Sewing!

The other thing I've been working on,  is developing a regular hobby-type thing. I've been really bad at this, but one of the most magical things that has happened to me is my job, and tumblr. Between the two I have come to realize that I really, really love housewares. Home improvements aside, I could spend hours in places like CB2 or even just Winners, fantasizing about the perfect table setting. Its a very girly thing, and it makes me truly happy. Tumblr has been great for this because it helped me realize how drawn to these things I am. While I may work in a graphic design setting, most of my tumblog revolves around the home, and interior design allowing me to learn a little more about myself.

And where to start? Well, we need a table-runner and that is a seriously easy shape to sew up. So I collected my materials, which wound up being more than just some fabric and thread. I'd seen a few blogs here and there  talk about buying a textile medium to mix you acrylic paints with to create fabric paints that won't be all crunchy and acrylic-feeling - so I had to bite off more than I could chew.

The linen I got from Affordable Textiles on Queen West (where else?). The thread also came from that neighbourhood, and as you can see the textile medium is Aboveground's house brand. I'll tell you right now - I wish I had bought a better textile medium. Still, I began by taping off my design, which I wanted to look fairly rough and hand-crafted.

The taping went rather well, I had already sketched out a rough version of what I wanted so it didn't take too long either. The real problems began when I started to paint. The brush I chose had a teenie bit of yellow dried up in the bristles, which the textile medium dissolved and allowed my nice white paint to become a pale yellow. Not the worst thing ever, but quite discouraging. 

The other issue was that of course the paint seeps through the linen, and while I did place some wax paper down, by the time I was done painting, some of the paint had dried and the paper was adhered to the fabric. So, when I go for round two, I will use a plastic drop cloth instead. I did manage to tear the majority of the wax paper away, but bits and pieces remain. Alas.

In the end I wasn't too upset by this stage, it appeared at least that I manage a sort of gradient of yellow, to white, and back to yellow.

In any case I hung the fabric to dry and it was about a week before I really got back to it. I've inherited a Bernina sewing machine from my great aunt, and well, it's just not what I'm used to. I've always found my mom's Swinger to be easy to use, this is just a different animal. 

So I'm still struggling with the sewing machine's various quirks, but since after the fabric dried I found that my "gradient" looked pretty darn bad I decided I may as well move along and continue to use this as a learning experience. So, through broken threads and some rather wonky stitching, I created a table runner which taught me an awful lot about what not to do. Next time should produce a much more appealing product.

Jeepers, you'd never know I ironed the thing would you?

Anyhow, Kat and Pietro have both been kind enough to say they quite like it so we will use it for the time being. Still, I plan on getting better at this! I should mention also that the textile medium did not entirely stop the acrylic paint from feeling plastic and hard as only acrylic paint knows how, so I may use more than suggested next time, and also either a sponge or a roller, as there are some paint-strokes visible. If I get the sewing machine to work though, I'd like to stitch around the triangle shapes and create an extra element to the pattern that way. If I manage to do this I'll be sure to post my success or failure.

Stay tuned!

Home Sweet Rental - Platform Bed

I've been sitting on this one for a while, its not super-exciting but I want to continue to make these home improvement posts because they make me really happy! I'm not really at ease with my living situation for several reasons, but as it stands I have no real reason to move - aside from general dislike for the place. So, what can I do but divert my angst in to decorating and improvement projects?

I've found Anna Dorfman's Door Sixteen and Daniel Kanter's Manhattan Nest sources of incredible inspiration and while I can only do so much at once I really hope that I can have homes as beautiful as theirs some day. This will also mean re-doing this blog so it is both more attractive and more manageable. One thing at a time though.

So, I had - to my great embarrassment - been living without a real bed frame for quite some time, and it really, really had to change. My first thought was IKEA, but as it turns out their bed frames are not as cheap as you might expect. Particularly if you are being fussy, as I was and looking for a platform storage bed. I am always on the lookout for new storage solutions, and like the contemporary vibe of the platform bed. To my pleasant surprise, Home Depot had what I was looking for in the end! The Southshore URBEN is very well priced and very much what I was after. I ordered.

The reviews mentioned that it was a bit of a handful, assembly-wise but I must tell you - there is little I love more than assembling furniture. This was going to be great.

It took a lot of careful instruction reading, but I got the project going. Once I was familiar with their method of explaining things it really wasn't difficult either. Just about everything did what it was meant to, though I did have to call Pietro in several times to help me hold this or that.

The only step that really gave me any grief was the building of the actual drawers. There were some plastic bits that weren't molded 100% as they ought to be, and required some man-power to twist in to submission. 

The whole process probably took a solid two hours, and if I'm being honest, the finished product - while exactly what I wanted, just doesn't look very impressive. I've got big plans on continuing to improve my bedroom, new sheets are on the way, new paint job is certainly in order, and its time to get rid of old art that I'm simply hanging on the walls for lack of a better place. I hope you'll bear with me as I continue to make these improvements.