Tuesday 25 February 2014

More upcycling!

Very excited to show you what I started (and finished) on Sunday. When Mum died we acquired her sewing box, well it was more like a small blanket box that Dad made her and she upholstered. C asked if she could have it and she would give it a make over. Well nearly 4 years later it's still in our loft and many times have I rummaged in it for various bits of sewing stuff, usually finding what I needed. In the bottom was a tablecloth that she I guess had started to embroider when she was first married or even before,  and for someone who always said she hated sewing was GORGEOUS. For whatever reason she never finished although all the silks are there in what I can only describe as an embroidery roll - in fact I'll nip upstairs and take a picture - wait there
Oh dear don't know what has happened, I have taken some pics but for some reason it wont let me download onto Picasa web that I use, anyway I'll carry on. This is rather a dark picture of the cloth and I had cut it before taking a picture which it is why it looks abit odd but hopefully you get the idea

 
 and here it is close up






 

 
 
It really is beautiful, I love the colours, not sure that the photos do it justice. Anyway back to the upcycling, I have taken it out on a number of occasions and admired it and wondered if I could finish it. I probably could but I doubt it would be even near Mum's sewing. Then an idea - why not make the nearly completed corners into cushion covers and here they are
 




 One of the things I really like is that the transfer is still on the fabric and you can see where they haven't been finished. I am soooo pleased with them and despite not being anywhere near the colour of my lounge they now seem to sit quite comfortably on a chair.
There was still one corner with a partly finished flower and a nearly finished leaf so this is what I did with the flower






Ta dah! a new needle case, something I have needed for ages. I shall make C one using the leaf, it seems appropriate to still have part of the tablecloth in Mum's sewing box.
But now I need to get my breakfast, finish another knitting bag and make a couple of 'May roses' -pattern from Lucy at Attic24, you can find it here , before I go to work later.
Till the next time xx

4 comments:

  1. That is a brilliant idea Anne, I love the cushions. And it seems a more contemporary way of using your mother's embroidery too, it really shows it off!

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  2. Lovely cushions - and so special, being your mum's embroidery. Thanks for your comment - I can't wait til we go tomorrow! X

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  3. Wow, those are beautiful, your Mum's sewing is just perfection, and she clerly had a great eye for colour. Lovely idea to turn them into cushions and now you can see them every day :)

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    1. Thank you Jill. I love them too, it's so suprising as she always said she hated sewing and I never thought of her as being particularly creative. I have found a lovely old embroidered table mat in the airing cupboard in Ireland that I am going to make into a cushion cover over the weekend, so watch this blog!

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Thank you for reading my post. I look forward to reading your comments and will do my best to reply to you all. Anne