Lessons and Blood

I am just shocked at how quickly the month of September has gone by! So many things have taken my attention, but finally, two days of working in the creative process and I am happy again!

I have the entry way, living room, garage, roofing and exterior still left to do on the barn project. I had been feeling a little uninspired lately, and because I didn't have a burning idea where to go next, I kind of stalled out.

So Tuesday, I just had that itch to get creating again! Oh how I love that feeling! I decided the next logical place to continue was the living room, and I should start by making the sofa.

I had purchased a House of Miniatures sofa kit from eBay last spring, and thought I might just bash it a bit. Since this is my first sofa kit, and my first sofa EVER, I decided to just stick to the script and follow the kit instructions. I definitely had to use my own material, though. That blue stuff that comes in the kit is hideous! Even for the 70's when the kit was made, it is hideous!

I have a chair kit, too, but the space in the living room is only going to fit the sofa and a couple small tables.

I purchased the fabric on eBay. It was only a couple of dollars and the pattern was small enough for 1/12th scale. Also, it is very barn-y. I tried to keep the pattern straight, sort of. It worked out better than I planned for, since I know only that I know nothing about a fabric bias etc...

The instructions were easy enough to follow, but when I have a hiatus from crafts for any length of time I get nervous. I checked and double checked all of the pieces. I carefully thought about the reverse pattern and which side was outside. I marked the patterns and in the end, glued the fabric to the wrong side of the arm pieces. Luckily, since the left and right sides were mirror images of each other, I was able to swap them.

Thank goodness for gluing jigs!

With the pieces of the sofa finished, now it was time to make throw pillows! I purchased this little Singer Stitch Sew Quick on Amazon for around $10.00. I thought it would be perfect for little mini projects, and not take up as much space as my grandma's full sized sewing machine that's up in our attic.

I honestly tried to learn how to use it for 2 hours! I watched YouTube videos! I really, really tried. It is worth about what I paid for it, if only for the extra bobbins, thread, and the reminder that you get what you pay for. I'll soon be dusting off grandma's machine. Then, I'll be calling to her somewhere in her eternal paradise to please, please come help me figure it all out again. It's been a long, long time since I made Ande his Super Ande cape. He's 26 now. He was 3 then.

These little sofa pillows are going to have to be hand sewn.

I actually enjoyed the hand sewing part. I had forgotten I used to spend hours cross stitching in my early married days. Before we had TV and it was a 45 minute drive to "town". There were only five, so no big deal.

As the piping was drying on the pillows, I started to assemble then stain the sofa base. I was almost not going to use it, opting instead for legs of some creative sort for a barn. I found, though, that with the red gingham fabric, I actually liked the old fashioned look of them.

I am very happy with the finished result. You can hardly see the blood stain. Another lesson; Don't clean glue off of you new and razor sharp fabric scissors with your thumb. Blessing #1 - it's not white silk. Blessing #2 - If anyone ever needs my DNA...

The rest of the day was spent on finishing the little side table, making books and magazines, and gathering up the other little decor details I'll need to make. I'll post photos of the finished room when it all comes together. Now I just hope I find the window trim pieces I misplaced!