Corner Sewing Bench Part 1

Hi there everyone, I am back with another DIY project to share with you all. I have been absent for a bit because I had a birthday last weekend and my non sewing/blogging friend Carole came to visit from Narromine. She is a great dining out, shopping, wine drinking friend though so we had a great weekend. My last before I started back work for the year. I manage a school fees office so am lucky enough to get all the school holidays off. However the start of year is always very busy so February tends to be a blur. On the way through Dubbo Carole picked up some flat pack units for me that I am going to use for the base of my corner sewing bench in the Studio....

Jacky Mister surprised me with a circular saw for my
 birthday so I am excited to use it for this project....
Eek or Yay! I haven't decided what it will be yet!!!

 

Wednesday night after work, although tired I felt like
something to do that did not involve sitting at a desk
so I decided to start with the open shelf unit first and surprisingly
 it went together without a problem at all.
I love it when things just work, Don't you?

The same night I unpacked the first drawer unit and
started putting it together. This had a lot more parts but
also was a breeze to put together. The instructions only have
 diagrams and no words but are pretty straight forward...

 

I got to this stage and it was off to bed for me....

Thursday evening I finished the first drawer unit off and
was feeling pretty chuffed with the results. With each drawer
 I made came the prospect of more storage in my Studio...
I will jazz them up a bit with some new
knobs when it is all together...

So of cause by then I was on a roll and by midnight I had
 the 3 units constructed. I will be taking them out to the
Studio to work out the best layout and then the fun part will
 begin, cutting the bench tops with my new circular saw....Yay!

Stay tuned for part 2 where I can reveal my new corner bench

and hopefully I will still have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs....Ha Ha!

Until next time, Happy Stitching

Kate

 

My Garden Finally Finished!

It's only been almost 3 years in the making but

I am happy to say I have completed

My Garden by Lynette Anderson.....

It started out as a wall hanging project but I opted to make

 it into a European cushion cover for

the daybed in my sewing studio....

I love the colours of the fabrics in this and the gorgeous

 hand painted buttons finish each of the

nine blocks off beautifully...

Many hours have been spent on this little project,

 sometimes the smaller projects take

more time than whole quilts....

I scored this lovely linen doona cover

 at Recollections the other day.....

Reduced drastically because they couldn't find

 the pillow case and perfect for my daybed.....

Very cosy spot for sitting and stitching....I love it!

I have another European cushion to cover and a smaller round

 cushion as well, I am thinking I would like to use these

fabrics and lined for one of those but have not

completely decided on a design yet....

Until Next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate

The things that excite!

Today my friend Annalisa and I are taking a day trip to Ikea,

 neither of us have been there and we are both excited about the

 retail experience that is in store for us. I will be looking for

 some particular pieces for a project in my studio and am sure

 I will find a few more, I just had to have it's...LOL

Meanwhile while I am away shopping up a storm I thought

 I would share this little project with you, have a great day....

 

 

 

It's always nice to get a new iron and 

nicer when it's for your new Sewing Studio....

I used some of my Fly Buys points....

So even nicer again cause it didn't cost me anything....

Only problem is I don't like cords lying around to be tripped

 over, actually I don't like seeing cords at all if I can help it....

I called into the electrical wholesalers to see if they had some

 clips to screw under my cutting table to hook the cord up with...

The sales assistant suggested this little square channel.....

Perfect!

I screwed the main part up underneath my cutting table

and poked the extension cord up inside...

The fourth side just clipped back on over the edges

 and holds the cord in place perfectly....

I plugged one end into the power point on the wall at

the end of my bench and the iron into the other end 

and Yay it's all ready to go with the cord hanging 

tidy down the corner of the table out of the way....

No cord on the floor at the side of the cutting table

 for me to trip on while I am busy cutting....

Another job ticked off and another step closer to

 just sewing when I go out to my studio....

 

Until next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate

 

Building A Design Wall Part Three

 

Here we are again with the third and final

post about building my Design Wall....

Pictured below are the necessary bits and

 pieces for the completion of my project...

I decided to make the silver side of the insulation boards

 the front and first step was to fold the wadding over the top

 edge of the board and run a row of staples

 along to hold it and firmly in place....

I also ran a length of packing tape along the edge of the

wadding for added strength and to hold the staples in place....

Because of the size and lack of space inside my Studio and the

fact that I decided to use spray adhesive, I asked Miss Molly to

help me move the board outside so I had plenty of room

to work. The glare from the insulation boards and the cream

wadding was quite blinding because it was in full sun...

 I recommend this be done in the shade if possible but of cause

 I couldn't wait so it was on with the sunglasses and straw hat.

I also changed the brown packing tape to clear on this side
of the insulation boards to avoid the brown tape line being
visible through the wadding once it was up on the wall. I
 gave the whole thing a good covering with spray adhesive....

Bit by bit I rolled stretched and smoothed the wadding onto the

 board spraying more adhesive as I went, I used up the whole

can and am really happy with how it stuck down....

I then called on the help of Miss Molly to help me move it

inside because as I said the glare was really blinding me....

 We placed it face down on my kitchen table and I then turned

 the other three sides over to the back and stapled and

 taped until it was all firm and nice and secure....

At this stage I could have just leant it up against the wall and it

would have been ready to go but I wanted it in a frame....

We carried it back out to the studio and slid the right hand side

 snugly behind the outer frame, I then nailed the top of the outer

 frame up to hold the top of the board securely into place....

It all fits together perfectly so by this stage I was getting really

excited about just how well it was looking....

Insert Happy Dance....LOL!

This pic shows the top corner on the left hand side....

See how it sits in behind the outer frame....

I then nailed the left hand side frame up and surprisingly it was

 the straightest bit of timber and required no real effort in the

 bending and pushing department....

Then I had a WOOPS moment and cut the bottom piece

of timber too short!!!! Duh!
I can assure you that Woops was definitely not the word
 I used but this is a family blog after all..

I think fatigue was setting in or too much excitement and lack

 of concentration....One or the other...LOL!

So a little patch up job was in order, luckily I had a piece left

over from the sides so I cut it to fit and nailed it on....

Putty Time! Almost there....Yay!

This putty was really easy to work with, I just pushed

it into the holes and joins with my finger and wiped

 off the excess with a damp cloth.....

BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I then went over the whole frame with a light

layer of stain to tie it all together....

I am so glad that I stained all the timber before putting it up

 on the wall, it made it so much easier once it was up....

Final step was to give the frame a really good wax with this...
This stuff smells amazing....

It was as simple as wax on with a piece

of cheesecloth all the way around...

And then a good buffing with another piece of cheesecloth....

The wax finished the timber off perfectly and has just the right
amount of sheen, it was the first time I have waxed anything
 and I am sure it won't be the last....

Here it is the finished product....

It turned out just how I wanted and far better

 than I had imagined it would....

Just goes to show if we set our minds to something then anything

 is possible with a bit of effort and determination....

All ready for some designing or creating!!!! Yay!

Can't wait to see "Natures Journey" up there....

I have cut the leftover piece of insulation board in two

and will cover those another time to make

 some portable mini design walls....

Maybe one that I can lie on its side and pop against the

 wall behind my sewing machine....

This corner of the Studio will be my next project....

I will be building a corner bench here with drawers at either

end for storage, I have the two white counter tops and am taking

 a day trip to Ikea tomorrow with my non sewing friend

 Annalisa(She is a great shopping friend though) to find some

 chests of drawers and maybe some type of

 shelving unit for overhead storage....

Watch this space.....

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have enjoyed the

 process as much as I have, and just remember anything

 is possible if you set your mind to it....

 

Until next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate

 

 

Building A Design Wall Part Two

Hello and welcome back to part two of my design wall

 tutorial, my inner frame is up on the wall and it is time to

 cut mitred corners in the bull nose maple for the outer frame...

I also stained the lengths first to save time afterwards....

 I have nailed the right hand side of the outer frame to the

 inner frame and once again pushed pulled and

 cursed until I got it as straight as possible....

I then slid one of the insulation boards in

behind the frame to see if it was a nice fit....

I hung a piece of white and a piece of natural

 coloured wadding over the board....

After a cup of tea and some careful deliberation I think

 I am going to go with the natural colour....

I don't think the white will be very forgiving

 with loose threads and fluff...

Next job was to cut a length from the second insulation board

to be joined to the first board to make up the required size...

I  cut it through with a stanley knife and ruler....

It is so light and nice and sturdy so very easy to work with...

Here is a pic of the two pieces sitting inside the frame...

I put the top frame up with a couple of nails to hold it all into

place while I taped the two parts together with packing tape...

I love how the foam sheeting looks like a giant cutting

board on this side, purely coincidental....

I ran a couple of layers of packing tape along

the join to hold the two pieces together....

The reverse side of the foam insulation boards are silver...

I pulled the boards out and ran another couple of

 layers of packing tape along the silver side....

I plan to use the offcut for smaller design boards

 but that will be a project for another time....

That's all for this post....

Stay tuned for the next post where it will all come together...

At least I hope it does....LOL!

I am off to purchase some wadding and will be having fun with

 my staple gun today while I attempt to cover that big board....

I am excited to see how it will turn out...

 

Until next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate