new from old

You're going to have to scrap everything I said in my last post about how I was hopeful of the advent of warmer weather. The snow came on Saturday, bringing with it deep grey skies and fff-freezing temperatures and as a consequence my latest dress is going to have to wait a while because it makes me feel colder just looking at it!

The children and I had a great fun time in the garden yesterday, lobbing snowballs at one another. No photos to show, just a couple of melting ice mountains and a lot of damp clothing hanging off radiators in a bid to dry them off.

And I'm not sure what's come over me, perhaps it's the thought of spring cleaning that's on my mind but I'm suddenly in the mood for decluttering the fabric stash. All those lovely vintage pieces that have been squirrelled away need, and deserve, to see the light of day so I'm gradually going to be turning some of my ignored fabrics into a variety of things new and, hopefully, they'll be appreciated even more.

Take this salmon-pink French cotton, for example. It's been in the cupboard for a very long time and I remember being really excited when I recently saw the very same in Enrica Stabile's brilliant Comfortable Country. Whilst I didn't have enough to cover a whole chair as per the book, I thought perhaps cushions might be good so I made up a couple, using interfacing to add a bit of body to the fabric and cutting into one of my unused French metis sheets to use as backing. Metis is a linen/cotton blend, depending on when it was produced it has a cotton warp (lengthwise threads) and a linen weft (threads running at a right angle to the selvedge) and begins life, very much like linen, in an ecru state which gradually lightens with washing. It's lovely to sleep under but it also works well for decorative cushions!

These will be going into my new shop, not long now (fingers crossed)!!

Finally, you must check out this link from Pinterest, I guarantee it will have you reaching for the ice trays (as if there isn't enough ice around already). No recipe needed, gently melt your choc, minimal brushing of oil in the mould, and get pouring. My children are going to go wild when they see this!

Have a lovely week, bloggy pals.

PS. Thank you for your lovely comments on my dress last week, and all the slipper love too!