Having a baby has not stopped me wanting to carry
on sewing, upholstering, painting and visiting antique fairs - it's just done on a smaller
scale for now...
So, over the past few months these are some of the
things I have been doing for pleasure and to sell through Brocante-Vintage.
French Bolsters
My first task was to make some bolsters for our
bed. I love this bed the only quibble I have with it is the end! The base of
the bed is curved allowing for the mattress to rest a good 11" from the
base. Thinking what could I use to close up this gap I decided to buy some foam
which needed to be cut to the exact shape. I contacted a company that cuts
foam to your exact request - sent in a template and voila I had a foam cushion to seal off this
gap. I then had to make a cover so that the foam would not show.
Hmmm, after the foam was in place I was
still not happy with the way the bed looked at the end, there was something missing so I thought I would attempt to
make two very large bolster cushions to sit happily on top of the foam at the
end of the bed. I did try to buy some but all were ridiculously priced going
into the £100's for a pair this size and made of linen.
Now, I've never attempted to make bolster cushions
and it did take me some time to get my head around how to make the actual things and to cut the circles and
the ends to make the drawstring as well as attaching the piping cord (flange).
Anyhow after two mock-ups here they are. They are made of a beautiful ivory linen - the two outer
ends are tied with satin ribbon whilst the two inner ends have been designed
with a drawstring so that I can get in to remove the inside cushion if needed
to (I very much doubt though!).
Four Dining Chairs
So, what next...well, hubby and I have waited a
good year and a bit to find some French style dining chairs that would complement
our table. After many months of trying to find something, despite the fact we
even tried to find some at the many Brocantes in France we came away empty
handed it was only after a few months that Ebay revealed a set of not two but
four. They needed quite a bit of work! They would all need painting and
upholstering...upholstering OH GOODNESS I thought to myself whilst hubby was
just over-the-moon to finally have found something, it was mwah that would need
to do the upholstering and having never been on any course I was somewhat
apprehensive of the task they lay ahead. We bought them off a lovely lady from
Clapham in London who had previously bough them from an auction. So, off home
they came with us, after a few coats of paint, some detailing added to the
groves I began the dreaded task.
I purchased a beautiful 100% linen and set to work
using a staple gun to secure the fabric into place over the wadding this was no
easy task but after the first chair was done a few (aggravated screams and
frustrated shouts!) three days later they were done - phew, never again I vowed
to upholster again. The only thing left to do was purchase some braiding to
cover the staples. This was the easy part gluing the braiding into place. So,
here they are...
Cast
Iron 19th C. Banister ~ SOLD
On a recent trip to France we stumbled across this
item at a local brocante - actually it was hubby who spotted it. Here is the
listing that went up onto my Ebay shop...
Wonderful mid 19th century cast iron banister which
was formally part of an outside staircase to an old Chateau.
Beautifully constructed with draped material design
to middle with what looks like some forna to the top.
The base still has the original cement still intact
at the base. It has a lovely patina effect all over in wonderful aged tones of
greens and greys with flecks of orange which is of course the rust.
This item would look simply stunning propped up in
the right room either as it stands or painted then distressed to reveal the
wonderful colours. Personally I would leave as it is but that is just my
opinion...
Measurements -
Height ~ 33"
Width and the widest parts ~ 4 1/2"
Thank you to the gentleman who purchased this item!
Victorian Pine Chest of Drawers
Another item that I have been trying to source for
our bedroom was a Victorian pine chest of drawers that I could paint and
distress. I spent the best part of a day googling ' Victorian pine chest of
drawers' I then came across this beautiful chest of drawers on a website called
Preloved. The lady who owned the chest only lives a few miles from us out in
North Dorset.
Here is the before picture (sorry is so small!)
And here is the after picture...the chest has been
painted in Annie Sloane 'Original'. I must admit her paint is quite thick so I
had to water it down quite a bit to get a smooth consistency - this is how I
like to paint. So after x3 coats plus drying time of only 20mins apart, I
applied one coat of clear wax and allowed to dry (2hrs), distressed, then
applied another coat of wax but this time allowed to dry overnight. The next
day I took a lint cloth and gave it a good old buff.
I am very happy with the end result - she now
stands proudly in our bedroom. The one thing I love about old furniture is that
it is just so robust, the drawers are lovely and deep which makes storing all
my bits and bobs an easy task. Next was to buy some scented drawer liners and
am currently still in the process of sourcing some antique keys which will go
into all three of the key holes even if they don’t actually turn the locks it
will be lovely for decorative purposes only.
Vintage Shabby Chic Bunting
On Sunday we are off to Shepton Mallet Flea market.
I will be taking my Vintage style bunting that I have been making over the past
two weeks. All are made of oilcloth and are perfect for parties etc. I have two
designs available with two more styles in the pipeline...
Here is the first design...
~ Vintage French Shabby Chic Mix in the following fabrics ~
£15.00
Here we have 5 metres of
handmade oil cloth bunting with 12 flags on oatmeal cotton bias
binding with 40cms on each end for hanging (this is within the 5m).
with 6 different flag designs...
1. Rosetta in Sky
2. Polka Dot in Red
3. Vintage Gingham Check in Pale Blue
4. Felicity in Grey
5. Polka Dot in Rose Pink
6.
Vintage Gingham Check in Red
The
second design...
~ Blue
Country Gingham in the following fabric ~
£15.00
with one
different flag design in Blue
Country Gingham.
If you
are interested in purchasing any of these butings just drop me an email at -
Well,
that's all for now...sorry is such a long blog this time round - I hope you
enjoyed reading!
Vanessa
xx
p.s. Next post will blog about my trip to Shepton Flea Market...
