Mannequin progress and boot sale tragedy

 Progress is slow on last weeks boot sale mannequin but I have stripped off the bad upholstery and the underlying foam layer that was held on with sellotape! It had a really horrible smell which I imagine is febreeze or something equally vile so the whole thing got a good shower and scrub with washing up liquid. It smells better now. The carcass seems to be fibreglass. I spent hours yesterday covering her in new wadding and then draping various fabrics from my stockpile over her to see what works. Covering her was a real pain and much harder than I had presumed! Anything with lines would make the job harder as they would have to be straight, not pulled out of line and looking wiggly so I had to give up on ticking and tweed which I would have loved. (I've got a big thing for tweed!)

I had some vintage florals but then I thought they might look messy with anything draped over them. I don't want clashing so I decided plain was the way forward.

I've actually decided to go with hessian. It will go with everything and hopefully if I paint the legs black it will look a bit like the old (and valuable) stockman mannequins.
I just need to get some more hessian on tuesday so I can get to work...

The great thing about having blogged about her is I feel pressurised to get going with it. Normally she would sit around for months until my husband would get really pissed off and force me into action.
I did think about patchwork as a cover for her! I love vintage textiles and have quite a stash and it would be a nice way to use them but it would take a while...so I figured hessian was the best bet.

 Todays boot sale was okay and I managed to get this little beauty for £4. It's an original 1960's model and in good condition.

 But I narrowly missed getting a set of old Avery scales from a sweetie shop for £17. Can you imagine my torment? They had just been sold and they fetch £100 on ebay. Sooo wish I'd got up sooner.

Picked up this little stool which is a nice shape. I'll paint the legs and recover the top. This also has an unpleasant odour and has been given a bath. The foam is hopefully drying out in the garden.

I've ordered some milk paint from Canada which I can't wait to try! Perhaps this stool will be my guinea pig.




Hope your weekend boot sale and charity shop adventures went better than mine!