uncrossing my eyes

Well the great unpicking adventure is finally done, I think I have further ruined my already poor eyesight by unpicking those little white zig zag stitches and the house is full of little white threads blowing around like tumbleweeds but it is done. Yay for me losing hours of time I'll never regain....

But it hasn't all been mind numbing un-sewing around here, we have been out stimulating the economy and buying new things to decorate the house despite not getting the government stimulus handouts or the baby bonus for that matter since Anna decided to come after 1 January when it became means tested. If she had of come on time we would be $5000 richer, so I've already told my husband we'll garnish the wages of her first job until she's paid it off LOL. Anyway I hope all of you Aussies getting those payments are enjoying my tax paying dollars to their fullest and are out buying things/services that make you happy (*rant rant rant rant*).

Two new lounges are being delivered tomorrow, and we bought a new floor rug so I thought I had better get on with making a new cover for an armchair with the fabric I bought that broke my fabric diet a little while ago. Surprisingly it only took two evenings after Anna went to bed, probably because I didn't make any mistakes that needed unpicking (phew!).

So the before and afters. I bought these two timber chairs years ago when I was a poverty stricken uni student from an op shop, and last year replaced the manky cushions with new foam and made covers from a thick cotton. It was a pretty rushed and shoddy job though, and the cotton stretched out and became all wrinkly:

The after is much better, if I do say so myself! I used a thick upholstery weight chenille in a bright fuschia bought from Spotlight, and I did the covering properly this time by wrapping the foam seats in wadding which pads it out a little and softens the edges of the foam and looks far more professional. I also put the piping around the narrow sides of the cushion rather than around the seat of the cushion. Plus I think the chenille is a more suitable fabric for this style of chair (1950s?60?):

Now I've just got to give the chair a light sand and restain with a dark teak oil, and recover a matching foot stool as well. I also have some buttons to cover with matching fabric and I'm tossing up whether to sew them onto the chair cushions in a tufted style. There is never a shortage of things to do around here that's for sure!

I've also been taking armloads of fabric up to my new sewing studio and despite making many trips I've still not finished gathering all of my fabric stash from various spots around my house and my parents house into the one place yet! The highlight of this week will be folding, folding and more folding but since I'm the type that likes things neat and orderly I will find perverse pleasure in having my fabric all folded neatly and exactly.....

And in Anna news she is 4 months old and off for her second round of immunisations this week. She also rolled over for the first time the other day - which is the reason we had to buy a floor rug because she rolled off her little playmat onto the floorboards which I think surprised her and she let out a ginormous wail! I would too if I was getting up close and personal with a hard floor. Now we really have to keep an eye on her since she's worked out that she can move around. Here she is testing out the new chair cover (I think it gets her approval since this photo was taken mid flailing of arms and legs and her dolphin sounding laugh):