12 MAKES OF CHRISTMAS NO. 11

THE CUSHION

We're nearly there!  Soon time to sit back and enjoy the sentiments of the season, as described on the cushion below: 

I found this badge in a tiny shop on the backstreets of a small town in Sicily some years ago - I loved the incongruous combination of military symbolism with hippy ideals.  And, for the same reason, it seemed a natural fit to choose to team it with Ian Mankin's Indigo denim to make up this welted cushion cover.

May my peace cushion fill you with glad tidings and goodwill!

12 MAKES OF CHRISTMAS NO. 1

As you may have noticed, the description above states that I will muse on textile pattern, colour and texture as well as techniques and tips.  Well I reckon I've mused at length on the first three items in that list. From bees to tartan, deckchair stripes to herringbone, I've raided the treasure trove of furnishing fabrics to highlight the ones that I love, and told some of the stories that are woven into them along the way.  But I haven't done much in the way of the two T's: techniques and tips.

  

To right that wrong, and ring in the festive season (and just to make my life just a little more hectic than it is already!) I have decided to give myself a challenge:  in the run up to Christmas I will post 12 easy peasy Makes - simple ideas of things you can make as gifts and treats for your friends and family. 

So, as its the first day of December, it seemed fitting that the Gina Take a Bow CHRISTMAS MAKE NO. 1 is an Advent Calendar that you can make to string across a mantelpiece: 24 little bags to fill with sweets or tiny presents, to unpin and empty each day in the eager countdown that is the magic of Christmas!

Ian Mankin's Ticking 01 in traditional black and white, with snippets of red swedish linen from Portobello Road's Cloth Shop

For further instructions, go to the Makes tab at the top of the page.

NEUTRAL NATURALS

Here's a shot of a recently completed job where we re-vamped some plain twill curtains with a deep embroidered border of Romo's Black Edition Safi Natural, which beautifully reflected the client's eclectic mix of pattern and texture.

This sparked me off gathering some other swatches of fabrics together, all neutral naturals with lashings of wonderful texture. Some embroidered, some woven, some appliqued - all gorgeous!

From top left, Ian Mankin's Kintyre check and Fulham linen, Zoffany's Banyan Coconut, Sanderson's Savary Linen, Romo's Ennis Steeple Grey and Austin charcoal, Gina Take a Bow's Pixel Rose Natural. 

 Middle from left: Harlequin's Caprice Chalk/Linen, Clarke & Clarke's Maroc Natural and Raja Natural, Harlequin's Cheree Slate/Chalk.  

Bottom from left: Romo's Chaumont Pewter, Clarke & Clarke's Anita Natural, Romo's Xilia Feather Grey, Ian Sanderson's Macita Husk.

RE-ARRANGING THE DECKCHAIRS

As summer gets underway, I find my attention being drawn to the subject of outdoor fabrics:

Lets start with the traditional deckchair: designed with stormy seas and unpredictable British summers very much in mind, this humble piece of furniture is a textbook example of smart eco-design. Easy to put up, easy to collapse and crucially, easy to store when inclement weather prevails, the deckchair is not designed to stay outdoors for long.

So deckchair canvas is usually made from 100% cotton, tightly woven to the precise width of the sling (usually 420 - 455mm or 17 - 18 inches) with a sturdy selvedge edge that won't give under duress - and doesn't need to be hemmed. Because it is cotton, the sling will 'give' comfortably under the weight of an occupant. However, the downside is that the brightly coloured cotton stripes WILL fade and eventually rot if the deckchair is left outdoors for any length of time.

But, and this is where the design gets even smarter: Due to its nifty no-sew construction, a faded or ripped deckchair canvas can be replaced and restored in a matter of minutes with little more than a hammer and a handful of tacks. Make-do and mend was never so easy!

And while there was once a time when every hardware store in the land stocked a roll or two of deckchair stripe, its good to know that, particularly since the advent of the internet, deckchair canvas is still alive and well and kicking out a seemingly limitless array of stripes.

Deckchair canvas in Acrobatics (on the chair), Waltzing (from the vintage collection) and Hip Hop from Deckchairstripes.com

If your tastes run to something a little more sober and subtle, Ian Mankin, the go-to company for all-things striped has a range of deckchair canvas:

Ian Mankin's Vintage Stripe 2 Peony and Wicket Stripe Indigo.

Meanwhile, if you really need to defy the weather, and leave your deckchairs standing, The Southsea Deckchair Company supply solution-dyed acrylic deckchair slings (complete with tacks!) that are fade-proof and water-resistant and therefore suitable for all-weather marine and contract applications:

So there we have it - the great British deckchair: intended for sunshine, but coping admirably with common old weather.

THIS WEEK'S THEME: STRIPES

Perennial and classic, stripes go on and on.....


Designers Guild Ottomon Lime


Ian Mankin Empire Sage


Romo Somerford Ebony


Zoffany
Corinthian Gooseberry & Natural