Give me an inch and I will take a mile. DIY Home

Its not often that there is a bare wall in my house, and if I do see one it doesn't take long until something is getting hammered up.

I found this one last week...

I mean, what did it think it was doing hanging around naked, clothed in no art or mirrors?

And what does a touring map of Ireland, printed in Edinburgh and a bottle of Bushmills got to do with this naked wall?

Yard sticks from Copeland Linens, Belfast which shut up shop last February. Such beautiful wooden rules marked with material memories.

This is how I found the rulers in the factory when it was closing.  I think this is a beautiful scene in itself.  Dockets of fabric purchases, customer orders and the Irish linen draped from a hook.

The wonderful map of Ireland backed in linen which I purchased from Yellow Submarine, Belfast for a few pounds a few months ago.

Off to Ikea for a frame big enough and light enough to protect the old map.

Naked wall now dressed...

Rulers added.  Its all distance and measurements.

The finished frame.

Break the rules and do it differently!

Happy Creating and making

Till next time,

Christine x

DIY - by hook or by crook

 

 

Its been a long time, nearly 4 months since my last post...I feel like I'm lowering my head and confessing.  But I know I'm always full of NY promises that I will blog more often, but it never happens! Please forgive, ... hopefully they are worth waiting for.

 

Recently Colour and Cloth has expanded into Colour Cloth and Craft, because that's just the way it was heading.  All 3 C words encompassing a wide expanse of materials that I can post about.  I'm not only interested in Colour and Cloth, I love DIY, woodwork, poetry, painting, sketching, gardening and baking, all of which are crafts in their own beautiful way. (lots of influences from my folks and grand folks).  So I really felt the need to expand, hopefully opening up in many avenues and interests.

 

Today its DIY, which I get from my good ol' da Andrew Boyle. 

When I was younger I helped dad put the wallpaper paste on the anaglypta Graeme and Browne wallpaper (what goes up, must come down, Super Fresco make it easy with G&B...you remember?!), and helped him paint the chip wood magnolia.  Despite many differences, I am still 1 of 'daddys 4 girls' ;)

 

So when its comes to DIY, I'm always looking around for new projects to get stuck into.

 

 

 

I had found this hat stand in a alley near my house (I was putting my bin out before you ask...I don't normally frequent alleyways), rescued it and sprayed it black.

 

 

 

 

Got bored with it after a few years and wanted to see my scarves so I can actually wear them!

 

 

New drill out...best purchase last year. Out come the screws.

 

 

Level off the pole

 

 

 

 

To make a table for my bedtime reading ;)

 

 

Silky scarves in the bedroom.... ;)

 

 

Turn it on its side and it becomes a tie back for the wardrobe curtain :)

 

 

 

 

Hope you all enjoyed the post.  I'll not promise to write again for a while so I don't disappoint!!

 

Till we meet again

 

Happy CCC x from CB

 

 

 

Mannequin making - Sleeves

Its Thursday, my favourite day of the week, and I'm up early and posting my 2nd blog in a week...am I feeling ill?!

I'm not fully back to work yet so am making the most of having free time by bulk cooking and freezing meals so I have food to eat after a long day at work. 

One of the projects I got up to at the end of last year was more Mannequin making, but this time focusing on one particular limb, the arm.

It came about as I was finding it difficult to make a lining pattern for a jacket I was altering.
I teach Dressmaking in Belfast Met on a Monday and borrowed their detachable arm one evening, returning it the next day. A strange sight was a rigor mortis arm tucked sticking out of my backpack while cycling home.  It was a wonder I wasn't stopped and questioned. 

 

I needed to recreate this arm.  I find thinking always a lot easier with a cup of tea :)

 

 

I love the old dress stands and parts, stains and all. They are so expensive though!

 

 

I cut some calico (cotton) fabric on the bias (stretch cross grain).  The bias makes it easier to mold the fabric over the arms curves.  I marked where fullness needed removed around the elbow with a dart.  The armhole socket and the wrist were traced onto calico forming 2 circles.

 

 

By pinning the fabric in place it allowed me to make final alteration so I could achieve a very close fit.  I made a paper pattern, adding 1cm seam allowances and re-cut out. 

 

The dart was made and the sleeve was machine stitched in place.  Then stuffed tightly with polywadding until the amount of firmness needed was achieved.  I forgot to take photographs of these stages! 

 

The end circles were handstitched firmly in place and the arm was given a good steam with an iron to make it fit and sit.

 

 

 

 

Side view.  I pinned my arm to my stand using leather pins.  The pins need to be strong and secure the arm in place when using to fit a garment.

 

 

Front view.  A view lumps and bumps, but sure haven't we all!

 

 

I was now able to create a sleeve lining pattern a lot easier than before as this fabric was really soft and didn't hold a sleeve shape on its own.

 

 

Finished jacket.

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the post and it encourages you to make your own. 

 

Until next time

 

Happy Creating!

Christine x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Year, New Wardrobe!

Happy New Year to you all ... I've a feeling that its going to be a good one!

2014 is a very significant year for me... I was born in 1974 and that means I'm turning 40 in April!  I'm really looking forward to it!

New Years always means a good clear out. The last pine needle of the tree has been brushed outside ( although Im sure I will still be finding them for the next few months in the house) the decorations are down, the house is sparkling, focus turns to a good wardrobe clearout.  Or as its called in Northern Ireland, 'a good read out'. (said as 'red')

Back in September I had decided to rip out my wardrobe, so armed with tools, wrenches, hammers and many other gadgets I rolled up my sleeves and set to work.

 

These were the 2 doors before

 

With the door frames only coming up so far it meant there was a lot of wasted space. When you live in a 2 bedroomed 1920s terrace and own a lot of clothes, every bit of space is important.

 

These nails were SO big, and took a lot of struggling with to get them free from the door frame.

 

All my clothes had to go into the spare room until the job was done.

 

A very messy bedroom floor!

 

All the woodwork off from the door frames

 

I used some of the better pieces of wood from the door frame for another clothes related project. I will share that in another post.

 

At this stage I could do no more.  The next stage involved finding a good tradesman and I found https://www.facebook.com/HandyMattNI?fref=ts'  Handy Matt' by facebook.  

 

Where the shadow is was wasted space.

 

 

Matt took away the partition wall in the middle, checking that the ceiling wouldn't fall in first and then did a bit of plastering. 

 

Then rails and shelves were added.  A curtain rail was put up.  I stitched curtain tape to a very large old Irish linen tablecloth and hung it as the wardrobe closure.

 

All the vacuuming done, and the clothes are hung in place.  Making full use of every inch of space.

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 ...I added the tie back today. 

 

 

 

Now that the wardrobe structure was finished, and the New Year and all its resolutions had been made it was time for a wardrobe clear out. My sister Linda of 'Hey!Homewrecker' came over last night and hanger by hanger went through the rails.  Somethings require the losing of a little weight to fit back into so its back into running and yoga as of next week.

 

Today I left 3 bags full into Oxfam :)

 

 

 

It was decided that no more charity and vintage shops are to be visited, and that although I have lots of really nice clothes, I have no basics!

 

A trip into the shops, January sales in full swing, led to me coming straight home, having bought nothing only an M&S pastry to console myself after having to deal with the nightmare that is high street shopping.

 

The kettle called to be put on, the tea was poured and up to my bedroom I went, plugged in the laptop, logged into La redoute, and shopped online for colourful basics.  Bliss ....

 

 

This little pouch is from the 'House of Colour' when you get your skin tone and hair colour assessed and shown all the colours that suit you best. Handy to have when wardrobe shopping.

 

The final curtain. 

Night night

 

xx

 

 

Recycled home haven and garden

In one week my life should return to normal working hours after 3 months sewing costumes for Game of Thrones season 4.  And while it is wonderful working on the hand stitched costumes, the hours are long and leave me pretty much with no time to do my own thing, and no time to blog about doing my own thing!
 
So this Sunday evening finds me comfortably sitting on my sofa, listening to Chopin's Nocturnes on Spotify.  My sofa being 1 of 4 things in my house that has not been salvaged, recycled or found in a skip.
 
This blog is the 1st of a few on the subject of recycling, upcycling, skip-hoking whatever tag name you wish to give it, for it has many.  Kirstie has made her own TV series about it, and I was interested to read that she has been labelled 'the pioneer of skip searching'.  Hmmm, I have been at this since art college when me and my friends Grace and Alison rescued a Denby tea set, a fish platter and a glass serving dish from a skip at the corner of Royal Avenue circa 1992.
 
Let me share a few of my finds, upcycles, recycles, re-thinks, re-fashions around the home.  Kirstie eat your heart out!
 

 

I found this old spade handle in a bag of firewood my dad gave me. I instantly thought that it had a purpose and could be saved from a firey end.

 

 

I visited my local DIY store and asked for a 'double - ended screw'.  I was given a strange look.  12p it cost.  I charged up my sisters drill and in less than five minutes had a new hook to hang my satchels on.

 

 

Leather + wood = LOVE

 

 

This satchel was a charity shop find at £7.50. 

 

 

 

An unwanted mirror with a solid wood frame becomes...

 

 

My new pin/black board.  Re-using all my corks that used to be strung up for curtain tie-backs.  I am still working my way through the paperwork!

 

 

 

Next we head upstairs to the bathroom where the towels have been neatly rolled in this rack for 7 years.  I scratched this 7 year itch, and found a use for a drawer which I picked up for free in an old closing down linen factory.  See my previous post DIY Stacking shelves for another drawer uses.

 

 

Upturned and upcycled drawer with added shelves.  Perfect for storing loo rolls.  The towels are now rolled up into a woven straw basket.

 

 

They are stacked here before getting hung on the disused spool.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally for this evening, into the kitchen for a before and after found on Gumtree.

  

 

Cast iron Tractor stool before...

 

 

Tractor stool after a coat of red gloss.  It now sits in my kitchen beside the frame of my great grandmothers Singer sewing machine.

 

 

 

 

I hope I have inspired you to look at things differently before throwing them out or giving them away. Keep following my posts to see new ways to furnish your space for next to nothing. 

 

Till next time...

 

Keep Creating and tell me what you have been DIY-ing

Christine