WOYWW....

What a busy time we have had since last Friday morning.  Our Ikea kitchen arrived as planned first thing Friday morning....in 150 boxes!!!!! We have spent many hours doing the jigsaw but of course had to check all the codes on each box to make sure it was the right piece of the jigsaw we were using!!!

So since then there's been no time [even if I was able to get past the boxes] to get into my sewing room.  I did manage to finish 27 of my Christmas tree card toppers before it arrived....

Sorry the photo isn't very clear ....I just snapped it quick on my phone as I finished my first batch.  They are all little patchwork Christmas trees but I have free machine embroidered some and used machine embroidery stitches on others....every one is different.  Lots more to do yet but I have been playing support act to my hubby fitting the kitchen cupboards since.

I know some of you will want to see the progress so here's a few quick pics....

On the left we have a tall larder cupboard, our fitted cupboard with the double oven in, a little infill cupboard then a corner cupboard that comes out into the room like a breakfast bar.

On the right is the dishwasher [have managed without one for 15 months so can't wait for it to be plumbed in], then will come the sink, a store cupboard and on the left in this pic will be the gas hob.

Looking down the kitchen towards the new doors you can see how the corner cupboard sticks out into the room and behind that will go our new dining table....we have managed eating off our laps since we moved house so really can't wait to eat at a table again.  :-)

As you can see we have been very busy [helped by several of our wonderful family members] but there are still wall cupboards to make/fit, the work tops to go on and appliances to fit/plumb in etc.  The boxes have definitely got less but there are still many hidden in every corner yet :-)...and if you're wondering the door fronts are off white and work tops and a dusky dark oak :-) :-) :-)

So there you go.  That's it from me for today.  Please leave me a little comment to let me know you've called in and I will do my best to pay you a return visit ASAP.  Thanks for calling by.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Hello all. I know you've come to see my work desk so I will get straight to the point and show you what I've been up to since you were here last....

I had an idea in mind so...

• I filled my new cutting station with lots of yummy fabrics.  
• I did some measuring
• I made a pattern and then I.....

I cut out a lot of fabric ovals in the yummy colours to match my new sewing room.

• I backed them all with some permastiff
• I cut them all in half
• I snipped all the curves and
• turned them all right sides out then
• I attached them to long strips of permastiff and........

Hey presto I decorated my new shelves  with it all.  Pretty eh?

More shelves have been put up on the other side of the room to hold all my little Ikea sets of drawers that have now been sorted, tidied and labelled so I can find everything....and of course those new shelves have been decorated too.  :-)  As you can see I really am enjoying making my new sewing room look pretty.....hope you like it too.

Thanks for popping by.  Please leave me a little comment to let me know you've called in and I will drop by at yours as soon as I can.

I also want to say a big sorry to the google+ bloggers that visit me because I am able to read their posts but am unable to leave them a comment.....I do try honest.

Have a great week,

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Hello all.  It's been a hive of industry here this week.
I've been sorting out some of my fabrics....

I have lots of fabric stored away in large boxes that are too heavy to be lifting out each time I want to find something so I am sorting....and even throwing out bits I don't feel will ever get used!!!

I made a cardboard template to fit in my Ikea Expedit boxes and I'm folding my fabrics to fit.....time consuming but I'm sure being able to see it all will help 

I'm staking it all in the boxes on their sides like this and when full will then be able to tip it over....

.....like this.  I have decided it is best to fold it all first then I can lift it all out and sort it into colours, uses, fabrics etc......I'm rather indecisive as to how it will be sorted yet but at the mo I'm just folding it all to fit in my new boxes [and there is rather a lot of fabric to sort yet :-) ].

And just when you think you're doing well an elderly lady that lives around the corner rings you up to say she is moving into a care home and do you want a bag of fabric!!!   Of course I couldn't say no could I?

Well that's it from me for today.  Thanks for calling by.  Leave me a little hello message to let me know you've called in and I will pop over to visit you as soon as I can.  Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

I have to be honest and say no sewing has been done since last week and there is no working desk to show you but there has been real progress in the new sewing room [sorry this is rather picture heavy but I know many are watching developments with interest].

I have a newly painted room and my darling hubby and I have been busy setting it all up.

There are three new double wall cupboards on the one wall.

Of course I have already started to fill them :-)

Our gorgeous son has done the second fix of the electric boxes and our wonderful son-in-law came Sunday to change the mains electric box, check all the electrics and sign it off for us....isn't it wonderful when you have such useful, willing family members?

And here is the first socket in my new sewing room....and it works too  :-)

Saturday saw my darling hubby and I fitting a light oak laminate flooring in there....we've never done it before but it went down like a dream.

And doesn't it look gorgeous?

We've fitted a large double wardrobe in the one corner [now with mirror doors].

And yes, you've guessed it, It's already been filled :-)

The work tops are starting to go in....this one to the left of the door.

Another one is on the right of the door and my industrial machine has been lifted through to come next.

The other end on the room, opposite the wardrobe, we are fitting an Ikea Expedit unit with a work surface to be fitted on the top.....this will eventually be filled with at least some of my fabrics :-)

As you can see it's all coming together nicely and I'm so very thrilled with it.  As you would expect, I'm tearing at the leash to get in there to sort out my fabrics and really make it mine but I hope you're enjoying coming along with me while it's all being done.

Thanks for calling by.  Please leave me a little message to let me know what you think and I will pop over to yours as soon as I can.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Hello all.  I know you've called by to see what's on my desk this week but I have to say it's been a quiet one there for me with sewing because we have been busy elsewhere  :-)

My new sewing room is nearly finished....it just needs skirting boards and a few finishing touches.  The carpets will come at a later date.  So,  I'm guessing you would like a peep at what we've been doing?.....

All the bare plastered walls and ceiling had to have a covering of half/half paint and water first. Then the ceiling had another covering of white paint and....

.....so far the one long wall has had two coats of pale dusky pink paint [crem de la rose] ready to put up my new wall cupboards.

Sunday we payed a visit to Ikea and filled our trolley with new cupboards and work tops to go in my new room.

With a bit of careful loading we managed to get it all in the car.  :-)

Sadly when we got it all home we found that two out of the three wall cupboards were faulty and we had to have them replaced yesterday [but when the delivery men arrived with the two new replacement cupboards one of those was also faulty!....thankfully I checked before they left and we were able to swap the faulty side pieces so that we now have two complete cupboards :-) ].

All being well by the time you come back next week there will be new developments in my sewing room and before long I will be able to move in there and get busy creating [I guess there will be lots of boxes/bags emptied and sorted first].  :-) :-) :-)

Thanks for calling by.  Leave me a little message and I will pop over to yours ASAP.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Another week has passed and I'm thrilled to say my new sewing room is almost completed but while the floors and walls are being done in the rest of the new part it is being used to store the plaster boards etc.  I am now emptying the cupboards in the make-do sewing room ready for the wall to be knocked down so my work desk is looking like this today....

I'm sure you can tell that to actually do any sewing I now have to move even more to get to my machines....it's chaos to say the least but in another few weeks we will have more space than we know what to do with hehehe.

This is the other thing on show today.....bathroom and tile catalogues to check out a few ideas.

Underneath are some new Expedit boxes we picked up from Ikea to go in my new sewing room....they are going to be used to store the contents of the wall cupboards that I need to empty for the next stage in the building works.....it all takes time but we will get there :-)

Thanks for calling in today.  If you leave me a little comment to let me know you've called then I will pay you a return visit ASAP.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

So?  You've come here to see my desk?  Well, as you know we are having building work and many of you will know that my little make-do sewing room, that I've been using in the last year since we have been here, will become part of our kitchen / dining room.  My mojo has gone on holiday so I have been using my energy planning and designing my new sewing room.

I have snapped a few pics of all my clutter in it's glory to show you what I have to pack up and move so that a wall can be knocked through into the new extension. You really wouldn't believe how much I can fit in such a small space......

This is where I sit to sew using a 'push to one side' method to use the particular machine I'm needing at the time.  The wall you are looking at with the window in it is the one that is to be removed!!

This a pic of what is right behind me when I sew....two crammed full wall cupboards, a hanging rail for customers items, a small table and lots of boxes and clutter!!

This is a 'bare all' set of pics of my three wall cupboards full of clutter

....and you thought I was such a tidy worker didn't you?....I just hide a lot behind cupboard doors. :-)

In the first pic you will see my new set of Ikea drawers well this is what I have sorted into the top 4 drawers......top one has the bobbins for two of my machines [.....there are more somewhere in a box for my other sewing machine!]

The next three drawers hold my sewing threads.....hmmm I do have rather a lot but, whether you believe it or not, there are times when I still don't have thread the right colour!!.....like Saturday when I wanted to shorten the sleeves on a jacket for me [isn't it always the way?].

I'm still running my sewing business but it really isn't easy when all around you is clutter and it's never easy to find what I need to do the job.  So I've been planning and thought you might like to see the floor plan for my new room....

This is just a rough plan and of course there will be wall cupboards and shelves too.  I intend my room to be a pretty, light, airy space for all my crafty friends to come to play with all my fabric and stash and machines to hand so I can create just when the mood takes me.....Oh I can't wait.

If you follow me on Pinterest you will see that I've been pinning lots of lovely ideas and hopefully at least some of them will take shape fairly soon  :-)

I hope you have enjoyed your visit today and will leave me a little message to let me know you've called by so I can pay you a return visit.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

These weeks seem to be flying by don't they?....Or is it just me?

There is never a dull moment over here at Sewing by Annie's.

What with......

• minding the Grandees
• sewing for my ever growing numbers of customers
• planting out a few bedding plants and weeding in the garden
• planning and preparing for the building work to start
• time to do some creative sewing
• a shopping trip to Ikea
• dressmaking for myself
• oh and of course cooking, cleaning and general housework too :-)

Here's just a few quick pics to share with you...

My latest piece of crazy patchwork using some of my fav fabrics....well you do don't you when you're sewing for special friends :-)

My latest top I 've made for myself this week....I cut two tops out ages ago but had never found the time to run them up so more on the way some time soon :-)

My 'man that does' putting together my latest purchase from Ikea....it's a 6 drawer cupboard on casters [it's called an Alex] for my new sewing room.  I plan to put all my threads in here so it can be moved to which ever of my 6 machines I'm working at :-).....this girl has been making room plans for the sewing room.....getting soooooooo excited now :-)

That's all from me for this week folks.  Busy busy busy....but nothing new there :-)  Please leave me a little comment to say you've called in and I will pop over to yours as soon as I can.  I'm sorry to say that there are still some of the google+ blogs that I am unable to leave comments on but believe me I do read your blogs.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

All I want to say is IKEA today  :-)  I am on a roll with the sorting and tidying and planning for my new sewing room.....I'm ever the optimist even though the plans for our building work 'got lost' at our local planning office and we have had to submit them again!!!

So I will get going with my show and tell for today...

Sunday we took a trip to Ikea to pick up a few more jars for my ribbons / lace & trims......Ok ok I know I said a few!!

Can a girl ever have too many storage jars?

Result....all my ribbons now have new homes and I have 3 jars full of lace and trimmings.

Oh and the little jars????

I have rather a lot of buttons that needed sorting...these are just some of the small ones!!

Another result....well all but the black, navy and brown ones!!!

And I need more jars for those!!  :-)

Some of you will have seen that I managed to get some gorgeous fabric off a site I've joined on Facebook [well worth a look if you are into fabrics....just follow the link in the post below].  In that post I mentioned that our local shop rarely had the sort of fabric I like to use to make my tops out of.  Well,  I called in there on Friday as we were passing and they not only had a shelf full of just the fabric I've been looking for but it was in the sale reduced from £8.95/metre down to only £4/metre!!!  I grabbed enough to run up 4 new summer tops for just £10 each....far too good a bargain to miss eh?

 The other quick show and tell for today is this one of the two lined drawstring Lego mats I've made for our two daughter's children.  They both had boxes of Lego for Christmas and asked if I would make them these to make picking it all up so much easier.

I will say enough is enough for today now but will add that there are two awwww moments coming up on my Friday's post for this week that I'm sure lots of you will want to see so be sure to pop back so you don't miss out.  :-)

Thanks for calling by today.  Please leave me a little hello message so I know you've called in and I will do my best to call by at yours asap.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW....Oh decisions decisions!!!

My show and tell today is full of indecision today.  Some of you may already know that I'm a Libran ....I'm not the best to ask if you're looking for an opinion on something :-)

I started yesterday with my table like this...

Determined to sort out my ribbon stash into my new Ikea storage jars I tipped out the contents of my 4 old plastic [and now very tired] sweet jars onto the table in my make do sewing room.  I started to sort it all out into colours but OMG the indecision was overwhelming.....

• They say blue and green should never be seen....does this apply to ribbon jars?
• Can in fact should creams go in the same jar as the white?
• Should peach go in with the pinks?
• Oh and which jar do all the multicoloured ribbons go?

I bet you're all laughing now.....I know my much older sister was when I told her [and she's a Libran too so is just as indecisive!!]

Here I am part way through the sorting process......

• Reds in one jar
• Pinks in another
• White and creams in another and 
•  Blues, turquoises and greens in another [ cos I couldn't decide if some of the turquoises should go in the green or blue jar!!] 

What has gone wrong?
I started out with 4 old jars and have them all sorted now but I've ended up with 9!!!  So I now need a visit to Ikea to buy 5 more glass jars for my  ribbons and......

This is another old plastic jar jammed full of lace trimmings.....will I need 2 or 3 glass jars to sort these into?

Life is just tooooooo stressful at times isn't it?  :-)  :-)

But can you imagine just how much fun I've had sorting and stroking all that lot?......I've had some of it for years and still can't bring myself to use some of it  :-)

Thanks so much for dropping by today.  I can well imagine I've made some of you chuckle today so please leave me a little message to let me know if you struggle with these important decisions like me and I will do my best to pay you a return visit as soon as I can.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and Santa brought you all you deserved.  We have really enjoyed many family together times over Christmas and for me that has made it all simply perfect. 

I am still focusing on plans for next year with what I'm sharing today.  Our family does a Secret Santa for the eight adults.  We are limited to just a £20 limit on what we spend and as you can imagine much hilarity is enjoyed when we open our gifts.  There is always a good mixture of joke and sensible gifts but my Secret Santa really knew what I wanted this year.

A gorgeous storage box filled with glass storage jars, 2 packs of pretty fabric fat quarters, ribbons and much more :-)

It was just what I wanted for my new sewing room and this is what I have planned for it....

In one of my temporary cupboards in my make do sewing room are my 7 old plastic sweet jars filled to the brim with ribbons and trims but the jars have now gone brittle and have seen better days so I will be sorting the contents and filling my fab new jars at some point in the New Year.

The dolls clothes you've been seeing made leading up to the big day really put smiles on my little grandees faces as you can imagine and I've now been given an order for proper dolls sized blankets as the baby blankets that have been used are "just too big Nanny" :-)  Of course I'm more than happy to please and have needed something to do with my hands.  I've now finished 3 and the 4th will be finished soon.  :-)

So that's what I've been doing.  How about you?  If you'd like to leave me a little hello message to let me know you've been then I will do my best to pay you a return visit as soon as I can to see what you've been up to.

Wishing you all a very happy New Year and here's to many more fun times together in 2015.

Hugs,

Annie x