SEXI COUCH TIME

I know! The title of this post is super misleading! We are not having sexi time so much as this is the time for the Sexi Couch to shine. Got it?

This blog is going to be a bit quiet over the next couple of weeks – I’m working on a dress right now, but let’s be real, I’ve got parties to make a drunk ass of myself at and therefore that shit won’t be finished before the weekend. My family is going to Gatlinburg on Friday – we’re staying in a cabin! Yeah! – and then I’m taking the entire week off after Christmas (and hopefully getting a LOT of sewing done! Yay!). So I’ll be taking a break from the blogworld for a bit
Speaking of Gatlinburg – anyone have suggestions for fun stuff to check out (or eat!) while we’re there? I know all about Ripley’s Believe It Or Not (and you best believe that I will be all up in that shit!), but I haven’t actually been in at least a decade so I’m not sure what kind of stuff there is to do anymore. Sadly, Dollywood parks are closed for the season, or else that would be my #1 choice, obviously.

Anyway, check out this babely babe-

Green-gold 60s velvet, yeah! Looks quite different from the last time I showed you guys my living room, huh?

I bought this beauty from Lauren Winter over the weekend. They were upgrading to a bigger couch in a more neutral color, and I about shat myself with delight when I realized that meant I could have the old couch. Aha! It *is* old – probably from the 60s, but they bought it from the original owners and it’s in very good shape. And it’s long enough for us to stretch out on Plus: VELVET.

(Ignore that lamp; I have a really sweet gold 60s floor lamp that I’m going to replace it with, but it’s currently getting some new wiring )

We finally mounted that beast of a tv, so I guess I can show y’all the other side of my living room!

I just picked up this painting at the flea market over the weekend… the market as a whole was pretty dead (December-April tends to be a little sad; only like a third of the vendors were there!), but hey, at least the painting matches my living room, eh?

This is a pretty shitty picture, but I just wanted to show the weird shape of the living room… and why we had to hang the tv. There really wasn’t anywhere to put it! I guess that’s what happens when you live in a house that was built before most families had a television

My silver tree is one of the original tinsel ones (the kind you’re not supposed to put lights on) – it was my Great-Grandmother’s I really love it and I’m so glad she took such good care of it.

I’d give you guys a list of where everything in this room came from, but honestly like 99% of it is from the flea market, the thrift store, a yard sale, or given to me by a friend/family member. What can I say – I’m a gatherer when it comes to decor

As a side note, a lot of y’all were commenting on my sewing room corner and wondering if it usually stays that clean…

And here’s a shot I took this morning. So in general – yeah! I can’t work in a messy space. I’m not terribly organized, though, especially when I’m in the middle of a project

I guess that’s it! I’ll still be lurking Instagram and Twitter and checking emails if you need me! Have a happy winter holiday, whatever you celebrate I’ll see y’all next year – I’ve got a couple pieces of exciting news that I’m just bursting to share

Introducing – My New Sewing Room!

I should really call this a sewing studio – it’s a HUGE room! Huge, I tell you!

Let’s back up a little. When I last left off – three freakin’ weeks ago, eeeewww! – I was still living in a sorry state of moving purgatory. You know what I’m talking about – everything is packed except one of each dish, getting anywhere requires maneuvering around piles of boxes & there are weird outlines on the wall where artwork used to hang. Pretty depressing living situation, if you ask me! We actually did not move until the end of that week, on the 10th. And lucky me – the power company refused to turn our power & water on until the following Monday, so we spent a couple of nights sleeping on the mattress in the middle of the old bedroom (I can handle living a couple of days without one or the other, but not both!). Then there was a full week of unpacking – and I refused to let myself do anything fun until the house was put together (mostly because I know me, and I know it’ll never get done otherwise. Hey, at least I’m honest haha).

Then my old landlord called & said the paint colors in the house were all wrong, and I needed to paint them back. Not wanting to spend $200+ on neutral paint, Landon & I went to Lowe’s & bought out all their OOPS paint, mixed it all together in a 5 gallon bucket & crossed our fingers. The end result was something that closely matches my flesh haha. So I had a painting party with a few awesome friends, PBR, pizza & 90s jams. We knocked out 3 rooms in about 2 hours and told ghost stories and yes, it was as fun as it sounds. And I just found out yesterday that I’m getting my full deposit back! Yay! Money!

So now let me show you my new sewing room!

Standing in the doorway – aren’t the hardwoods gorgeous?! Unfortunately, this room doesn’t get as good natural light as the bedroom does. Pretty sure I’ll manage

Turning just a bit, my sewing & ironing stations.

There is actually a closet & more wall that I’m not showing; Landon still hasn’t unpacked all his clothes so I’m not going to show that section because it’s a MESS. Instead – cabinet! Patterns & books & yarn, yay!

I edited down my stash a bit before I moved, but I still have a metric shit ton of patterns. They are organized by garment type, fyi.

Speaking of things I have a metric shit-ton of – fabric!!

I forgot to take detail shots, sorrrry! Here are a couple of close-ups:

Hanging space for rulers & scissors & things that strike my fancy.

Have I posted this yet? I made this using an old frame (25¢, painted mint green), a fabric remnant & a sewing machine charm. It makes me so happy haha

Some notes on the sewing room, if anyone is curious.
- The cutting table is the Norden Gateleg (Ikea). It is on wood blocks because it’s a tad short for cutting. Eventually I’d like to buy castors, but those fuckers are expensive!
- The fabric shelf is the 4×4 Expedit (Ikea)
- Pretty much everything else (glass cabinet, sewing table, shelves, chairs, even the ironing board) was either thrifted, dumpstered, or a hand-me-down.
- The wall color is Behr Mint Majesty – my landlords painted it for me, but I got to pick the color woohooo!

Here are some other bits & pieces of my house, for those of you who want to be nosy without actually admitting to it (hey, no shame, I’m the same way :B)

This is the living room (I’m standing by the front door). I am looooooving these hardwood floors, even if they do make my feet filthy at the end of the day.

Here is an Instagram pic of the other side of the plant:

Someone asked me the other day if the dude bust was Jesus with his hair blowing – I WISH!

His name is Saul, actually.

This is an ugly picture (I need to hang that mirror, haaa), but I’m including it so you can see the layout of the house. The turquoise doorway is my sewing room (!!), that’s the dining room straight through, and then the kitchen is farther back. The bedroom door is on the other side of the wall.

Here is the dining room! The table/chairs (their matching hutch is in the previous picture) & the curtains are from the flea market. There is a pile of stuff in the floor because Landon’s desk is out of the frame; he’s still organizing that mess so I cropped it out of the picture. Oh, and the lady on the wall is not Marilyn Monroe
I don’t really care for that wall color, but it does go well with my curtains.
Sorry about all the bandannas everywhere. Wtf is up with me & bandannas?

So that’s it! I’m really loving my new house – and new neighborhood!! – and I’m looking forward to actually being able to start sewing again. It’s been too long! I just started a new project last night, actually-

Good stuff!

A Day at the Flea – July 2012

The flea market hit Nashville again this past weekend, and OF COURSE I went (never mind that I’m moving & throwing stuff away left & right – FLEA!). Joining me was Lauren, new friend Allie and my super awesome sister-in-law, Sarah. Since I don’t have a lot of money to spend, I budgeted myself on a strict $20 and stayed within budget… well, sort of. More on that in a minute!

If we’re friends on Instagram, you probably saw my loot pile after I dumped it on the floor:

SO GOOD. $20!

Now I’m going to show you every piece of it!

That big pile of zippers was an entire bag that I snagged for $3. I KNOW! I counted them when I got home, and there are 39 zippers. 37 of them have metal teeth. My zipper stash was running on empty, so this was a good thing to come across!

That picture-looking thing is actually a crewel pillowcase that I got for $2. I stuffed it with poly fiberfill (side note: I have like 3 bags of this stuff. Why?? I don’t use it for anything, yet it is somehow reproducing in my sewing room! Help!) so it is now a proper pillow. I actually have another embroidered pillow that I got last month for $1, so they’re like pillow buddies now. And that, my friends, is how I started my newest collection.

This isn’t fabric – it’s actually a maxi skirt! A nice wool-blend, I think it’ll go well in the winter. It reminded me of Stevie Nicks, so I had to take it home with me. Also, it was $3.

30s Lace Collar, $2
I obviously need a dress to sew this onto – taking pattern suggestions!

Haha, ok, this isn’t part of my $20 because Sarah actually bought this for me. Isn’t it awesome, though? I need to find a frame for it, and where to hang it! I’m thinking right at the front door, so people will know what they’re getting into >:) Hahahahahahahha

These are the yellow buttons from yesterday’s dress. They were dirty as hell, but they cleaned up real good! $1

The very last thing I bought – I had exactly $1 left, and we were walking to our car when Lauren decided that she wanted a utensil holder. I found this lemon-y goodness hook for my last dollar (and yes, there was a utensil holder at the table as well… it even said UTENSILS on it lol)

Awesome bright tablecloth, $5

Advance 7055, $1

Dude also made me take these fabric scraps with that pattern. Free! They are pretty small, but I think I can eek out some facings with them. My soon-to-be brown wool old man Thurlow trousers are totally getting the brown/yellow floral facing treatment.

Simplicity 4697, $1
Already have a fabric planned for this.

Simplicity pattern, $1
I want to make a corduroy jacket! With elbow patches!

So that would have been it… except upon leaving, Lauren & I came across this magnificent china hutch that she just fell in love with. When she asked about the price, the guy said it was part of a set he was not willing to break up. The set included a buffet, table & 4 chairs. Jokingly, Lauren asked me if I wanted to split the furniture with her…

And they were amazing, so of course I said FUCK YEAH.
Seriously! I wish I had better pictures to show y’all, because they are incredible. Definitely 60s, real wood, and they are going to look amazing in my house. I am going to need to reupholster the chairs, but the wood is just beautiful.

Here’s a bad picture of the chair (you can also see the buffet behind it)
Unfortunately, there is absolutely no space for them in my current house, so there really isn’t any room to walk… I have to crawl over stuff lol. Totally worth it, though!

In case you were wondering – I got all that furniture for $100. SERIOUSLY. I told you our flea market was a good ‘un!

And now, for something completely different – here are a couple sneaky peeky pictures of my our new house I stole them off the rental website so they’re a little outdated, but you get the idea!

The living room! It’s not this color anymore; it’s actually a soft burnt orange (really pretty!). I just love the big picture window. There is a really great front porch, with a porch swing!

This is going to be my sewing room It is being repainted – I chose Behr Mint Majesty. I just love the windows & the hardwood floors! This picture is actually a little deceiving – the room is HUGE.

In the meantime, I started packing my sewing room yesterday, so I won’t be doing any sewing for at least a week or so. I’m already feeling a bit stir-crazy, augh!