Caravan Dreams

This week, I've mostly been obsessing about all things Caravan related. I've spent a disgusting amount of time on the internet soaking up some amazing caravanny inspiration and making one or two caravanny purchases. I am currently awaiting delivery of some Mod Podge (to carry out inner cupboard and door makeovers with wrapping paper/wallpaper, inspired by this and this), plus some amazing sticky back plastic that I found on ebay (see here). Oh and I'm bidding (with fingers and toes crossed) on a sweet little 1970's cutlery tray to house my most extravagant Connievan purchase (see here). My oh my, I am having SO much fun!!

On Wednesday afternoon I spent a truly pleasurable few hours with Connievan, it was great being able to walk down the road to her with Little B (she's about a mile away). I made us a little packed lunch so that we could eat when we got there, and I took down the two cushions that I made last month. It was a sweet moment when I put the cushions in place, they look amazing with the crochet blankets look.....

The colours match incredibly well to say that I made them without actually seeing the blankets.

The blankets have been in the 'van all winter (forgot to fetch them out), and thankfully they are absolutely fine. Connie has a wee bit of a damp issue on one of her side panels, but it's kind of inside the panel itself if you see what I mean and doesn't affect the interior at all. In fact, she is remarkably warm, dry and cosy for a twenty year old gal.

As soon as I arrived I opened up all the windows to let some air breeze through and spent a bit of time cleaning around the kitchen area. Then it was time to begin with a little bit of prettifying, yipppeeeee! I stuck up some lovely little hen hooks that I bought last year using a magical "No More Nails" type of adhesive, wow, what great stuff that is! I had plans to put up lots of little pictures that I've been collecting too, but forgot to bring the blutack with me, so that will wait till next time.

I also did a little bit of outside prettifying too.....remember me telling you I'd bought some flowery stickers? Well...........take a look................

♥

Ta-dah!! I put a few around the door, plus some on the front and back. I couldn't go too mental with it as J has already been raising his eyebrows at  the whole idea of me sticking things on Connievan. So I had to be restrained, but they do look so sweet. A bit silly maybe, but I don't much care, they make me happy and that's what counts.

Now then, are you familiar with the Little Grey Rabbit books? They're the sweetest, most adorable books written in the  1930's by Alison Uttley and illustrated by Margaret Tempest. I LOVED them as a child, and the top two books on that pile there are from my own childhood collection, published in the early 1960's. The others were bought for me from a car boot sale by my mother in law for 50p each, and were published in the '80's.

The characters and the stories are enchanting (I re-read them regularly even now as an adult), but it's the illustrations that really make my heart squeeze.

Oh sooooo incredibly sweet, don't you think? That wonderful patchwork quilt calls out to me every time!

Little Grey Rabbit lives in the cutest woodland cottage. It's furnished simply, with brick floors, green painted windows, buttery yellow walls and THE MOST ADORABLE blue and white gingham curtains.

For some reason I have always loved these curtains. So it'll come as no surprise to you if I tell you that I am making blue and white gingham curtains for Connievan. Yeah, you already saw that coming didn't you?

I bought a great long length of gingham fabric from Ebay last year and made a start with them, but didn't get too far at the time. I'm determined to get them finished this week though, as we're taking Connie out on a trip next week.

Would you like to see where I'm at with my curtain revamp?

Squeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had the nifty idea of combining blue and white checks with a little bit of red floral and a dash of ric rac. Do you like?

The floral fabric just runs as a band across the bottom, to add an extra bit of va-va-voom to the whole effect. I confess I am quite madly in love with them. It's proving to be a tough ol' job though. I'm keeping the original curtains as they are lined and in good shape, and am *simply* stitching the gingham panels on top. It's not easy. I tried to do the first one with the machine, but the curtain fabric was too thick (it's a thick velvet) and it all went pear shaped. So I painstakingly unpicked the dreadful machine stitching and began the whole thing again by hand.

It's laborious work, and probably my least favourite type of sewing. Little invisible hemming stitches, hundreds and hundreds of them. Thousands probably.

I sat last night in the Big Chair by the bay window and managed to do one whole curtain. Only nine more to go then. But as I sit and stitch, my mind wanders off into Caravan Dreamland. I start to think of fairy lights and paper lanterns and pretty floral bunting and dotty tablecloths and stripy picnic rugs and granny square blankets and piles of squishy patchwork cushions.....it's so happy and colourful and cosy and carefree in Caravan Dreamland!

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ps I've got a Caravan Dream board over on Pinterest if you want to go have a peek

I also found a couple of fabulous websites yesterday whilst getting lost in Pinterest, they are full of lovely caravanny things.....

http://getcampie.com/

http://littlevintagetrailer.com

pps one last thing....you can read my original post about Connievan here. I'll take some more pics of her interior soon to show you. I love her SO much! ♥

xx

Edit to add :: Thanks for the pincushion love, I made it a few years ago using the Anna Maria Horner pattern here.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Carole]

Yay i`m the first to post a comment!! I was checking a blog or two and up came your post. Connievan is looking lovely, well done.
Also i`m still rose obsessed,lol!
Have a fab Jubilee weekend.
Love Carole from Rossendale xxx

[Kezia]

Wow, how fun to be able to 'play house' like that. Love the curtains, you certainly have way more patience than me to be stitching them by hand!

[Fleur Cotton]

Oh Lucy ... Connievan is such an exciting project! If you haven't used up all your stickers I'm sure you culd stick them on some of the woodwork inside.

Your cushions just look perfect ... and your curtains are going to be brill : )

Oh what fabulous days out you're going to have in her!

Have a wonderful jubilee weekend, with lots of hooky time.
Fleur xx

[VintageVicki]

I wish you were nearer - we could spend all day playing houses with Connievan and Bertie :)

My plan is to do the curtains like yours - new fabric over the existing plain but functional curtains.

However this year he will be lucky to get 2 blankets and maybe a couple of cushions - its a long term thing!!

We are hoping to take Bertie on his first road trip soon - just a couple of night before his big adventure to Yorkshire this summer :)

[serendipity]

It's going to look wonderful when it's finished. I love the cushions and blankets. You probably already do this but a big bowl with a load of salt in absorbs any moisture in the van overwinter. Happy camping!

[Carla]

Love the pillows, the curtains and Connievan! I wish I had one to play and decorate too. I love how you combine colors and patterns. I also love that flower pin cushion. Did you make it? I would love to know how to create one for myself.

[Linda J]

Ohhhh, Little Grey Rabbit! I loved those books! And that cutlery! Connievan is looking great, the cushions look beautiful, and those curtains are going to be lovely too. :-)

[Bonnie]

Beautiful! I love the pillows and the flowers outside the door. Good luck with the curtains. It's a lot of work, but I know you will love it once it's finished. Thanks for posting your Pinterest page. I think we have similar color loves, so I'm excited to get inspiration from your boards!

[Paula]

Oh, you are so very clever, Lucy! All the way around, upside down and backwards too! :)Wonderful color and brightness for your Connievan ~ we all benefit from an occassional facelift, don't we? Very clever work with the gingham ~ you are really showing your sewing skills these day! Happy weekending, sewing and crafting!

[Melissa P]

It's coming together so beautifully! Such a happy place with all the colors and textures. Another summer of Connievan memories awaits you all.

[Kim Watson]

Oh Lucy!
You really are a dear. I love the picture, and simply adore the curtains! My family thinks I'm a bit crazy, but I have always had a soft spot for gingham (esp blue). Have fun and enjoy yourself you clever, crafty thing!

hugs from Kim and the Bumper!

[Gerda]

Connievan looks so great, the cushions are bright and matching very well with the blankets.
Reading your post brought me 20 years back, when my children were young and I bought a little caravan. We spend so many happy summers and other holidays there. Sometimes my boys still talk about it.
We sure created many happy memories!!
I did prettify it too, with bright coloured curtains and blankets.
Wish you many happy days!

[Fiona]

Lucy I am loving Connivan's outside stickers. I say cover the whole van with them! The inside is looking gorgeous too. Those curtains are going to be fab. You are very patient to stitch the panels over the old curtains. I remember years ago a friend of an ex asked me to make new curtains for her parents static caravan and they wanted them in the thickest thickest velvet. The were a flippin nightmare to sew! I am still feeling very jealous of your caravan tales. Our neighbours have a lovely old caravan and it is parked over the fence from our back door. I can just see the top of it when I am on our steps as they are a little lower than us an I feel twinges of envy whenever I see it. I think they're off in it next week lucky things. Anyway, I continue to enjoy reading about your lovely connivan until I'm lucky enough to have my own. Enjoy your time in her next week.
Fiona x

[Angie]

Love the flower decals you added to Connie- My hubby would have been raising his eyes at me too!

[Deco Cat]

I dream of owning my own caravan, maybe one day!

[Michelle]

Have you tried sewing the curtains with a quilting foot on your machine? This should go through the thickness, and save your fingers.
Love those cushions - feeling very inspired to do something like those.
Michelle x

[Sonia]

Looking fab Lucy - your comments about J raising an eyebrow make me smile as my other half, who's also a J, is always raising an eyebrow at my antics!!! Oh, and your post about gingham makes me think that you should pop over to have a look at Tilly and the Buttons most recent skirt (link here http://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2012/05/picnic-blanket-skirt.html) which is also made out of gingham. I can just imagine you wearing a gingham skirt whilst sorting out your morning cuppa in Connievan :) Hope you have a fabulous Jubilee weekend x

[sue]

Ah Lucy I'm a little bit jealous of your caravan. We had a beautiful vintage Sprite until a couple of years ago, spent many, many happy times in it but never managed to prettify it, that was something we were building up to. Unfortunately ill health forced us to reconsider our holiday arrangements and caravanning is no longer a possibility for us so I shall never have the joy of my own connievan. Luckily I shall enjoy yours and it looks very much like mine looked in my minds eye! All colourful and cosy and YES i would have had stickers on the outside too!

[Sara]

I think I have caravan envy!.
The pillows look wonderful and the inside of the caravan reminds me of many a holiday when I was younger and lived in the UK.
I think that you are creating a lovely haven away from today's crazy world.
Enjoy your adventures!.

[Lisa G.]

What a cute pincushion you have!!

[Kate]

That is a fab pincushion- you are clearly having a lovely time AND you have mod-podge- great stuff mod-podge.Go girl!

[debbie @ happy little cottage]

The curtains are so adorable and will be perfect with all the crocheted Connievan accessories!! I have to admit that I swooned over that pincushion!! Happy weekend Lucy!

[Sandra]

Ooooh, it's going to look so good Lucy. I can't wait to see the caravan transformation as it happens! I love the look of the curtains, simply stunning I bet they're look glorious once they are (eventually!) all done. Keep up the good work my dear, Connievan holidays this year will be that little sweeter I reckon :)

S x

[pbach1]

giggled when i saw the door of your connievan -- takes me back to the 1970's and flower power!

[rossella]

che colori meravigliosi usi!!!!
questi cuscini mi piacciono molto, brava!!
un saluto
rossella