darling petunia

Pillow Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Way back in 2009, Christy from Sew Much Fabric, Sew Little Time made a great skirt from the coolest fabric I'd ever seen. Even though cards and chess aren't my thing, I was drawn to this fabric--such cool colors and graphics and...PRETZELS!

I sent Christy an email, asking if maybe, just maybe, she had any scraps left. She DID! And she sent them to me! Finally, three years later, I used the biggest piece to make a pillow for the guest room bed. The pretzels didn't make it onto the front of the pillow, so I immortalized them on the back.

I love this little gallery of a few of my favorite vintage prints! Maybe one day I'll follow up by getting some up swatches up on the wall as well. It's a shame to keep them stashed away in a bin.

Rickety Rack, Please Talk Back

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:03:00 +0000

In the middle of a refashion and looking for input! I've had this vintage Sanibel skirt for bloomin' ever and decided today is the day to shorten it up and make it wearable. It started out as knee-length, and I took off about five inches, making it much less dowdy! As I was measuring, I realized it had been hemmed once before, so I Googled and up pops this:

I had been planning on adding a bit of white trim...

...but now I'm considering other colors.

These are all trims I had on hand. I'm a little way of rick rack looking too...I don't know, Raggedy Ann?

But I do like that pink!

Then I found the mother of all rick racks! (When did I even get this?)

Maybe on the edge to make a scalloped hem?

One more!

Which do you like best? I swear I try to be more sophisticated sometimes, but I can't help myself when I come across these Lilly-esque prints!

Leopard Spotted

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 18:51:00 +0000

I've always liked a good leopard print, whether or not it happens to be trendy. Note I said a good leopard print. People often consider animal prints tacky, and they certainly can go very wrong, but I think they can also look very elegant and sophisticated. This particular print also reminds me a little of the amazing fabric Christian Siriano used for one of his collections which was reproduced from a photo of a Mediterranean coastline.

I picked this fabric up at Gaffney's last summer. It's a good bottomweight with a slight stretch. I knew I wanted to make a straighter skirt, but I didn't want to take any chances with an untested pattern, so I used McCall's 3830 which I used a few times before.

Of the versions I sewed previously, I prefer the one to which I added a waistband, so this skirt also got one. I feel like that adds an extra bit of adjustability to a skirt which you don't get when you finish off the waist with a facing.

And since I like to show off the inside as well, here is a shot of the hem and seams. I love having a huge stockpile of thrifted seam bindings and Flexi-Lace so I can add in those little extra touches!

Fabric Addiction

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:32:00 +0000

I went for a wander around JoAnn Fabrics the other day. I paged through the New Look pattern book, smelled all the candles, and finally went looking to see if any fabrics caught my eye. Blue and orange is one of my favorite combinations lately, so I grabbed this off the shelf the second I saw it.

When I got to the cutting table, the sales clerk asked me what I planned to do with it. My answer, "I have no idea," brought a round of laughs from all present. Fabric-a-holics, you understand.

I bought two yards, but I am not sure if it's destined to become a skirt or a top. A top may look a bit like scrubs, especially if worn with white pants. Which gets your vote?

P.S. The shoes I posted the other day are from Kmart and are just $15 right now. I got them in both black and brown and wore them yesterday for the first time. They were quite comfy for completely flat shoes! Kmart has a lot of very cute shoes right now. I would get these if I wore heels:

Or these if they would stay on my feet:

Shoe Bee Doo

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:09:00 +0000

Cute or not? What say you?

I'm looking for a more summery pair of shoes, but I don't like having a lot of foot showing. My feet are long and thin and not pretty. I also tried these, but they were a bit much for me:

What sort of shoes are you wearing this summer?

To a Tee

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Not to be a broken record, but whenever I sew something from a knit, I talk about how knits scare me. They're slippery and stretchy and unpredictable, and for the most part, I avoid them. But paging through pattern books, I am always drawn to a few designs for knits, and I promise myself I will keep trying until I get more comfortable and can sew knits with impunity! I've also been wanting more printed tops, so when I saw this fabric, I grabbed some and went looking for an easy tee shirt pattern. Practice!

I settled on New Look 6856. It looked extremely easy (no sleeves to set in!), three pattern pieces, and I like a boatneck. First things first: What stitch do I use? My mom always says to use a shallow zigzag. I've done so successfully in the past, but when I started to read through the directions, I noticed a line about "stretch stitches built into many conventional machines." Hmm. Might I have a strech stitch and not even realize it?

Turns out I have a jersey stitch. I tried it on a scrap of my fabric and liked how it behaved, so that's what I used for constructing the tee. I also read about overlock seams, but that requires a foot I don't have yet.

For the most part, sewing the tee was a cinch. The side seams and the hems took about ten minutes. The neck, though, that gave me trouble. I understand the concept--you have to stretch the neck band without stretching the body of the shirt--but I haven't mastered the skill. After much ado, I finally managed to do a respectable job. The back isn't as smooth as I'd like, but it will do.

I don't think the top turned out to have as much of a boatneck as I first thought it would be. I checked photos of other finished tees on Pattern Review and had to laugh, because no two necklines look the same! I think there was some improvising going on!

One important thing to note is that I didn't add even a smidge of length to this top. It is designed to be a generous length. Hooray for New Look!

African Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Back with another finished project! This time it's Simplicity 2372, which is one of those sportswear patterns that doesn't look all that interesting on first glance. The ensemble on the model did not appeal, but I wanted to give the top a try, because I'm always looking for simple patterns for cotton tops to wear in the summer. In cases like this, I immediately remove all the pattern pieces unrelated to what I'm sewing and mark the envelope accordingly. The cats love to have a pile of tissue to romp around in! You can also use the pattern tissue as, well, tissue paper for wrapping little gifts.

The fabric is an African print I bought at the thrift shop, two yards for four dollars. I wasn't actually crazy about the print, because I kept thinking of it as either bows or wrapped candies,but cutting in the other direction mitigated that, and now I really like it! The state of the price tag tells me I prewashed this at some point. It's especially important to prewash ethnic fabrics like this, because you never know what sort of dyes they used. I usually dump in about a half cup of salt for the first wash, to set the dye.

I am pretty pleased with the result!

I lined things up pretty well in the front...

...and in the back!

There was one flaw in the fabric, which I didn't notice until it ended up right in the front.

I wore the top, as is, and it didn't seem too noticeable, but just to make myself feel better, I zigzagged over it with some matching thread, just to help it blend in.

My only problem was figuring out how to wear it. The darkest color in the print is actually navy blue, but I don't own any navy bottoms. I tried it with black for the pictures, but that seemed too stark. Finally, I ended up wearing it with brown pants and a brown, beaded necklace. I thought that did a nice job of warming it up!

The Diplomat Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 01:02:00 +0000

As promised, I'm back with the Diplomat dress from Lisette Patterns, Simplicity 1878. I am in love with this pattern and this dress. It is easy to sew and easy to wear. Love, love, love, love, love! I used a piece of fabric I bought way back in October of 2009. It is a really nice quality cotton from Makower UK, and I bought several yards, because I had it earmarked for a dress all along!

Look! SLEEVES! And not fluttery sleeves or cap sleeves, either. Lovely, short. but not too short, sleeves! If you enlarge this picture, you may be able to see the detailing on the bodice. Four pieces come together right under the vee, and there is topstitching. It doesn't show up so well on this busy print, but it is a nice detail.

This is a back view showing the scariest part for me: the long zipper. I don't mind doing skirt zips, because they're short and can be easily hidden if I screw up, but putting a zipper into a dress? Yikes. I have to say, though, this went in so easily, I am ready to try it again.

This is how uncomfortable I am posing! I sometimes just freeze up because I don't know what the heck to do with myself. But I know it just isn't the same seeing garments on a hanger, so I will stick with it!

A word on the length. The dress length, view C, was not going to work for me. View B, the tunic, looked better. I ended up cutting view B with two inches added. I wanted it to be knee length, and that's what it took on 5'9" me.

Now that I'm back on the machine, I've decided to start posting reviews at PatternReview.com as well. I'm heading over there now, and if all goes well, I will be back to add a link!

Whee! My first review! Click here!

Portfolio Top

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:18:00 +0000

Without further ado, a finished project!

This is not my preferred method of taking pictures, but I can't wait any longer to get back to posting about sewing projects! I hope you've stuck around through all the fiscal fasting and living room redecorating, because the sewing machine is in business again!

I just finished this top, which is Simplicity 2245, view C. It's one of the Lisette patterns, and it's called the Portfolio top. When the first set of Lisette patterns came out, I was really excited and bought them all. Then, after looking at them some more, I realized they were mostly a little too unstructured and bohemian for me. That sort of stuff appeals to me, but I'm never completely comfortable wearing it. Tunics? Love the look...on OTHER people. But I still felt the pull of the cute styling on the pattern envelopes, so I decided to give the top a try.

The fabric I used is a cotton gauze. This must be my first time sewing on gauze, because it's a pain, and I would have remembered! It's wiggly and crinkly, frays easily, and demands to have everything finished to the Nth degree. NOT the fabric to choose if you just want to fly through a sewing project! But I already had it, I liked the color, and this was really meant to be a practice run, so I went ahead with it.

The pattern itself is not hard to put together, despite there being a lot of little extras such as the square yoke, the button loops, the cuffs, etc. I would warn anyone who is tackling this top to choose their fabric carefully. There is a LOT of piecing in the front, and any sort of directional design is going to make that really hard to navigate. As it is, my fabric has a bit of a stripe from the weave, and I didn't always get it completely straight, which kind of bugs me. Now imagine a pattern intersecting all around that square yoke piece. Yikes!

Somewhere in my pre-sewing research, I read a review which cautioned against adding too much to the length. Until then, I was planning to add a few inches, but I took their suggestion to heart and cut the pattern as is. I figured I could eke a bit of length out of the hem if need be. As it turned out, I sewed only a narrow hem rather than the 1 1/4 inch hem it called for, and I am happy with the length. Too much more would mess up the proportions.

Overall, this came out better than I expected. The pattern went together very smoothly (aside from a diversion when I followed directions for the wrong view), and I think it's a pretty flattering shape. There are no sleeves to set in, if that's something that worries you, and I was happy to find that the gathering was minimal (I am not a fan of gathering!).

Next up: Another Lisette pattern! The Diplomat dress, Simplicity 1878.

Wall to Wall

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 02:10:00 +0000

So it's been a while since I promised I would share some ideas for wall decor in the living room. Just in case you forgot what we're dealing with, here are some up to date photos:

The chairs are in place. We're happy with the furniture placement. Now we just need to finish trimming out the room without spending too much more money. What is on the walls now is all stuff I'd like to keep, but I am open to switching things around!

One change is the television. I was looking at that space the other day and decided we needed to get a bigger one. The old one looked kind of dwarfed over there, and I knew my husband would have no objections to a larger screen, so we gifted the old one to my mom and scaled up. I think this will make the wall easier to balance. (And, yes, the lamps are split up! Do you all like them better this way?)

Click here if you want to see how forlorn the old tv looked and how the lamps looked together on the console table.

I also tried switching the Keith Haring world print with the bicycle print that was over the sofa. I thought the bicycle print was getting lost over the sofa, while the Haring could hold its own. Yes? No? Better idea?

This awkward picture is to show the platter I am thinking of hanging up along with the bicycle print and something yet to be determined. I like the all the colors together over there, and it would take up some space for the price of a plate hanger.

I have found a few things I really like on etsy. These city map prints appeal to me because they are clean and graphic. They can be ordered in any color, too, so that's handy.

Images from Jenna Sue Map Shop on etsy

The other print I keep coming back to is this Cathrine Holm design. This is a definite, just as soon as I decide on a size.

Another thing I've toyed with is the idea of painting something myself. It would have to be simple and stylized, but it would be a cheap way to get something up on the walls. Or...it could be a total disaster!

So...as always...what do you think? Am I on the right track? Do you think I need more variety? Less? Is there anything you really hate? Like? Let me know!

Summer Sewing

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:37:00 +0000

My, my. Look who has taken over as my sewing aide. Isabella used to love to ~~get in the way~~ help with pattern layout, too! Doesn't she look nice in navy? I guess every cat thinks it's an invitation to lounge.

I'm not sure what happened, but after a long hiatus, I am sewing again. Maybe it's because I am tired of some of the things I've made previously? In any event, I hit up the pattern sales at Jo-Ann's for some new ideas. My pattern collection desperately needs a good look-through and some organizing.

Much as I like all the colored skinny jeans I see in magazines and on blogs, I don't think they are quite the thing for me. I decided to improvise with an orangey skirt, although it isn't as bright as it looks in this picture! All it needs is a hem, and then I'll take some pictures of it in action.

I love the pockets!

There is MUCH to show, but I will hold off until I have proper photos. Have you discovered any
new favorite patterns lately?

Chairs are Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:20:00 +0000

The chairs are back!

Time to get back to work!

I didn't want to do too much until I had them back in the room. Now that they're here, I can look at the flow and decide if it's going to work. Then, once we are sure we have the furniture where we want it, we can start working on artwork. We don't want to put extra holes in the walls if we can help it!

Weekend Wrap Up

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:27:00 +0000

I don't know about you, but I got a TON done this weekend! I cleaned, I organized, and I forced myself to work on jobs I've been avoiding. For example, there's been a little pile of things on the kitchen counter waiting to be mailed for months, so I sat down and put everything into envelopes and addressed them. Was that so hard? No! I also decided it was high time I reclaimed my laundry basket. It's been filled with refashions and mending jobs since, oh, about the time I purged my wardrobe. I worked on a few of them back in March, but that barely made a dent. Today I finished SIX more things! I sewed buttons, mended holes, shortened straps, and brought in the sides of a top I thrifted last summer. But this is my favorite!

This is a Simply Vera Wang dress I bought several summers ago. It was deeply on clearance, and it seemed like the chicest thing I'd ever seen. I loved the print and the fact that it had pockets. I loved the sleeves, and I loved the pleating detail at the neckline. I pictured myself wearing this (maybe with leggings?) and looking, oh, I don't know, sort of urban or minimalist or Scandinavian or something! :) But whenever I put it on...blah. I felt like a housefrau in a muumuu. It was not good, and putting a belt on it made it even more ridiculous. I finally removed it from my closet, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. Maybe I would use the fabric for something.

Well, today I got the idea to chop it off. I played with it as a skirt, and then I played with it as a top. I decided to go with the top, so as not to lose the pleating detail that had drawn me to it in the first place. Well...it was better, I thought, but looking a bit maternity.

So next, I got out my handy dandy fashion ruler and took in the sides. Now we're talking! That looks so much better, don't you think?

And here it is, all hemmed and ready to go! I left it long enough to belt, should I get the urge, and this was the best belt I could find in my closet. I'd like to see it with a wider black belt or something brighter, but this is what I had handy. Something to keep an eye out for at the thrifts!

Did you spot both kitties in my pics?

C'mon the U!

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:59:00 +0000

Come on, you boys in blue!

Soccer season is in full swing, and while waiting for today's Philadelphia Union game, I decided to get crafty and make a bracelet to show my support on game days! You might remember that I'm pretty thrifty when it comes to buying team paraphernalia. Check out my previous project here!

I got the idea to make these at Jo-Ann Fabrics, where I spotted these little soccer ball beads. They have other sports as well, so you could make these for a baseball team, basketball, etc. You're out of luck if you're looking for hockey pucks, though!

Here's how it looks with the friendship bracelet I made in Union colors. I can remember churning out those bracelets as a kid, but it took me a while to get the hang of it again! Now that I've learned the basic technique, I want to make a wider one for my husband.

Baby Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:10:00 +0000

The chair cushions are ordered! I think I mentioned before that this was a project I just wasn't equipped to tackle. I've made cushions before, but they were for little-used spaces where they didn't have to stand up to much scrutiny. I knew if I tried to make these I would constantly see the flaws, so we've entrusted the job to Fabrics by Allan. We walked in with the two samples we liked best (the two solids from this post) and threw ourselves on the mercy of the staff. The woman helping us (I think her name was Julie) immediately took us to a bolt of in-stock SALE fabric that was very similar to one of our samples.

Compare this to the sample:

The color is actually closer than it appears in these pictures. (You can tell by looking at the color of my hand that the light wasn't the same.) Anyway, we all really liked it, so our choice was made as quick as that! Thank goodness, because there were SO many books to look through, I'm sure we would have been there forever. Also, the in-stock fabrics were on sale for 50% off, so the stuff we chose was only $9.99 per yard. Score! So a few weeks to wait, and then our chairs will be done!

As to where they're going to go...

Gerry took the couch apart the other day and reconfigured it to put the chaise at the other end. (Thanks again for the suggestion!) One chair will go in the space right in front of the radiator at a right angle to the couch...

...and the other will go in the corner where the lamp is. The lamp will be gone, as will the cat tree! (The scheme to recover the old cat tree has been scrapped. That darn carpet was glued down and fighting removal. When we saw Petsmart had a sale on trees, we snapped up a new one.)

I also loosened the purse strings a little and bought an accessory. I found this at Ross for $7.99 and couldn't resist. It's a good size, about fourteen inches high, so hopefully I can use it to balance things out on either the console table or sideboard. That way I can break up the lamps, spread the orangey goodness, etc. And if I ever get tired of it, it will look great in the garden!

So we're at a bit of a standstill right now until the chairs come back. I have been doing a bit of online window shopping for wall ideas, but I want to have all the furniture back in the room before I start making decisions. I'll share some of the possibilities soon!

Your Straps are Showing

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:36:00 +0000

Taking a break from rearranging furniture and lamps! We've been living with the latest configuration for a few days, and I think we've found our basic layout. Lamp placement, artwork, plants*...all that will come later, but in the meantime, we're working on getting the chairs kitted out with everything they need.

When we first dragged the chairs home, I figured we'd repair the seats either by cutting a piece of wood to set in there as a seat or by stapling furniture webbing across the hole. A little internet research turned up the proper solution: Fagas straps. These things are neat! The chairs are made with a groove into which the straps fit. There is a perfectly angled piece of metal on the end of each strap which slides in and holds firmly.

It's sort of bumming me out that I just spent a good portion of my budget on something no one will ever see, but it will make the chairs more comfortable, and I like that it's done right.

*A footnote on plants. I bought two, huge BEAUTIFUL plants without checking on their toxicity first. Turns out they are both highly toxic to cats, so they will not be staying. Any suggestions for large, easy to maintain plants that are safe with pets?

Let's Pretend

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:48:00 +0000

OMG! We moved the couch again!

In the previous post's comments, Angelia presented the idea of flipping the couch so the chaise extension is on the other end, allowing us to move one of the chairs to the other side of the room. Brilliant!
In order to get an idea of what that would look like without actually reconfiguring the couch (because that will be a Production), we moved some furniture last night. So, no, the chair will not be pushed right up against the couch like that. This is all an exercise in imagination!

Look at the chairs and the couch, and imagine it with the extension at the other end of the couch. The two zones still exist, but it's more open. The chairs are no longer "stacked," one behind the other. I think this could work, what about you?

We also put Diana's suggestion to remove the tall cabinet to the test. She also suggested removing one of the chairs, but I don't know if that's necessary if we reconfigure the couch and send one chair to the other end of the room. As for the cabinet, I was reluctant to remove it because I really like it, but I decided I could like it just as easily in another room. My second problem with removing it was figuring out what to put in its place. I kept thinking about how much I'd like a console table there, but I didn't want to spend the money on one. The white "console" is really the bottom portion of the hutch we had in the dining room. With the other cabinet moved to the dining room, we don't really need the hutch in there anyway, so why not make use of it this way? It isn't the most stylish piece, but I think it almost goes away once its placed against the light wall and tricked out with lamps and artwork.

Um, yeah. This is quickly becoming the new black hole. We are going to try moving it down towards the center of the wall more, now that the room has been shifted. Just ran out of time last night. Geez, I'm almost wishing we'd gotten the bigger tv now! (Don't get excited, Gerry!)

As I was rummaging through my stash for more orange fabric to drape on the chairs, I found this Orla Kiely for Target tablecloth. I may finally decide to cut into it after all these years!

The chair hardware is on its way! Tracking shows it arriving soon. The cushions are going to run about $75 each, so that is a big chunk of my budget. Whatever else I do needs to be done on the cheap!

How are we doing?
Do you like the ideas?

I appreciate all the input--truly. It has been most helpful!
Keep it coming!

Swatches

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Just to give you a break from looking at living room pictures, I thought I'd post a photo of this cutie. Maybe she can find a permanent home in here when it's all done!

First up, the lamps. I am really falling in love with these orange lamps, so I think they are keepers one way or another. I wasn't in love with the placement of them, though, and neither were a few of you. I started looking through decorating books to see how the professionals handle lighting. Basically, the only lamps I saw in pairs were part of very symmetrical arrangements, which makes sense, I guess. I tried them on either end of the sideboard and I like it! That's another space that's always felt vaguely wrong to me, and now I think it's because I was trying to force an asymmetric arrangement on it. What do you think?

I moved the oddball lamp (the actual vintage lamp) over next to the sofa. I miss the pop of color, but if I throw some bright pillows on there, it should make up for it. Notice the table has changed? We bought that at the thrift shop a few weeks ago. It looked much too short with the small lamps we had, but I think it looks perfect with this set up, especially with the taller lamp.

I made at stop at the fabric store to get a closer look at fabrics and brought home a few samples. I don't think I'm brave enough to do a print on the chairs, but orange is a distinct possibility. Gerry prefers the nubby fabric in the top and middle photo (click to enlarge), and I like the color of the velvety stuff on the bottom. You'll recognize the lattice print from the previous post. I am not as wild about it in person, but I'm not ruling it out. The abstract print is VERY cool, but I'm afraid of it all turning a little too retro.

Just to give you an idea of what the chairs would look like in orange. The bulk of that fabric is a piece of velveteen I happened to have, but you get the general idea. As for the lamp, everyone keeps saying I need height in the corner. I realize that isn't the lamp for the room, but I put it there just to see a lamp in the space. Then I started thinking, what about a hanging light?

Am I losing it here or might that work? This is from West Elm and is on sale. The other suggestions I've had for the corner are a large plant, a few hanging lanterns, shelves, fabric panels, etc. I can't even think of them all!

To refresh your memory, another look down towards the black hole. A commenter, Diana, offered:

Now that there's a new chair in the room (which I love and can't wait to see restored), I actually don't like the reading chair in the back corner because when you look in that direction the two layers of chairs becomes eye clutter. I would prefer that the cabinet go away (although that may not be possible) and that wall be used for a collection of art (just mounted posters would be fine) or floating shelves holding your collections of...whatever you collect.

I see exactly what you're saying, and part of me wants to do just that--clear it out, move in a simple console table, and fill the wall with art. I even think I could utilize the cabinet and extra chair in the dining room. My big hesitation is that something's gotta give. If I move those two pieces, two pieces from the dining room have to go, and then I'm starting to worry about storage. Sigh...more to think about.

And speaking of art...

That is going to be a real can of worms. The reason the walls were so bare in the first place is because I am so weird about what I'll put on the walls. I have a real aversion to tacking meaningless things up, no matter how pretty they look, and I'm a little snobby about original art. Unfortunately, I'm also a complete cheapskate, so I don't get to buy much original art!

Finally, one more thing to address: the floral fabric.

You can see a bit of it in the one picture, where I stuck it up curtain-like. I LOVE this fabric. It's vintage, and I bought every last bit they had, which is probably about twelve yards. It has the orange, and it has yellow, which would tie in the wall color. When I held it up like a curtain, it looked nice with the bamboo shades. Intellectually, I tell myself I should use it. It's paid for, I have plenty of it, and it looks okay. But I just don't love it in that room. I think things need to stay more abstract. Thoughts?

Again, any and all thoughts are welcome!

Have I made things worse?

Am I heading down a dubious path?
Let me know!

Experimenting

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:05:00 +0000

I'm back with some changes and some answers! I've had feedback on here, on Facebook, and from friends. I love it, so keep it coming!

Several people suggested dealing with the leftover "black hole" area at the far end of the room by setting up a second area, either with a table and chairs or as a reading nook type of thing. There was also a comment or two about the (paltry) size of the rug. I thought maybe I could kill two birds with one stone by enlarging the leftover area a bit. That would make room for a chair or a table in the secondary area AND shrink down the tv space, meaning the rug would fill the space a little better. Rugs are expensive, so if I can avoid buying a new one, I will!

I also saw this picture online and thought it was interesting how the sofa was pushed all the way into the corner. We can't quite push ours into the corner because of the radiator, but I think it sort of works anyway.

Yes, it needs color. Let's assume the walls aren't changing. They've been painted recently, and we aren't eager to do it again. And the case pieces are not going to be painted. We paint a lot of things, but not those! The sofa can change, as it is slipcovered, but for another $250 or so, I wouldn't do it unless it made a huge impact. The choices are here. I think there were a few commenters who mentioned red accents. I do love red, but I am not a huge fan of it for this room. I think I need a bridge, so to speak, between the cool greys and the warm wood tones. The colors I keep picturing are orange and kind of a peacock blue. I grabbed some fabrics from my stash just to throw on there for an idea, and the lamps came home with me today just to see what a dash of orange would do.

Moving along, I dragged the Selig chairs in to see how they would play into things. Amazing what a sore thumb that gingham chair is once the Seligs enter the picture, huh? Gerry and I are both extremely pleased with how they look in there, so we went ahead and ordered the webbing and springs we need to move forward with the restoration. That is another opportunity to inject color into the room as well, because I can choose whatever fabric I want for the cushions. Ideas? Would you match the sofa? Pick something kicky? Go for something subdued, but not necessarily matching?

This is to give some idea of how it all shakes down with the furniture shifted and the new chair in place. Does the rug make more sense now? Do you like the chair? I think the lower back really helps.

Over to the black hole, leftover space, secondary area, whatever you want to call it. This is a shot of the rocker which will replace the gingham chair. I just have nowhere to go with things, so use your imagination!

Okay, the lamps are looking very conspicuous right now, but we can work on that. Anyway, the other end. We pushed the cabinet down towards the door a bit so the chair could go in the corner. If we fill in with artwork on the wall, how would that be? I propped a painting up there on top of the chair just to get something in that space.

So, any thoughts on the new developments? Believe me, this is ALL conjecture! I am just trying things out and playing around at this point. If you hate the lamps, that's okay! If you think the rug still looks dumb, say so! I won't be offended! :)

Pimp My Living Room

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:13:00 +0000

Our living room has been in a state of flux for long enough.

It was "done" once, but then I saw this at the thrift shop:

Bye bye, country pine armoire. Hello, mid-century sideboard.

Of course it went with nothing (except the awesome gourd lamp I bought years ago), but I figured I could build around it...eventually.

If you'll just look around with me for a minute, you can see we haven't progressed very far. It's still very much a hodgepodge. I didn't even bother to tidy up for the pictures, because, frankly, it doesn't help much.

The chair with the plaid blanket is not really a design choice. We brought it in for extra seating at the holidays, and the cats decided it makes a lovely place to sleep. Likewise, the side tables and lamps--just inexpensive, functional things until we decide what we want.

The sofa is new, and we bought it based on its low profile (so it would not block windows) and comfort. I also wanted something with a slipcover, because we weren't sure how it would fare against two sets of kitten claws. The chair goes unused 99% of the time and will be replaced by one of the Danish chairs if we ever get it put back together.

This is a real black hole. The room is sort of long and narrow, so we have this empty space at one end. We used to have a thrift shop sideboard down there, with a collection of mirrors hanging above it. We replaced the sideboard with this cabinet, because it goes better with the other cabinet piece, but it looks lonely over there.

There is also a lot of blank wall to the left of the tv.

A view from the other end.

Help! It looks terrible, and we are at a loss.

Between the shape of the room, 11 by 22, and the window and door placement, we just can't figure out what to do. And whatever we do, we don't want to spend a lot of money.

Where would you start?

Easter Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:16:00 +0000

Whatever else is going on, I always seem to have time for a post about Easter decorations! In 2009, I shared my Grandma's beautiful Easter eggs. In 2010, it was my egg-tastic wreath and an Easter bunny band. Last year, a pack of silly chicks. This year, it looks like the theme is ducks and chicks again!

I bought this wee, dapper fellow at a yard sale. I especially like the tiny little homemade hook they added for hanging. I could never remove that, because it's part of his story!

I didn't realize how many chicks I had until I started unpacking my Easter crate. This is just one group!

My brothers and I have many of these Lefton figures. Grams was good about dating them!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

No-Thing New Postmortem

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:53:00 +0000

I've been struggling to write this post for a few days now. I can't seem to edit out all the babbling and/or make much sense, so I'm just going to give myself fifteen minutes to look it over and then post it, for better or worse.
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I guess I could call this post Why No-Thing New Doesn't Work for Me. Even if I hadn't bought four pairs of shoes a week before the end of the project, I would have to be honest and say the experiment wasn't working out the way I had hoped.
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I keep thinking about a quote I wrote down from the book Not Buying It:
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Might beauty be a necessary luxury?

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Yeah, I know, shoes are pretty mundane and not exactly an exalted example of beauty or elegance, but bear with me. Back on January 13th I said aesthetics were going to be my downfall. I am just not the sort to make do with something that assaults my eyes. For example, my husband makes our kittens' food. He mixes up a huge batch every month or so and puts smaller portions of it in the freezer. If we hadn't already owned a bunch of matching glass containers, I would have felt compelled to buy them, because seeing a hodgepodge of plastic containers in the freezer would drive me crazy. I know that's a weird example, and I sound completely OCD, but there you have it.
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And on the subject of clothing: Is it enough to have all your relevant bits covered, have shoes on your feet and be warm enough, or do we allow some latitude for style? Because I could probably clothe myself for the rest of my life with what I own right now, but, well, what fun would that be? Emerson said Thoreau had "no temptations to fight against--no appetites, no passions, no taste for elegant trifles." Good for Thoreau, but I don't work like that. I really enjoy clothes. Looking for thrift bargains, sewing, and creating outfits is fun for me. You might even call it a hobby. And I just don't want to give that up.
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Now I don't want it to sound like No-Thing New was a complete failure. The "new" part wasn't really a problem, because we buy a lot of secondhand anyway (shoes excepted). No, the problem was with defining needs vs. wants. Look at that quote again:

Might beauty be a necessary luxury?

Maybe the line between wants and needs isn't as clear cut as it seems. And maybe the much-maligned "shoppers' high" isn't always as terrible as it sounds. Is it really so bad that I enjoy looking through the racks at the thrift shop, even when I don't need anything? I love mixing new things into my wardrobe or home decor and breathing new life into things I already have. I like to change things up. Of course I feel excited when I score a cool new sweater for four dollars or an Australian wool blanket for next to nothing...does that mean I'm deficient somehow?

No-New Thing didn't work out the way I expected, but it did help me clarify my feelings about shopping. I still think coupons are evil, advertising has created some ridiculous desires, and slighty expired food is just fine. But I think my shopping habits are okay just the way they are.

So about those shoes. I needed new black mary janes. Really. I also had $125 in Christmas and birthday money from my mom. Moms don't want to be told you are saving your Christmas money. I decided to get a new pair of Danskos. Looking online, I found a few pairs I liked, but I was concerned about the fit. Then I got the brilliant idea of going to the Dansko factory outlet to see what they had. Well, I got my basic mary janes and then some. Half off and more. Can you blame me?

Book Backlog

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:09:00 +0000

Lots of winners in this batch of books!

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton: Loved it. I'm sorry I let myself be deterred by the length of these books for so long!

We are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg: I came across this title while researching read alikes for The Help. I haven't been a big fan of Berg's more recent books, but I really enjoyed both this one and Durable Goods.

Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym: Always love a Pym book!

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton: Good, worth reading, just not quite as entrancing as The Forgotten Garden.

The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper: Quite similar to This is Where I Leave You, but just as good. I am getting a little wary about reading more of his stuff, though. Will they all be so similar?

The Fallback Plan by Leigh Stein: Eh. Nothing new.
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Below Stairs by Margaret Powell: New editions of this book bill it as the inspiration for Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey. Some interesting bits, but I expected more.

Not Buying It by Judith Levine: Interesting read about a year without shopping, but it's getting a bit dated and includes more economic theory than most people are going to want to read. I wanted more anecdotes about how they got along without shopping.

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear: Always enjoy my Maisie Dobbs.
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A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley: The first book in the Detective Kubu mystery series. Generally, I liked it, but it felt a little bogged down. It's hard not to compare it to the No. 1 Ladies Detective series, and they're so breezy, anything else is going to suffer in comparison.

Extracurricular Food Shopping

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 03:14:00 +0000

This isn't exactly part of our grocery budget, but it's cheaper than plane tickets!

The Irish Coffee Shop in Upper Darby has some of our favorite foods from Ireland.

For myself, I chose a tub of Dairygold and a Curlywurly. I was pretty restrained!

Gerry got himself a VAT of HP sauce!

And I talked him into a can of mushy peas. Just one.

Refashioning Returns!

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:48:00 +0000

For me, the toughest part of No-Thing New has been trying not to shop for clothes. I don't ordinarily buy a lot of brand new clothes anyway, but for the purposes of No-Thing New, I am trying not to buy anything secondhand either, unless I really need it. For the first two months, I did pretty well. I bent the rules and went thrift shopping on my birthday, and both Gerry and I went looking for shorts for the upcoming warm weather, but I didn't do a lot of pining for new things. However, now that the trees are in bud, and the daffodils are blooming, I am VERY tempted to pop into the local thrifts to look for colorful, new-to-me duds.

One thing I really did need was a white tee shirt. Mine had a stain, which was fine for layering, so I happily wore it under sweaters all winter. I looked at a few thrifts for a new one, but had no luck, because white tees just aren't the kind of thing that hold up well. And, I confess, it was hard for me to resist looking at everything else in the store, so I wound up bringing home a black silk tank, a fleece jacket. and two sweaters. Ooops.

I finally decided to just buy myself a brand new tee. Sometimes that's probably the best course of action. One trip to Marshalls, $5.99.

Now that I'm feeling completely guilty about buying stuff I didn't really need, I am looking for other ways to satisfy my craving for something new. I started by pulling out my refashion basket to see what I could find there. The dress in the picture above was a thrift buy years ago. I always intended to chop off the top and make a skirt. No time like the present! It turned out to be a bigger project than I expected, because I wanted to keep the lining intact, but it's finally done, and I have a "new" skirt!

I also chopped a few inches off a dowdy pair of capris to make a "new" pair of shorts. They will be worn so much more now that they're a more flattering length.

Also on the agenda: A blouse that needs new buttons, and tank that needs its straps shortened. It's like getting new clothes, only it isn't!