Not terribly original

Another brief post on recycling of clothes. The first item was a misguided purchase a couple of years back that never got much wear. While it might look lovely and care-free on the mannequin, this shirt NEVER looked good on me.

So I turned it into a tank to be worn over another tank (since it's rather sheer...)

For the second item, I had a white button-down that belonged to my grandfather at some point. I don't think the man ever really wore it, but it had a couple of faded "Сделано в СССР" labels in it, so it was probably older than me. Polyester wears well. I had no desire for wearing a polyester-blend shirt too much, but I was inspired by Ms. Forty-Two Roads, in particular by the shirts she made from other shirts. I must say this top has been my absolute favourite past summer.

Lost and found

Last year I had to acquire a large quantity of used books for a production. One of these books contained these photos, clearly forgotten. I've had them on my desk ever since, because it fascinates me how someone could forget pictures in a book for a couple of decades.





They seem like vacation photos, and the family is quite happy, don't you think?




That little kid is now roughly my age, and I have his baby picture - how strange is that?

The universal moving day is fast approaching...

I was thinking about cats a lot today, what with the eternal mayhem going on at home (one cat keeps trying to emotionally destabilize the other, and us, her humans, in the process of doing so) and THIS is what I saw while walking home:

That's right, the logo for Yamato moving company is a vaguely Siamese mama cat carrying her kitten in her mouth. How freaking appropriate. I can only hope the movers promise to be as gentle with your crap as the cat carrying its baby.

What is Italian for "couch"?

This was never published because I kept waiting for the "before" pictures of this lovely couch, and finally got tired.

The "before" was Italian pink silk dupioni from 1980s - gorgeous, but not appropriate for upholstery. It was falling apart if you looked at it wrong.

This is the "after".

Kimonos live many lives...

While still on the subject of reupholstering, here is an example of what happens when you have a WHITE armchair in your family for at least 40 years:

(not MY family, so I am a little hazy on the actual timeline, but the chair was quite solidly built)

And THIS is how you bring it back to life with a vintage kimono and some material left over from drapes:

This detail is where I had to seam two pieces together because the kimono was not wide enough, and so then I had to pretend I meant to do this:

summer diversions

I had promised a friend I would show her some of the things I did this summer. They included upholstering multiple pieces of furniture. Here is the latest (and the one I love the best thus far...)

Before: a lovely down-filled Crate and Barrel sofa that was bleached by the sun and worn out. Please excuse the quality of the photos, they were taken with a Polaroid and then scanned in...



After: IKEA fabric that makes the piece look vaguely Marimekko-ish.






*On a side note, I finally organized my iPhoto to my liking (I've only been using a Mac for about a year) and I can't be more excited than I am right now about the ease of posting images. It's as if I've been using a card catalogue for years, and finally upgraded to a computerized library search!!!