Personal Home Project: The Yellow Chair

I have this old chair that was given to me ten years ago that was used in a window display from an old job. I don't know the history of it, I just know that it's old, hand carved, and stuffed with horse hair that collects on the floor under it any time someone dares to sit on it. Soon after getting the chair, I dug up this fantastic vintage Italian upholstery weight fabric made of silk and linen in bright yellow. It's a damask with unusual tropical animals, including a miscfhievous monkey and a cute Kookaburra. I upholstered the chair and added a great vintage French gimp in this color sommewhere between chartreuse and olive.

Sadly I didn't back the fabric, and after years of abuse from house guests, it was no longer visually appealing...

Fortunately I have just enough of the yellow fabric for one more run of upholstery. But I wanted a little more... I decided to do some tattoo inspired embroidery on the seat and back of the chair. I'm a huge fan of the tattoo artistry of Ashley Love, so I crated a design inspired by her bird cage tattoo and got to work.

Along with collecting vintage fabrics, I also collect vintage threads.  I selected some shiny rayon embroidery floss as well as some silk shoe thread from W. C. Thairlwall & Co. Inc., and mixed them with some brightly colored cotton embroidery floss.  The old Embroidery floss tends to twist and knot up as I work with it, but I absolutely love the result!

I'm about one-third of the way through this design. I'll post more photos as I go along. I'm pretty busy with a ton of different projects going on right now, but I'll do my best to get this one done before the end of October. Stay tuned!

My Vintage Fabric was Featured in an Etsy Treasury! Thank You Roxanna Bikadoroff, AKA Snazzy888!

My vintage Italian fabric named "Les Saltimbanques" in color burgundy was featured in Roxanna Bikadoroff 's Etsy treasury named Kismet (ironically the name of the vintage threads I sew and embroider exclusively with :) Thank you Roxanna! You can click on the photo below for a close up.

Roxanna Bikadoroff is a well known illustrator from White Rock, BC (her works can be seen on her website www.roxannamundi.ca and on her Facebook art album page). Her Etsy store is absolutely incredible! She describes her store as follows: "My Snazzy Boutique concept is based on the boutiques my mother used to take me to in Montreal in the 1960s/70s and the indoor emporiums with many little booths/open shops inside which you find in London." Roxanna also has a blog called Roxanna's Gallerie Mystique featuring her enchanting artwork. Go take a peek!

I love everything in her shop, and I do mean EVERYTHING, but if I had to pick a favorite, I would have to pick Oriental Beauties - a pair of hand painted / mixed media Chinoiserie Harpies. These miniature paintings are super feminine, and have an incredible amount of detail.  I would love to have them in my sewing studio. They would surely inspire me to create! 

Passion Flower Chintz Hot Dog Time!

I have this great chintz with passion flowers and carnations and lots of little flowers all over it. To be more specific, I've had it for over fifteen years. It's absolutely glorious. It's hand screened with maybe twenty five to thirty different screens, and if I recall correctly, it's French. 

It was just SO girlie that I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I even struggled making a Dachshund out of it thinking the floral just wouldn't work.  I took a chance though and laid out the gof patterns, and lo and behold, it looked great!

I sewed her right up, and my daughter named her Summer. I put her up for sale today so head on over to my Etsy listing to get a closer look :)

A New Green Plush Dachshund is Getting Ready for Etsy!

My internet has been in and out (mostly out) for two weeks, plus we went on a mini vacation, so I haven't been able to list anything on Etsy. However, I have been SUPER busy on the sewing machine! I'm getting ready to list three new plush Doxies on Etsy!

I'd like to introduce you to Cookie. This little lady is made from a gorgeous and super girly green floral swirly vintage fabric. It's a hand screened print on cotton, and is made with fourteen screens. I think it was made in France, but I'm not 100% sure.  Here are some scans of the fabric.

Cookie's nose is made from leather, and her bow is made from vintage French ombre ribbon that fades from soft pink to a mossy green. I've posted a photo of Cookie below, and you can see more photos of her, as well as other dogs I've made in my Flickr Weenie Dogs photo set. Look for Cookie in my Etsy store early this week!

My Orange Punk Rock Pillow is in an Etsy Treasury!

Thank you to BusyBee67 for including my Orange Vintage Tartan Punk Rock Pillow in your fabulous Multiplicity Etsy Treasury! You've got a fantastic eye for color!