Sewing room tales: My 'other' chair, new to me cupboard, new to me table, Spring makes and tea!

I think that my April Fool's Day post missed the mark (not quite Mr Dimbleby's standard perhaps!) but I am pleased that I was able to make someone snort her breakfast through her nose (no name - no pack drill!)

The year is gathering pace and so is The Great British Sewing Bee - I am on the edge of my vintage seat with it all!  I had divided loyalties last night as I was desperado to finish a little Milly Molly Mandy embroidery (thank you for the idea Streetcomber) for a purse (in DIRE need of a purse this week.........). I would like Chinelo to win - there I have said it.

By the end of this post you might be a bit fed up of this corner!

My sewing room is getting a 'bit full up'.....not  necessarily with sewing-related things.  Looking at this photograph every single thing, apart from the radio and daffodils, is second hand.

'Does she not realise that it all looks SECOND HAND - I think that she thinks that I think it all looks brand new! IT ALL LOOKS SECOND HAND: 'PAPER BAG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD' SORT OF STUFF' . (How that made me laugh - courtesy of The HATTATS)

The wicker lamp shade was a lucky find on top of the wardrobe - I must have put it there a year or so and then forgot all about it!

'She calls that 'lucky'..... I would call it firewood'  

You may recall that in a previous post I had sold a cupboard in order to make room for a cupboard.....This is my £10 cupboard - nice and chunky, solid oak and just right for putting 'stuff' in.  The content of the cupboard is 'work in progress' as this is part of the previous cupboard content just 'shoved in' for now!  It was all a bit of rash purchase so I had not thought this through - still for £10 I am not complaining.  It is a funny old world because about a week later a different charity shop also had two very similar cupboards (slightly larger) but they were £95 each.

Please note that I have not dusted the glass! I am not a natural dusterer

Every sewing room should have one or tins in it I think...possibly...

At such times it is always best to have a cup of tea

I have various bits of this Dolly Days china - bought at a local car boot a few years back - along with my trusty teapot (£1). I have the matching jug but couldn't find it that day...gulp....

Realised that a bag hanging behind the door 'matches' the china!

Shelves are currently being constructed to go above this cupboard - we bought yet another larger cupboard in the Charity Shop Sales but 'deconstructed' it (it wasn't very nice but has nice wood) in order to make the shelving.   

I have finally sorted out the embroideries to make up the: 'Flying Embroidery Formation' on the other wall and then I will be done......though by then I will no longer have any space left to move..... or indeed sew in......

A few days later the daffs were out, the sun was streaming through the window and  I had dug out one of my old clocks that will eventually go on the wall

 Clock yet to be dusted....shameful really.....

I was a bit fixated by the shadows cast by the sun that day

However I am in the middle of making a Roman fort, road, temple, mosaic, lamp  blind for this room - it is going to be made of barkcloth floral fabric but cannot decide if there should be a vintage embroidered border down both sides.  What would you suggest?

'We would suggest that you HAVE A CLEAROUT'

Rude

 You may recall the pair of chairs bought last year for £2 each - the one I painted blue  was shown here and now here is the other one......a pink chair close up.....

Cushion close up really - though I love making cathedral window patchwork this is a very old charity shop purchase - in fact both cushions cost a £1 each many years ago. Ah yes, my friend, we thought they'd never end.......the days when most of my purchases were in the £1 or less category.

I find that nowadays a cushion is essential for my old back

'What is that yellow thing that has snuck in under the radar Jenny?'

Ah, yes, now then Missus ('Channelling Frankie Howerd this morning are we?'), this would be my 'new to me' table.  I am rather partial to a bit of Lloyd Loom.  This was NOT a £1 - this was £25 - it was in the charity shop when I bought the cupboard but I RESISTED it at the time. 

 I DO NOT NEED ANOTHER TABLE/CHAIR/CLOCK/CHINA/FABRIC.......  

When I went back to the shop to give the manager her purse  the table WAS STILL THERE.

CLEARLY THIS IS WAS A SIGN.

Martha: 'IT WAS A SIGN THAT NO ONE WANTS THIS STUFF...THAT WAS THE SIGN AND YOU MISSED IT''

Thank you kindly Martha.  I will  have to get rid of my old chest (steady) to really make 'proper' room for this - but table is already fully laden WITH STUFF!  

How did I manage without it.

I was about to post this and then remembered the photographs which I had taken before all of  different china and different flowers

My sewing room is really a 'get away from it all/ listen to Radio 4 in peace' room (may I recommend 'Cabin Pressure' and 'In and out of the kitchen' if you are in need of cheering up - both make me laugh out loud - comedy on the radio beats the telly every time for me). I particularly like having the radio on and to hear the clock ticking - childhood memories.   I also share this room with all my files and books for work and frequently cut fabric on top of those files and books because I cannot be bothered to keep putting it all away and get it out again

Here I am flicking through the latest (!)  magazine.  What is the message that this cover is trying to convey?  Any thoughts?  I am thinking that I might start a caption competition here.

A very sad note here : this magazine was my very last purchase from dear Mr Langford.  I have mentioned Mr Langford many, many times over the years both here and on Flickr.  After a relatively short illness Mr Langford sadly died recently - we chatted on his  last day in his shop.  When he told me he was ill I made him  a little card  with 'Mary' on it to thank him and show the influence his shop had had - he was very chuffed - his shop meant a great deal to him.

I will miss him.

Thank you Mr Langford.

Sunny times for you all today I hope

PS: Realised that I have not posted the promised 'Spring makes' as indicated in the title so will do that next time

PPS: I was in  Milton Keynes for work last  weekend...and this weekend it will be Basingstoke...I live the high life I really do!

Tie a YELLOW ribbon....round the old table leg.............

It was YELLOW!

I am 'The Custards' after all!

Here are the clues:  

1. I mentioned (in blue because yellow doesn't show up against white!) that sometimes I was doubly a cross stick - this was  feeble attempt at a pun: A DOUBLE ACROSTIC.  Groan....my childhood was spent listening to 'My Word' on Radio 4...

2. This would have naturally (!)  prompted a review of the blog text and there it was: spelt out down the left hand side of the blog the word: YELLOW (in bold at that!) and again in lower case (in bold at that!) at the end of each of those same lines.  

3. Martha and Arthur offered sage words of wisdom and asked that you go back and 'See what was in front of you' too. Thank you to Martha and Arthur for their input but sorry if they then misled you into thinking that my words were all a double/treble bluff and that the table was actually the colour of the photograph!

Go back and have a gander if you can bear it....

Did you ever read Masquerade.............or tried to solve it...

Sorry again - I do feel quite bad about it all!

Phew!!! Next time I shall opt for the more straightforward approach.  However I loved the comments and each one made me chuckle.  The clever rhymes and the trying to figure out how my brain might work  I thought were creative and inventive.

Jugs are the handiest of things - if you go to your local charity shop now you will find one, for about 20-50 pence I think.  I use others for: custard, flowers, 'bits', pens, pencils, 'bobs', more custard and juice

Flower frogs are the handiest of things - if you go to your local charity shop now you will find one, for about 20-50 pence I think.  I use others for: incense, little twiggy arrangements and for pencils...not custard

£25 bought a lovely Edwardian table - complete with a drawer with purdy handles. I have got some lovely 1950s wallpaper that I might line this lovely drawer with - not quite made up my mind.  When I got it home I realised that it was a little bit, slightly more much bigger than I thought and it could barely fit up the stairs.

There was a little bit of huffing and puffing at that point in the proceedings.......Dom just laughed and said how much he loved my spontaneity and adored how I just brought things home without discussing it first....life was full of surprises with me he said....never a dull moment he said.....he just loved the fact he could now  use his Saturday lugging an old table up and down the house...he said that he could not think of a finer way of spending his time.....thank goodness he was not interested in the rugby match that day he said......how lucky he was to be with me he said......it was great that he never had any say in how things were decorated as he didn't have to think about it......at this point he just ruffled my hair and smiled: 'That's what makes you you' he said.  That was about the gist of it. How we laughed that day..............

Arthur: 'Why is there a kettle under the table?'

Martha: ' 'Tis the most obvious place for kettle keeping Arthur - please keep up'

Arthur: 'She is a bit odd isn't she...'

I am sure that most of you keep a kettle under the table - I am not alone with that one.

This room faces directly south and gets very sunny - so I have to be careful.  Just like The V&A I have to keep the sun out to protect fabricos (not really - but I have placed it on the facing wall to try and minimise the sun).

Since taking these photographs I have painted (NOT yellow or blue) the other Ercol chair that  I bought for £2 from'The Shop that opens more often than it used to' shop and plonked that in here too. The room is filling up nicely - just some more shelving to fit in and the embroidery flying  formation!

Too much?


Can you see that the table is getting 'full up' here.  Oh I wish I could keep things neat and tidy but I cannot.  Things just creep in.  I will take better photos but you might be able to see the old wire stationary trays on the table - back in the summer I bought three of them for TWENTY PENCE the lot.  TWENTY PENCE!!! They are ideal to keep even more bits and bobs in.  Also can you see an Easter Egg?  It is particularly old one from the 1930s I think - bought  from the same stall but they were asking FIFTY PENCE for the egg - the price hike was due to the fact that within the egg were nestled two other eggs!  A bit like a Faberge one  I think! (Arthur: 'I've always said that it is best to buy Easter eggs at Christmas time - always.')

So - in summary - we have: 'Mary' from Mr Langfords, two Ercol chairs from Rodney ('The Shop that opens ...you know the rest!'), table from next town shop, old desk from where I used to work many years ago (free), big chair bought as a teenager (decades ago then...), sample book of 50s wallpaper bought for £12 via t'internet stuck on the wall and stuff from years of not throwing out!

If you have read this blog over the years you will see that all posts  have been building towards this day!

Careful curation creates completeness.

Perfecto!

 Dom very kindly wired up one of those industrial light fittings for me to complete the scene.

  The light bulbs are pricey and - a word of warning here - the light they give off is rubbish!!!! 

However these bulbs look very  nice I think! I will do a very little post just about the light bulb another time

It took a bit of sifting to get the correct entries sorted and I am feeling quite bad that I made it so tricky (I might have to do a special embroidered purse giveaway sooner rather than later in order to make amends!). For those who guessed the right colour but not which purse they might like |I then put in both vintage hats  and hoped that I would not draw their name out twice!

Bronte selected one winner and Maille the other.   The winners are:

For the coin purse:  BoBo bun - I do hope that is ok as you had not specified which you might like but I thought that this might be your preference when you name appeared.


For giant doll purse (!):  Ada Bea from The Vintage Sheet addict was also pulled out of the vintage hat

I will call in on your blogs to let you know but if you see this beforehand please email me your contact details (bank account number, PIN number, passwords etc) and then I will post as soon as possible.

Thank you again for all of your entries - I will not make things so complex next time!  Maybe......

I love custard