Slipcovered Thriftshop Chairs

      As usual, I blog sporadically!  But I did want to show you both my new slipcovers in one go.
I have been quite busy sewing and planning out new projects.

      This newest slipcover I completed 2 days ago, using my pattern "Theodora" in white.
The floral pattern is a soft blueberry blue and easy on the eye.  Again, I used the linen-cotton canvas fabric available from Spoonflower.
      Here is a link to  Theodora  in my shop, Lilyoake.  Its available in 17 different fabrics, 2 types wallpaper, and gift wrap!

      I am participating in the Arts North Studio Tours in September and need to have things to sell to the public, who might be touring my studio and looking for items I design and make.
I decided slipcovered chairs were a great thing to offer and began scouring Goodwill stores for sturdy, undamaged one of a kind dining chairs which I could paint, upholster and make slipcovers for.
       Every chair I offer will come with new upholstered seat PLUS a removable/washable slipcover, giving the chair more versatility!

     The easy part was painting the frame and sewing the slipcover - the hard part will be pricing them to sell, without cheating myself out of my time, supplies and hard work.  Isn't that always the case for an artist? 

The chair with the upholstered seat, in Caroline blueberry

'Ol Autumn, She's a' Comin!

I know we are all feeling it in the air already and the excitement mounts.  We who love fall, do so because of the feelings it generates inside our hearts.  The nesting instinct kicks into overdrive and we want to get out the wool throws, stock up on wood by the wood stove and break our our comforting fall recipes like beef stews and chili.  Time to gather the family around and regroup.

Our NW mornings are now cold and foggy, burning off to sunshine in the late afternoon.  Evenings are getting to the point where I have to shut windows overnight.

But when I think of fall coming on, I still remember the days long past now, when I was young and working in the Seattle Laura Ashley shop downtown.  I LOVED getting the giant coffin boxes delivered, loaded with the entire fall collection.  I was the stockroom person so when I wasn't on the sales floor, I was in the back, unpacking the wool or babywale cord dresses, the wool Scottish sweaters and Italian silk scarves, sent straight from Wales!  I was then assigned to make over the floor, and would be there most the night, setting up the displays and racks of new fall clothes. It was always fun to reveal the new look in the morning to early bird commuters walking past our windows at 4th and University.

I still have many of the old catalogs we Laura Ashley published for clothing and home.  Here are some choice fashions from Autumn 1990, my most favorite season and year of them all.

It was a season of tartans velvet, great wool hats and navy floral skirts and dresses.  I think I bought 2 dresses (a very big splurge for me back then but with a 40% employee discount, it hurt less) and got one dress on allotment.  As a FT employee, we got a free dress or skirt/top combo, according to how many hours weekly one worked.  Of course it was mandatory you wear Laura Ashley every day so if you were new, you wore that one dress EVERY DAY!  LOL

   My most favorite dress of all came from that 1990 Autumn season collection...the blue floral babywale corduroy Welsh farmhouse dress, pictured here on the model leaning against a rock.

   Maybe when I'm old, I will move back to my native rural Wisconsin countryside and dress like this again, and live like Tasha Tudor.  ;)

   I feel bad for anyone who never heard of Laura Ashley or walked into one of the shops to see the beautiful Welsh dresses, wool English coats, Scottish sweaters and so on, on display.  Everything smelled like Laura Ashley No1 parfum...

Enjoy this walk back in time to when we still enjoyed Laura Ashley right here in the states and had access to some of the most romantic, sought after and well made clothing at that time.  This is how I feel about fall every year - imagining I am dressed in romantic clothing, wandering the English countryside...

A Timeless Dining Room

This is from an older Laura Ashley Home Furnishing catalog (at least 20+ years old, I kid you not!) but you'd never know it. It is as timeless as any room can be! It's French, its Swedish and its "elegant country".

The French blue, keeps the room light and elegant while the worn wooden French style furniture adds warmth and character. I have always loved that Palace garden wallpaper - I still have a roll of it in that same light blue colorway in storage. If I had several rolls, I'd cover every inch of my living room with it! The hutch is lovely too - a pale blue and white, filled with gorgeous china and crystal.

An Idea for my Library Walls

I don't know what was wrong with me at the time but when I ordered the wallpaper for my library last fall, I ordered only half the amount needed (and I knew all about the confusing single roll/double roll thingy).

I must have been working with half a brain that day. But then it took me 4 months to realize it and call the company I'd ordered it from, only to be told it was no longer available! Ahh! What to do - I loved the pale blue and white damask wallpaper but had only enough for half the room!

Well, here's the solution: wallpaper the upper half of the room (which means I can then avoid cutting around all those outlets, heaters and window sills!!) This is from a 20+ year old Laura Ashley Home Furnishing catalog and it is still the perfect solution! I can paint the lower half of the walls a pale blue, and add trim and wallpaper above that. It will keep the room airy and I won't have to try and find an extra $300 in my budget to order new wallpaper when I got the original for the smoking deal of $10 per roll! I just have to make sure I wallpaper high enough so as to not run out - will measure the square footage before making that decision.

I also like the idea of two rows of trim - the trim can be white, with the space in between and the lower half, being blue.

And curtains - I'm thinking a pair of white linen....tied back with a baby blue tassel on a polished brass hook.

On my next trip to the paint store I will have to take along a swatch of the WP so I can match the blues. This project will begin AFTER my February 20th tea party. Last night, in a moment of panic, I painted half the family room and added a bunch more gold leaf to the hutch. I realized I only had 13 days to the party. My friend Scott will come this Saturday to tile the step from the kitchen down into the family room. Progress IS being made....and I always did work best under EXTREME pressure!

Blue & White is Always in Style!

Case in point: this bedroom in an old Laura Ashley home furnishing catalog. In a dramatic blue rose pattern, it is still as fresh and inviting as it was back then. (I think this is at least 12-15 years old)

One can never go wrong with this color combination and I myself could never say "no" to a blue floral wallpapered room!

Under the Eaves Redo

I have a one and a half story house - a Cape Cod from the 1950's - you know the house style. Most who pass by have no idea there is a second story and the rooms ARE pretty small. But they are also cozy, quiet and private - up a small, narrow, paneled staircase painted white and gray.

There is an open studio on the west side as you come up the stairs and then up two steps to the right gets you into the small, low-ceiling bedroom with storage built in along the eaves/walls. Up under the eaves, one can hear the squirrels on the roof, the rain and unfortunately feel the summertime heat and winter cold too.

I had to shut off the electric heater breakers because the heaters wouldn't turn off. Now I keep a space heater up there and a fan in the summer (I think I'll get a $100 air conditioner from Sears this summer so my old iMac doesn't get too hot).

I recently found a renter for the east side room - a young gal at my weekend job whom I really like. She is very happy to be moving into the room so she can be near school and work. I will appreciate the added income by renting out an otherwise unused room.

But the room was dark - with dark wide plank pine paneling. Even in summer's light days, one needed a flashlight to see into the drawers or around the room! And I do not like dark rooms so it was a no-brainer for me - the room needed to be transformed into a light, airy haven. But in a room with such temp extremes and paneling with old varnish, it would prove time consuming and labor intensive if I sanded it all.

The studio side was painted before I bought Elinor Cottage and it shows what will happen when done wrong! The paint is peeling and cracking and will need some touch up soon. The other side, if I was spending the time and money to do it would be done right and the secret is: TSP in powder form. Add to water, wear gloves, and wash the surfaces to be painted with a big sponge. Clean as many times as needed, until the water comes out clean. Then rinse with cool, clean water and a sponge. An instant clean surface with a little tooth.

Once dry, apply a coat of KILZ stainblocker primer. It won't be an opaque coverage but it WILL stop stains from the old wood seeping through when you cover the walls with white paint. My signature white is Waverly's "Cottage Linen White". It takes 3 coats. I did half the room 2 years ago when I was still occupying it and it hasn't crackled yet so I know I did it right!

Now I am scrambling to get the rest of the room done - just did the north side of drawers this past weekend. A trip to ROSS scored me 2 sets of twin cotton sheets, Laura Ashley brand for $12.99 each so I had instant, budget-conscious curtains and sheets for the bed.

The rest of the ceiling and the south side of drawers need to be painted next as well as the new ceiling light installed. Its a round, ceiling-hugging white sculpture of leaves and clear crystal flowers. It was under $75 from www.greatchandeliers.com.
The interior of the desk will be lined with my leftover bedroom wallpaper. Each drawer and closed closet space will also be lined in various blue & white wallpapers and then the new Shabby Chic room will be all ready for my new room mate!

Vintage Laura Ashley in Navy

Remember when we still had Laura Ashley shops in the U.S.? I worked for the Seattle location, on University Street, for awhile. It was one of the best jobs I ever had.
I was young, newly married, saw the world in a romantic light and hadn't a care in the world.

I lived close to the shop, on Capital Hill. I would dress in a flowing floral dress (made in Wales), cotton canvas espadrilles (made in Spain) and straw hat (made in Great Britain) and float down the hill to work every day. Things really changed when the company was sold to an Asian buyer. Suddenly all the beautiful fabrics were gone - fine wools and polished cottons - and the European craftsmanship was replaced by Asian sweatshop cheapness.

I was so sad to see it's North American demise and have never forgotten it. I still have a large box full of dresses and hats and scarves I wore all the time. I still cherish them.
Laura Ashley was not just about flowery dresses. There were wonderful softly tailored suits and silk scarves and sweaters knit in Scotland. And let's not forget the parfum...

If I lost a few pounds, I'd probably wear those stored dresses again! My friend Pippa had emailed me the other day, talking about wearing classic navy and white and how it never seemed to go out of style and one always feels fresh and put together in that color combination. I whole-heartedly agree!

I have been wanting to post some Laura Ashley clothing images for some time now so that gave me a theme - vintage L.A. in navy. Still classic, still fresh and still on my mind!