Rose's Cath Kidston Inspired Room

After visiting the Cath Kidston store in Guildford, I fell in love with this look. Check out http://www.cathkidston.co.uk/ and absorb the gorgeousness of all things "Cath"! lol. I stumbled upon some Ikea Rosalie 100% cotton fabrics on Trademe, apparently designed by Cath Kidston for Ikea a few years ago. The seller had bought them in the UK for a bedroom project which never happened. They formed the basis for Rose's new bedroom look. I made a duvet cover out of the blue rose fabric and backed it in the pink check fabric. There was enough to make a pillowcase out of the check and rose fabrics. There was several metres of co-ordinating paisley fabric, a small amount of which I made into bunting to hang from the roof. For the past 3 years we have really overdone the whole pink look (Rose's favourite colour, naturally) so I was keen to tone it down just a little. I also picked up an old white candlewick textured bedspread from the Hospice shop and appliqued Rose's name on it in the matching fabrics, to create a rectangular cushion. It certainly wasn't perfect applique but was a fun project anyway. :-)

The paint dilemma...

We decided to paint the room in Resene Double Alabaster, described as a "bisque white, delicately shaded towards grey". We spent an entire week discussing and debating this and even now, are not sure we made the right decision with the colour. Take a look at the photo of the white chair with the wall in the background. You will see our test pot patches in the background, they all look remarkably like the white chair! It seems ridiculous that we spent so long choosing what is essentially just a white paint! After ripping up the carpets and laying new charcoal carpet, we now have a very neutral base. Rose has been so keen to get back up to her room and have her own space so she is chuffed to be back there again. The only downside is that the sun streams into her room (venetians don't provide the best blockout unfortunately) early in the morning and she wakes up before 7am!

Rose's Room: Before...

As you will no doubt be aware, we have been working on the house for a little while now and are slowly making some changes. Rose's room was covered in bright blue wallpaper and had dusty, threadbare old carpet. There is also some large windows in the room, meaning placing furniture can be tricky. Here are some shots of the room before:

Sewing Patterns for Dummies...

Yep, this range of patterns sounded like they were made for me so I purchased this simple kids pattern which I thought had a good range of items and was versatile. I used some fabric which I have had for a while now and had always planned to use for PJ's. Based of Eden's aforementioned rose PJ's, this was my attempt to replicate the look. I used the same vintage shorts pattern I used for the upcycled PJ's and used the top from the "Dummies pattern".

All was going well until the top was near completion. I kid you not, this top was ridiculously short! I did think that it looked a bit short when I was cutting it out (I used a Size 5) but I blamed it on my inexperience. Well, if you look at the floral fabric on the top and where it finishes, that was the finished length! I had even hemmed it and was very unhappy with the finished product. I decided that I had to fix it somehow, so resorted to the old faithful "adding on a panel" trick. I toyed with the idea of using the same fabric but I had a very small remnant of pale pink polka dot waffle fabric so decided to use that. I stitched it on and top-stitched it and was so much happier with the longer length. Rose surprised me with her enthusiasm for this new pair of PJ's as I really thought she would prefer the puppy ones, but no, these were chosen to be worn for the first night. lol. I am looking forward to making at least another pair just like this, but with the longer top, of course! :-)

Upcycling!

I love upcycling! I learnt about this term a few months ago from some fellow online crafters and loved the concept. Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products. It is so satisfying creating something this way and also a great way to reduce the consumption of new raw material and become more environmentally friendly!

I managed to acquire a used Designer's Guild breakfast pillowcase from their 'Puppy Love' range quite a while ago. Although it was small and didn't match Rose's room, I couldn't bear to throw it out and tucked it into my storage basket until I could find a use for it. Inspired by Eden's gorgeous pink rose PJ's, I decided to turn it into some PJ's for Rose. This was the simplest project ever! I used a vintage 1970's shorts pattern and just lengthened the leg length (you know how short everything was in the 70's!) to make them as long as the fabric would allow. I also had a new little white singlet in my stash which I was going to use for another project (I am planning on making a doily singlet for Rose) and that came in handy for the top. I made the shorts and used the last puppy square of fabric for the little applique on the singlet. Rose (a big puppy fan) was very pleased and I love that this beautiful 100% cotton piece of fabric now has a new lease of life. :-)

Harry's 'Rip'Stop' Shorts

Nothing exciting, but yes, more shorts! A navy and an army green pair. I made these two pairs of shorts from Nana and Karen's 'Rip-Stop' stash of fabric! According to Wikipedia, rip-stop is a "lightweight nylon fabric with interwoven ripstop reinforcement threads in a cross-hatch pattern. It is woven with coarse, strong warp and filling yarns spaced at intervals so that tears will not spread". Anyone who has had experience with a little boy will know about worn knees in their trousers! :-)

I have had these cut out for ages but have been so busy that I haven't had the chance to sew them up till last week. The floor sanders were working upstairs so we were "trapped" downstairs for a few days and I was able to dust the cobwebs away from my sewing machine. It felt great! I used a Burda pattern which I bought for Harry a few months ago and they were super easy to make. Harry has worn both pairs already and loves the soft elastic waist. There is another pair cut out and sitting by my machine for the next snippet of time I have!