A French Cottage in the Ranges

 

Metisse is a sweet vintage homewares store in the village of Olinda specialising in gorgeous French collectables. The owner, Vicki Growse sources her products on an anuual trip to France, lucky her!
My favourite pieces were the rustic tree branch coathangers and the long, elegant cobweb dusters- the smaller dusters are perfect for cleaning keyboards as the bristles are super fine. The olive & pip bowls are a great idea and come in a larger size for olive oil + dukkah.

If you are looking for a DIY challenge try the coathangers..be creative -add a splash of paint, varnish or leave natural.
For more details...visit www.metisse.com.au

Chair pad sweeties

Want to keep your economical love affair
with IKEA a secret?

Try these simple + sweet handmade chair pads

no zips/buttonholes just straight up and down seams!

 

Mix and match fabrics with a
similiar colour palette + tone
the dusty spring palette here combines toile,
stripes, florals and a trellis design.
The natural linen colour base unifies all the fabrics.

..here's what you will need to get started.


M A T E R I A L S
materials + instructions based on 40cm square cushions
domestic/upholstery weight fabrics
precut foam inserts
calico or plain cotton fabric(to cover inserts) optional
matching colour thread
a sewing machine, of course


S T E P by S T E P
3 easy steps to chair pad sweeties

Firstly purchase the desired no. of foam inserts at a
local rubber supplier(Clark Rubber)
These were cut to 40cm square which is a
standard chair/seat base.

Its best to cover the foam with a
simple cotton/calico slipcovers -
making it easier to put on your finished covers,
however this can be optional
if using a heavier fabric.

Slipcovers can be made using same instructions
as per finished covers,but make
them a little snug -reducing seam allowance.

These covers combine 2 fabric patterns-top fabric is a floral
base fabric(facing down on the chair) is a stripe


STEP 1
Cut out 52cm x 43cm for top fabric
43 x 43cm for base fabric

STEP 2
Make a 2cm hem on 43cm edge of top fabric,
with right sides together fold over 10cm.
With right sides facing each other-
place base fabric over top fabric

STEP 3
Sew the two fabrics together
aprx 1cm seam from raw edges,
leave the top(folded fabric edge)open.

Turn right side out, slip in foam insert
Turn 10cm folded edge over the opening
which secures the cover.

Hope you love them

Every Lyrebird needs a bower

The Craftrobe..buffet courtesy ebay

Buffet & Hutch, but no huggy bear

loving my hem measure-er

The best and worst thing about moving house 
is moving house and redecorating.

After departing the burbs for a new beginning in the ranges I waved
goodbye to China White and embraced a country life coloured
in Hogs Bristle. What's not to love about country sytle, it's warm,
inviting and a little soft round the edges.

First project, apart from getting the painters to sort out the burgundy
walls was creating my new craftrobe a bower filled with the
sweetest stuff. I love it and was secretly, well not so secretly
according to the teenageress.... thrilled.

The top half of the craftrobe originally sat on a large desk in our
old study, however the Somerton study was begging for a desk in the
middle of the room. The top cabinets needed a new home!

Did my counting up + minusing and found a gorgeous buffet,
sans hutch on ebay.....a bit of paint matching here
a little sanding there and a lot of help lifting the
10 tonne cabinet on to the buffet -courtesy of 

the painters, thank you R & J, the best painters in the hills!

Finally a Craftrobe to fill with ribbons, string

craftbooks, fabric swatches..a heavenly bower.