An overdue catch up

Oh I've been a rubbish little blogger this year haven't I?

Things were a bit mental work-wise at the start of the year, but I'm more or less back in control and with that has come thoughts of writing again. I've missed this space and how it was slowly turning in to an online scrapbook of all things I adore. I've come back a few times over the last few months just to trawl through the archives and rediscover the things I did years ago. And it was while I was doing this that I realised how future me would regret not keeping this blog updated.
So I'm back and what have I been up to?

Well. Do you temember these girls?

No they're not coming back. Although we are getting chickens again and I could not be more happy about it. I never wanted to rehome our last brood if I'm being completely honest, but money was tight so we had to scale right back. While we still have to stick to a strict budget at home, finances aren't nearly as worrysome. So chickens here we come!
We'll be getting bantam hens this time around as we don't have the space to section off half the garden like we did before. Three bantams will fit perfectly in the little coop we have and they can live happily at the bottom of the garden under the apple tree. They'll get the sunshine, whilst also getting plenty of shade during hotter days, cover during wet ones and will have a section of the flower bed for dust baths. Hopefully this will result in some happy hens.

Some work needs to be done first though. The coop needs a little TLC and I want to make a 'bottom' for it so that they can scratch the dirt without actually burrowing deep enough to escape under the fence and in to next door's garden! I also want to extend the coop's run to give them a bit of extra space.

That little lot should keep me out of trouble and if it doesn't, there's always Me Made May.

Me Made May (#mmmay16 on Instagram) is a challenge which happens, unsurprisingly, every May. During which time you are encouraged to try and wear more of the clothes that you've made for yourself throughout the month. Some people post photos of their outfits, although you don't have to do this. This year I decided to take part and pledged not only to wear my handmade clothes more often, but also to go through my wardrobe, identify any items that I needed and try and fill those gaps with clothes that I'd made myself.

When I went through my wardrobe I found that I really needed some new pyjamas as I'm still using my woolly Christmas ones! They're starting to get a little thread bare, not to mention too warm to be comfortable. I need a lighter coat for the warmer months too as I spend a lot of the time roasting in my current one . I'd also like a dress that I can just throw on when it's really sunny outside. Something that's both comfortable, flattering and colourful. I don't ask for much! So I raided my stash and found a polka dot jersey that's just perfect.

I love the cut of my Edie dress pattern so I'm going to tweak that and make an off the shoulder, ruffle dress with it. That will check the comfortable and flattering boxes, while the fact that it's bright yellow will satisfy my craving for bright colours.

And that's me! These are just a couple of the things keeping me smiling this month and I'll be back with another update soon. Pinky swear.

Project update

Never again will I take on three projects at the same time.

Never again will I take on any 'project' when I already have my hands full.

Back last winter..autumn? I've no idea, but way back then I had the genius idea of taking on three personal projects as well as everything else I had on at the time. I wanted to revamp some basic pine bedside cabinets we had knocking about, revamp an old dining table and make myself a coat for winter as I can never find one on the high street I like. Here's how I did.

Winter Coat

Yeah, this didn't get done. I got as far as ordering the brown tweed fabric and loved it for a few days. Then I draped it over the dress form and something in my brain went "no". And that was that. I fell out of love with it and instantly lost any motivation to make it. So it just sat there and sat there until eventually sometime in January I realised the project was well and dead and gave up.No winter coat for me.
I now need a spring coat, but this I'll be buggered if I'm going to make one. This one the high street can provide!

Bedside Cabinets

Eventually, they got done. The plan initially was to stain them, but as I started I realised that it looked awful. At some point we had spilt something on them which was invisible when left as untreated wood, but once the wood stain was on, repelled the stain and made the finish look bloody awful. And yes, that was after cleaning and lightly sanding the sodding things. Back to the drawing board.
I wanted to give up on these too at this point so I just went for a plain white, nothing fancy. It did the trick. Once some new drawer pulls were added I have to admit they do look much better.

Living Room Table

And last, but not least, the living room table. I had a grand plan for this one, but just couldn't find a way to get what I had in my head in to a workable (and cheap) reality. So as my motivation was greatly waining (it was a running theme) I took the left over paint used on the cabinets and slapped it on. A bit of varnish on the top to prevent staining and it was done. I'm not over the moon with the look to be honest. It's too much white. And I had to take the tiny metal feet off the bottom as they were ripping up the carpet so it looks a bit weird in my opinion.
But I reasoned that I could add colour with table cloths and that's what I'm currently doing. I bought a cheap wipe clean one from eBay and although the look is a little more 'shabby chic' that I'd like, I've got to admit it's better than it was.

So there you go, two out of three. I'll take that as a win.

I'm not giving up on my projects altogether though. I just need to be stricter with myself and make sure I only do one at a time and really think about whether or not it will be a labour of love or just a labour. With that in mind I've decided that my next project will be a dress for myself.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you'll know that Dan's company work do is coming up so I've decided to make myself a dress for that. I've bought a pattern. It's simple, I absolutely love it and I now have some fabric to make it with. No fancy patterns or tricky to handle materials. Just a nice, simple, blue dress. I'm hoping this project will go better.

I'm actually posting regular progress updates of the dress on my Facebook page if you'd like to see more. The idea was to keep me working on it even if the motivation started to wane. Thankfully though this hasn't been a problem yet.

Touch wood!

My project 'not much of an update' # 1

Do you remember back in November of last year, I optimistically set myself not one, not two, but three different side projects? Right before one of my busiest times of the year no less? Yeah, that was smart. Well unsurprisingly I've made little progress on any of them. 

1. The bedside cabinet revamp - These are now in our living room to allow ventilation to get to our cold, mould trap of a wall. I've sanded the units down, but otherwise they remain untouched.
2. My winter coat - I have the fabric I need. I've draped it over the dress form. I've even paired it with my gorgeous faux fur stole in the hope it would ignite some motivation, but other than that I've done little else other than look at it.

3. Our ugly dining table - I attempted sanding it, but had underestimated what a bastard sanding away all that lacquer would be. Then when I did get down to the wood beneath, I found that it wasn't worth the hassle. It's tough, but not very pretty. So I made the decision to paint it, trawled Pinterest and came across this.

SOURCE: Pinterest

I won't be doing this as such. Instead I will paint it blue and make a tablecloth to add the rest of the colour and floral detail. Given the current rate of progress with these projects though, the tablecloth will have to wait.

I'm aiming to write another project update in a few weeks and by then I'm hoping to have finished the bedside/livingroom cabinets, cut out my coat pieces and at least bought the paint for the table. 

There. I've said it so I must do it. 

Current Projects

A sensible person would only have one project on the go at any given time. 

Clearly I'm an idiot.

I've currently got three different projects to keep me busy, all of which are on my Winter List which I'm making steady progress on and *touch wood* should finish soon. Here's a little introduction..

1. Bedside Cabinets. 

You can't tell from the photo, but I've already made a start on these Ikea basics. The table tops came out further, but in order for them both to fit on either side of our bed I've had to saw the edges so they are flush with the drawers.
I'm still undecided on whether I will paint or stain them and those knobs are definitely going.

2. Winter Coat

This will be my first bash at making a coat so I'm a little nervous. I'm going to make pattern A with a tweed material. I'm looking forward to it as I hate trying to find a coat I like around this time of year. It's hard enough when all you can find are parkas and duffel coats, but the search is made even harder when you start hunting for petite coats. So fingers crossed this comes out ok!

3. Dining Room Table

I actually took this photo when Dan and Alessi were in Kent. It's clean and pretty looking, there's the give away! Usually it's covered with notebooks, empty cups and dried blobs of weetabix. 

It's a bit of a 'make-it-up-as-I-go-along' project. So far I know I want to sand the top and paint the legs, but that's it. This could be interesting..

And there you have it. This is the start of my latest projects. I'll be updating my progress in the hope that it will keep me motivated - we'll see!

Little Projects

I try to limit myself to one non-work related project at a time.

I never manage it. 

I mean, take now for example. I've got three projects on the go. Is it any wonder that I've spent this past week flitting from one project to another without making much progress on any of them. These are the three things I'm working on by the way..

Another Granny Square Blanket

I bloody love making these and something about these dark and wild nights make me feel antsy if I don't get my crochet hook out. I'm well behind on this one though..it's going to be a Christmas present..shuuush.

Tunic Dress

This was the first item of clothing I ever made myself and a few months ago I went and ruined it when I was changing my printer cartridges and got ink down the front. It's in a really awkward spot and I couldn't hide it with a brooch so I've had to get a little bit creative with the cover up. When it's finished I'll be posting some photos so stay tuned. I'm chuffed to bits with it so far.

Lockets

I've also decided to make some lockets for the shop and they're actually quite lovely (even if I do say so myself) so I've decided to make a couple for myself too. Weeell. What's the point of making dresses and accessories if you can't occasionally snaffle a little something for yourself eh?

Once I've finished the lockets and dress I think I'm going to have to be more strict with myself and just focus on one thing at a time. Any one who knows me in real life will know how hard this is for me though. Anyone else working on some creative projects at the moment? Tell me about 'em!