Trains, Traffic and Trying Times, OH MY!

It has definitely been trying times around here.

We sold our house in Ennis.... We bought another house in Waxahachie....

I found a job.... Hubby lost a job....   Hubby found another job....

As to selling the house....

Trying to keep a home "show ready"
and maintaining a normal life is next to impossible.

Keep in mind that a normal life for me
is running a soap factory and a sewing factory in my home.

Five sewing machines just doesn't look normal,
neither does the bread rack that I dry my soap on,
 or the show props, or the other ga-zillion things that go along with the businesses....
We sold  the house,

Ennis House

must have been normal enough.

Ever try to sell a house and buy a house at the same time?
I don't recommend it....
BUT
We had a fantastic real estate agent who made it all happen!

The new house.... Upside....
Charming, 1940's Craftsman style home, within walking distance of everything.
Two miles from my job, one point eight miles from his job.
Grocery market, historic downtown, post office, cleaners, thrift store,
everything so close....

The new house.... Downside....
Train noise, traffic in town, sirens, neighbors, postage stamp size front yard.
When the only noise you're used to is cows bellowing to be fed,
 town can be somewhat of a sensory overload.
We're adjusting....

Up next?
The new job.

Till next time,
Bonjour

Crazy Handmade Doll

Just a crazy doll I made.

Handmade Doll

The body fabric, which is pretty loud, 

has umbrellas printed all over it so I chose

 more subtle fabrics for her dress and pantaloons.

I sewed a piece of crochet edging to her forehead to represent a crown,

and the hair is three different colors of yarns with some pink ribbon thrown it.

Handmade doll

Handmade Doll posing with Carl's Sewing Machine

Now if I could just teach her how to sew!

OH,

if anyone has a users manual for this machine that they would like to share?????

From what I can gather on the net,

 it's a Sewmor brand that Carl's put their name on.

Till next time, keep creating,

Bonjour

Up-cycling an old office chair

New sewing chair

Second hand store, office chair

I found this office chair at my local thrift store for $5.00.

 Pretty ugly wouldn't you say?

But I could see it's potential, a little spray paint, some new fabric

and I would have a great sewing chair.

I took the seat and backrest off, then spray-painted the frame  a gloss black.

Off came the old seat cover.

The foam cushion was still good so all I needed to do make a new cover.

Since the seat frame was metal I couldn't staple a new cover on

 so I opted to sew one.

I cut a rectangle of fabric, hemmed the edges to form a casing, 

 inserted some elastic, 

pulled the elastic tight to form the fabric around the seat and then tied it off.

Kind of like a shower cap.

The backrest was in two parts, front and back, held together with screws.

The leather cover was in good shape so I just covered over it.

I cut a rectangle of fabric for each piece.

Using some embroidery floss, I did a gathering stitch around the edges

of the rectangles, then gathered them up around each piece.

 I also stitched from top to bottom and side to side, 

(kind of like tying up a corset) to get it good and tight. 

After cutting off the extra fabric in the corners,

I screwed the two pieces back together and re-assembled the chair.

I like the vintage vibe of the old steel frame mixed with the modern fabric.

Vintage office chair

What do you think?

Till next time,

Bonjour