A foray into the sewing box

A morning off affords a little time to have a look in the sewing box. Made by my grampa for nana. It's like a little table with a hinged split lid and a drawer underneath. This is where the JLP bag was found (passim)

My good friend Linda Hasking did an amazing project called Make Do and Mend where she catalogued her own Granny's sewing box www.whitechairpress.com so I am not even trying to emulate that but there are a few treasures to share

First up - The Cash's Woven Names. Now I have changed my name I think I may actually sew these in to my clothes. Very helpfully Cash's have provided a list of items I may want to label. Plus with the advent of their special adhesive I can basically stick these little fellows to anything. Particularly useful is the fact they have made a distinction between hats, caps AND berets. Sadly I have a trilby and as that's not listed I won't be labelling it today I fear.

and really, I ask you...who labels a comb??

...and an update on the chair situation

The time for reupholstering draws near. I finally ordered some fabric yesterday for the small chair. I went to St Jude's (in a virtual sense) and ordered a new design by my pal Jonny Hannah. It's hot off the...whatever fabric comes hot off and isn't listed on the website yet so I was working on insider information.
For the big armchair I'm plumping for Sanderson's Dandelion clocks in Red. (ignore the Kingdom interiors mark - I'm going to John Lewis OF COURSE!) Dandelions seem to be ultra IN - if Angie Lewin did a darker version I'd have gone for hers but pale chairs and me just won't go. Too many melted chocolate biscuits!!

And I ordered Mark Hearld's Bird Garden in Charcoal for the dining room chairs.
eeeep very very exciting.

Now I am actually spoiling you....

and so to Illustrated Living

Someone will no doubt tell me that everyone has known for YEARS about these people and you are all buying your baubles and gewgaws there but I have never heard of them before.

This is an excellent "one stop shop" for all those things you need in order to live in a state of design induced bliss coupled with acute penury.

For you I present ISAK cup with oak lid - probably useful for catching the drool that is inevitable when I see something like this

get those credit cards out people....

http://www.illustratedliving.co.uk/

oooo and aaaaaa - LUSH

Just stumbled across this company. I haven't seen ANY of this before and I love it. Check out the Foxy designs. Those of a certain age will recognise a definite 'homage' to the brilliant book Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins (as stolen by my Mother from Gidea Park library circa 1973).

I NEED THIS STUFF!!!!

www.lushlampshades.co.uk

cool cotton reel

found this in the back bedroom today. Why don't they label stuff like this anymore?

A Day's Admissions

Love this little box so much. It has always - in my lifetime anyway - sat on the telephone table in the hall (The telephone that was here til about 1985 is another story altogether!). It's a Barnardos collecting box. On the bottom is a form you fill in and you send the collected money back to them to feed the waifs and strays. Can you see that on the form it's called a 'self-denial offering'? wow!

Selvedge - a fabulous magazine

They obviously saw me coming because I just spent TEN QUID on this magazine. But it is gorgeous. In my head I decided to pretend it was a book - because £10 on a book doesn't really sound too bad.... does it?
All the things in it are too desirable for words - I want to live in a distressed wood world, where all my utensils are enamelled metal and I drift about in linen clothes pottering in the garden in between creating hugely sellable artwork.
Unfortunately cos I spent £10 on the magazine I can't afford to do any of those things so I'm off to work in Tesco in my drip-dry poly-nylon.