Too much brown!

I haven't talked much yet about our plans to revamp our caravan. It's a nice little (actually, it's not that little - 6 berth) van, perfect layout for us at the moment, with fixed bunk beds at the back and a separate little two-seater table and chairs for the girls to sit and play at (quietly, in a self contained manner hopefully - fat chance!). It's only 5 years old, so in very good condition, but there's one problem. It's very brown!

 

 

Why do caravan manufacturers think people want everything brown? We noticed this when we were looking for our campervan - your choice is between a reasonably priced conversion, in shades of brown, or a funky, retro conversion that you pay a premium for. Anyway, we hope to get around that with our caravan, by re-decorating and upholstering it. Of course, I'll post progress here.
So I have been searching all over the net for some suitable upholstery fabric for the seating. Something a bit funky, and washable! The current seat covers are not removable, but that's not at all practical with two kids, so when I recover, I'll be making them removable and in machine washable fabric.
I found some lovely options out there - some a bit too expensive, given the quantities we'll need. I quite fancied this map fabric from John Lewis:

Or this from Cath Kidston:

 

And then I came across Curtain Factory Outlet. For any of you interested in sewing and fabric, their shop in North Finchley is definitely worth a visit. We decided to take a little detour and visit on the way to stay with friends in Ascot for the weekend. I've never seen so much fabric, including designers like Sanderson and Designers guild, in one place! at seriously knocked down prices. After some deliberation, we came away with this:

 

This is for the bench backs, with co-ordinating stripes on the seats. I also picked up quite a large remnant of cute vehicles fabric for making gifts for boys. When I got it home, I decided to have a play around with some pompon trim and a camping themed fat quarter found on eBay recently, and came up with these:

 

I really like how the pom pom trim looks on these. It was fiddly to use - I'm not much of a pinner, so I basted the trim all around the outside of the front fabric, with the poms facing toward the centre of the fabric. The corners were tricky - I kind of folded them over a bit, and then sewed the backs on, for a simple envelope pillow. If you look closely, the trim is a little wonky, and I think the corners could be better, but I'm pretty pleased with them for a first attempt.

I had already made new curtains for the bunk beds, and some cushions out of the remaining fabric, so we're really starting to brighten it up.

So that's progress so far on our little holiday home. Check back for updates.

 

 

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