Creative space

Since we moved here to our 'new' home (been here 4 year this Oct) I don't think I've actually shown you my sewing room properly have I?

Its in the eves of our house, right at the top, we have a 3 story house - no attic/loft but a bedroom (which is actually my sewing room) a bathroom and a walk in closet (which is actually the sh*t room where we store all the things you would normally put in your attic/loft). This is where I disappear into a world of my own. When we first viewed this house Mr.B and I looked at each other and both said "Sewing room?" So that was it.....sewing room it became.

So this is/was it.....I say was because we have finally decided to decorate it. It was wayyyyyy down on the list of "To decorate" but Mr.B said with my new sewing adventure starting it would be nice to get it all finished so I can get cracking!!! 

The desk, drawers, shelving unit and bookcase (which you cant see as its in the corner that I took the photo from) are all from Ikea. Both of my chairs are from Homesense and the plastic storage drawers you can see at the back are from Homebase I do believe. 

This is how it looks now......

If you look closely you can see that the skirting is pine (stained to look like oak). 

This is a better shot of it, its a make shift skirting board, long story short, the people who built our house have no idea what skirting should look like in a house like this so we improvised and made it look like it should.

Last weekend I spent my time undercoating them.....look how light and bright it looks now its white!!! I didn't take a photo of the door way but the frame was also wood. As we have beautiful oak doors the stained pine just looked awful :( now though the white really makes the doors pop!!!!

Wednesday evening I started the first coat of gloss and this afternoon I applied the second. It looks amazing so far, I'm really pleased. I will show you some more photos once I have removed the masking tape. Still need to decided which wall the pop of colour is going on but hopefully by next weekend it will be ready for the furniture to go back and I can get sewing again!!!!! :)

Make 9...

I have actually set my first task on my new sewing journey and boy is it a task, well you know me its either all or nothing lol. 

A few of the sewing blogs/vlogs I follow have taken on the challenge of "Make 9" for 2017, now I'm not going to pretend for one minute that I have 'joined up to' or even 'committed' to this challenge to anyone, no pressure remember, I just decided that it was a really good way to start the ball rolling and give me a little direction and allow me to set some goals....I like that sort of thing, always good to have something to aim for. 

So if you have no idea wtf I'm talking about here's a very quick outline. Basically you have to pick 9 different garments/items to make throughout the year, hopefully ending the year being able to make 9 types of clothing you couldn't before. Thats it basically, well I did say it was a very quick outline :)

Wanna see my list? OK now its in no particular order and I'm most likely going to chose the easiest one first to ease me in nicely. Obviously most people have started this in January therefore have had almost a two month head start but I'm sure I can crack this in 10 months.....easy!!! *gulp* insert nervous laugh here!!!

Oh right yeah the list.......off on a tangent again

My Make 9 List:

Ultimate Shift dress - Sew Over It pattern

Silk Cami - Sew Over It pattern

Heather dress - Sew Over It pattern

Tunic / Shirt - Simplicity pattern

Jacket - Mimi G / Simplicity

Jumpsuit - Simplicity

Skirt - Simplicity

PJ Bottoms - The Make It Room

Formal Dress - Simplicity

There you go thats my 9! Can you tell I like Simplicity patterns???? Not much hey? 

I'm currently taking up some dresses that I bought before Christmas so I will be finishing those first then I think I might start with the PJ Bottoms.....or maybe the Silk Cami? Cant wait to get buying fabric again, its been quite sometime since my last purchase. There may also be a very exciting purchase coming soon too, I think I might actually bust when it finally arrives. Will reveal all soon I promise.

Till next time xx

And "sew" it begins

Hello you lovely lot, still feeling very much under the weather so bear with me on this post. Being poorly has forced me to slow down, well almost stop really and in that time I've been able to think a lot more clearer about myself and where I'm going creatively.

I wrote a post a little while back about drawing a line under bag making for the foreseeable future. Its definitely a decision I'm happy with, it was no longer making me happy as I was so busy with family life that meeting deadlines was becoming stressful, but at the same time has left me in a land of sewing limbo.  

I've flitted in between so many ideas and scenarios over the last year but nothing seemed to motivate me enough to really move forward with anything. If you read my post on MimiG or follow me on Instagram you will have seen that I have discovered quite a few sewing channels over on youtube whilst I've been convalescing in bed/on the sofa. As I'd previously said I used to make garments a long time ago, which is how I got into the bag making scene but its been years since I last did. 

If you want to read a little bit of new blurb about me, go and check out my About me page (click this link or the tab at the top).

So, the verdict is....I'm going on a journey of sewing discovery for myself. There will be no making to sell, no deadlines and no stress. I will be moving forward on a dressmaking journey which I feel started so long ago but then I got distracted and travelled down a different path, so really I'm picking up where I left off. I made a promise to myself at the end of last year that this year would be about me (gosh that sounds really selfish doesn't it?) but its never been about me and you know sometimes you just need to put yourself first for a change.

I'm really excited about the prospect of making my own clothes. So much so I've already bought a selection of patterns that I hope to tackle and some of the tools I will need.

Hopefully there will be plenty of opportunities for me to show you my progress along the way, even when things go wrong, as I'm sure they will from time to time, thats part of the learning process, right?

So I hope you will stick with me along the way, this may finally be the time to get my mojo back :D

thanks for reading xx

"New" Coat

Right before I got sick I planned to write this post and I've only just realised that I had uploaded the photos but not finished the post.....pppffffff!!! 

OK before I even start let me say please excuse the cat hair on my coat in the photos. This is a daily battle for me and if you rummaged in my handbag you would find a lint roller, I actually carry one around with me!!! Yes its true!! We have 3 cats and they all moult like crazy, thats a lot of cat hair!! I'm not even going to mention how many times a week I vacuum, lol.

Any way, so I bought this coat a little time before Christmas from Matalan (its actually on sale here). I loved the style of the coat, its very flattering and for the price its very well made. Only thing was, I wasn't keen on the buttons and with it being a millitary pea coat I wanted to replace them with some regimental buttons.

After a little scouting around on ebay (my second favouritest place on the web) I found these beauties. The plain ones on the left were the ones that came with the coat. 

Crikes look at all that cat hair!!!! :O

They were easy to cut off and I did them one by one to ensure I placed the new ones in the correct place. They are a lot heavier than the original ones but I think that adds to the style of the coat making it feel more expensive than it actually was.

And tah dah!!! This was the end result, I'm really pleased with how it looks and to be honest I've barely had it off. 

And the daily battle to keep the cat hair off it continues!!!! :D