The chairs were supposed to be finished today but I've been scuppered by dreary November rain. The two lessons learned about spray painting are as follows:
- don't try to spray paint outside during a small window of opportunity when it isn't raining. This results in using up the paint too fast as most of it disappears into thin air.
- don't construct a spraying area from a tent of dust sheets to resume the job indoors. Despite having windows open this results in nearly gassing the household.
So I can't show you lovely new chairs. This pretty white orchid can provide some distraction.
Time for one from the archives I think. I thought I'd written about this book before but, after searching through my posts, I think I must have imagined it.
This Japanese craft book is quite hard to get hold of. I think it may be out of print but ebay eventually came up trumps. It has a lot of good ideas and patterns for soft toys which aren't too twee and 'sugar coated'. One of the best things about the book is that it serves as inspiration rather than being too prescriptive. I've made three of these rabbits now, all for children of friends. They have been well received so the proof was in the pudding.
This was the first 'Hoppity'. She had her own hat and scarf and a pocket to keep her carrot in (one never knows when a snack might come in handy).
The only other pattern I've used from the book is this doll. She's destined to be the friend of a little girl named Alice. The beautiful pink fabric is from the Cloth House in London which is a veritable treasure trove of fabric, button and trimming delights. Just walking past it makes my credit card jangle in my purse.
