The House

I’ve just posted information about April Food Day 2011 on the April Food Day blog. There is a copy of the 2011 logo, and a link to the donations page at Feeding America. I will be posting a links list on the April Food Day site so that you can add your post about the event. Connor’s favourite “baby” is a little stuffed pig with no arms, called Army. Connor has pulled all of the stuffing out of its head now, so I had to buy him a new one today. Of course, all this is a round-about way of saying I’ve finished the arms of the slipcover (and one of the three back pillows). The newest version of Army has gone on both of our walks with us this evening, and I anticipate it will be sleeping close to Connor tonight. Here’s the other arm, sans Army. I think I am going to make a pleated skirt, but can’t figure if I just want a few box pleats or a lot of knife pleats. I’ve also figured out that I am going to have to put a zipper down the back of the sofa so I can get the slipcover on and off with some ease.

It is interesting making this slipcover for several reasons: First, my sofa is huge, more than 70 inches long, so the amount of fabric I am hefting around is massive. Second, who knew that there were so many bends and curves in such a seemingly straight-lined sofa? Third, I love figuring out how to do this without a pattern and am delighted when it works.

Connor’s already making himself at home on the new cushion covers. The interesting thing about this sofa, is that the covers on the cushions were removable, but the three pillow covers were not. So when I removed the three covers, luckily, I found that the pillows were encased in a light muslin cover. Unfortunately, when I tried to remove a little of the original fabric from the sofa, all I found was padding. No muslin.Even more unfortunately, you could see the pattern of the sofa through the fabric I am using. I had to go buy a bunch of muslin to line the sofa. Since my sewing skills aren’t too good, I decided to bond the muslin to the sofa with a heat n’bond type material. It worked really well, although it took hours. I did the back and front and the arms. In the image above, the slipcover fabric is just draped over the back.

The stupidest thing is that I know I could go out and buy a new sofa with a new cover, but I am already in for a penny on this one! It’s a good exercise in learning a new skill.

My sofa needs to be slipcovered or re-upholstered. Much to my dismay, Connor loves to sleep on it, and while I am gone during the day, it’s his haven. Additionally, the pattern is dated and I wanted something I could take off and chuck in the laundry with a lot of bleach.After checking around, and realizing how incredibly expensive it would be, and how long it would take, I decided that I would make the slipcover for my sofa. It was a moment of complete insanity, fuelled by watching some videos on-line and reading a local blogger’s EZ instructions for making one. I mean, if Pam can do it, so can I! The first thing I did was head over to see my friends at DeBois Textiles, and check out what they had on hand. I already had an image in my mind, put there by Joni at Cote de Texas, who is the world’s leading proponent of white slipcovers, preferably in linen.  I have sewn with linen many times before, and find it to be difficult to work with, and at my amateur level, I need all of the simplicity I can possibly get.

As I poked around in the nether regions of DeBois, I happened upon the perfect fabric for the sofa. It’s a pale cream colour and is a nice weight cotton. To make it a little more interesting than just plain fabric, it’s got a diamond pattern woven into it.  The wonderful people at DeBois were kind enough to make a gift of the fabric and I appreciate it tremendously! The pattern’s small enough that I don’t have to worry about matching repeats and lining up edges.

After a lot of pondering and thinking, I realized that the first thing I needed to do was to make about a mile of cording or piping for the pillows and the edges of the sofa. I bought 20 yards of cord, but soon realized that that wouldn’t be nearly enough. I am sure I need at least double that amount. Actually, the first thing I did was have the fabric laundered in a commercial washer. It had to be cut in half to fit into the machine, and having it washed and dried before I start cutting and sewing ensures that it won’t shrink the first time I wash it. Next up, measuring the two T-cushions and the three pillows along the back! Stay tuned.

Yep, it’s that time again. I am de-accessioning. I love that word… dee-ak-sesh-uhn - to sell from a collection, especially with a view to acquiring funds for the purchase of other works. Hmmm. Sounds exactly like what I am doing.Even though I’ve only lived in my house for a few short years, it’s filled with things I’ve collected, but no longer want or need. So, over the next four or five weeks, I am going to be adding a lot of things to my Etsy shop. There will be great bargains on books, china, silver, french ivory cutlery, fabrics, pillows and a lot more! Let me know if there’s anything you’ve seen in my posts that you’re interested in. Let’s make a deal!

I found a group of limited imprints of six of the costumes that Cecil Beaton designed for the film, My Fair Lady, in 1964. Beaton won an Academy Award for Best Colour Costume for his designs, which remain classic today.

I thought it would be fun to look at the sketches and then the finished product. I think that this is the most well-known of the dresses from MFL. It’s the dress that was worn in the black and white scenes at Ascot.

Probably one of the most pivotal scenes is at the Ball, when Eliza dances with the prince in this spectacular dress.

This is the Prince’s mummy, who is wearing a gorgeous tone-on-tone purple gown with a green sash and elbow-length gloves. Of course the most incredible thing about her costume is her hair and headpiece.

I can’t remember the scene where Eliza wore this dress… can you?

There are two other sketches that I can’t find the film images for. If you know what scenes they’re in, or who they are, let me know and I’ll add them to the mix.

I do love this movie! It, along with Mary Poppins, is one of my all-time favourites! What are yours?