Greetings and salutions to you dear readers!
I promised to blog about the epic summerhouse overhaul so here you are…
We started with this:
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| I’ve been dreaming of a storage solution for all my stuff a long time… |
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| So I took it all outside… |
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| And my amazing man, Stephen got the tools out… |
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| First we bought some wood and cut it to size to make me an awesome cutting/ironing corner table |
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| Which happened to fit perfectly with the corner shelves I got at the tip a few years ago – they are screwed and wood glued together now and the brackets are from Ikea so it’s a super sturdy table! |
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| Stephen is a genius when it comes to solving problems so he started building shelves… |
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| I helped wherever I could and my speciality was sanding the wood so it was all nice and smooth. |
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| And I did the painting of it all! Dexter style!! 😉 (Just noticed Hobbes in the background, guarding me!) |
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| I hoovered and painted every inch of the place – twice! |
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| And was very careful – using masking tape to avoid spillage onto the lovely blue paintwork. |
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| I was painting till it got dark and woke up at 7am just to run in and see it all – SO EXCITED! |
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| Then I started to fill the shelves… |
I already had plenty to fill the shelves with but that week I picked up about 15 black bags full of amazing fabrics, trimmings and tools from an amazing friend who’s tailor partner had passed away and I am now carrying on his legacy. I am a very lucky girl and extremely thankful for this opportunity and now had enough to fill a warehouse.
The cutting/ironing table:
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| After much research I found what I needed to protect the wood from the hot iron – layer one : Warm & Natural batting is heat proof – we stuck it to the table with strong spray adhesive, masking tape the sides to avoid spill. |
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| We cut this down leaving an overhang to be glued underneath. |
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Then I got back to filling the shelves… I found a snazzy way to keep my patterns neat!
I forgot to mention this wonderful friend also let me take all the fashion books too! 🙂 |
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| And I started sorting through the many bags of fabrics! |
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| I have tried to fold them all neatly but some fabrics just don’t like to be folded… any ideas here?! |
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| So many luxurious cottons, wools, tartans, silks, crepes etc etc etc |
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On the mannequin is already started projects that I intend to finish!
(See what I mean about messy folding!) |
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| There was also this stunning rug in my haul – in love! |
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| SO many trimmings!!! |
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| I found the wire reels in a skip – perfect for rolling trimmings around! |
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| Oh and this amazing singer sewing table too… 🙂 |
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| Packed to the rafters! |
So there it is – my beautiful, creative, jam packed summerhouse – I need a new name for it now – sewing room? workshop? craft shed? because it’s so much more then a summerhouse!
I really do love it with all my heart and working in there with the radio on is pure bliss for me. There are no distractions – no internet and I sometimes leave my phone in the house unless I’m learning some youtube or blog tutorial!
Also – for the people that are thinking but what about damp, electricity and lighting etc? – all those boring practical things are being sorted out bit by bit.
- As this is at the bottom of an English country garden sorting the weatherproofing was the most important so we already have the inside and out completely covered and sealed in Cuprinol Garden Shades which repels water.
- I got a mini demudifier on amazon for £30 that stays on all the time in there to keep the damp out.
- Also we have installed two storage heaters either side of the place that also stay on constantly (don’t worry they are meant to) to keep it from getting too cold in there.
- Electricity is running through a special thick, exterior cable attached to the lip of the wall running down the whole garden and then through a tiny hole Stephen drilled for it to enter the summerhouse.
- Lighting – is still being sorted in fact I might be heading to Ikea again today to get that one done as I want ceiling LEDs and clip on lights not stand up lamp that take up valuable space!
I also want to cover the corner table with a lovely strong fabric to make it look pretty – believe it or not there is nothing suitable for texture or print in my stash for this particular job but I have just found this
shop on the googlings and it only turns out to be one of my local haberdasheries so soon this fabric will be gracing that space!!
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| Isn’t it stunning?! |
I’m really enjoying being back to the blogging world and will endeavour to keep it up so thankyou for having me!
Love and all the trimmings!
Xox Gabblog xoX
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that is brilliant!!!
It looks fabulous. What a great idea for an ironing table.
Thanks to Pinterest I found a way to organize to slippery fabrics thanks to Pinterest. I wrap them around carton and put them in a box like this : http://pinterest.com/pin/240027855113355222/ Pinterest has great ideas if you search “organizing fabrics”.
How about calling it your Garden Atelier?
=^x^=
Love the Garden Atelier! We were wondering about Gabberdashery Workshop too… and thanks for the bolt suggestion – I’ve just picked up some foam board to try exactlly that! Xox
It looks fab, Gabby! This is giving me idea for my own stash, which is more on the yarny side, but just as bulky 😀 Thanks for sharing! Marie xx
Yay! Thankyou Marie! Xox
What a lovely space, must be great working in there. I find that fabrics ‘that don’t like being folded’ are better rolled and then either slotted into shelves or stood on end on baskets/boxes.