage Keys: DIY Craft

You might remember a while back I posted on some vintage keys I bought and how I thought I might frame them. Well, instead of getting some fancy-pancy frame made, like a box frame with special glass etc, I decided to use a frame I already had and do it myself.

I thought one of the recycled and distressed frames I bought in Melbourne would be perfect. I took out the seagull photo and removed the glass.

Remembering we had a pile of hessian coffee sacks in the garage leftover from sack races played at the girls' beach birthday parties a couple of years ago, I got one out and cut a rectangle slightly larger than the backing board.

I arranged the keys on the hessian with the frame in place to see how it would look.

Then, with some twine - the same twine I used on the driftwood sculpture in my last post that matched the hessian perfectly - I tied the keys in place on the other side, using a pencil to widen the holes so the twine could thread through.

Lastly, I taped the hessian to the back of the board and fitted it into the frame.

And voila! One framing job that cost next-to-nothing.

Nature's Inspiration

While we were away, I got very inspired by some of nature's wonders: their colours and tones which, I discovered on our return home, are identikits for some of the paint cards I've collected on my travels.

Such as the soft greys of this eucalypt that was in the property of the house in which we were staying.

The whites and dark greys of the beautiful pelicans.

The charcoal grey of beach stones and the creamy whites of some of the shells.

The paint cards shown are, from left to right: Wattyl Sheer Granite, Berger Night Flight, Berger Octavius Oak, Wattyl Colorbond Ironstone and Dulux Antique White USA (which I am always seeing referenced in magazines and I'm thinking must be a good basic white for walls).

And the driftwood on the beach which I decided to turn into a hanging sculpture with some twine.

Oh, how I love to bring a bit of the beach home with me!

Beach Memories Framed

Remember the holiday photos I showed you a while back that I was thinking of framing? Well, they're done! My amateur snaps haven't come up too bad - helped along, no less, by the recycled timber frames from the Southbank Market in Melbourne. They will certainly add some zing to the walls at the bach, if nothing else!  

Storm Brewing on Byron Bay Beach

Island Gull

Footprint in the Sand