Hello blog. What is it like to update this thing? Anyway, all that stuff above, I sewed it. Here is some backstory that is also personal lifey. I moved into My First Apartment in April. Two things made me nervous about getting my own apartment: buying a coffee table, and buying a sofa. Coffee tables typically become magnets for clutter and if you are the type of person who is comfortable putting your feet up on your coffee table, it’s probably not a nice enough table for you to take pride in. We did not have a coffee table in the house I grew up in, and our living room was designed by a SET DESIGNER. The idea of buying a sofa gave me anxiety because I am only one person and I already have a chair. I don’t have guests over, because I don’t have any friends. Another source of anxiety was that I did the adult thing and got a queen sized bed but didn’t want to get rid of my old twin that I’d only had for six months. I also loved the frame - it’s the Tolga from Ikea. I decided to dress up the Tolga as if it were a sofa.

THREE MONTHS PASSED. Jcarolinecreative.com, my favorite online fabric store (for the selection, the LOW LOW PRICES and her tutorials) was having a summer sale and the print pictured (which is a Kokka fabric from Japan and no it’s no longer on the website because I bought up the entire stock) was on sale - practically 50% off - and there were only nine yards in stock which was only ONE YARD LESS than what I calculated I’d need with a generous margin of error. I bought up all the yardage AND I got a free rotary cutter through a promotion.

First, I cut the yardage for the “sheet” part that covers the mattress because those measurements were non-negotiable and then I improvised the pillow cases from part Kokka and part of Ikea pillow cases that came with my duvet cover- they’re the neutral “relief” color of the smaller accent pillow cases; they also make up part of the backs of the larger cushions. I used all of the repurposed Ikea fabric and have about a yard of the Kokka fabric left over.

This is how it looks without the accent pillows in my scarcely-decorated apartment.

My favorite coworker collects squid figurines in his cubicle. I crocheted him this in pink, my second favorite color. I would have loved to have had some crochet cotton on hand because the yarn is extremely fuzzy and un-crochet-like, but Portland was experiencing the SNOWSTORM OF THE CENTURY and the whole city was impassable.

In my last days in Brooklyn, I actually came across this finished object at a fancy store in Park Slope. It was among some crocheted reef and a crocheted octopus. Jessica Polka also features those patterns on her Etsy page. It inspired me so much I took a picture!

Jessica Polka’s work in Brooklyn.

What else? So speaking of Etsy, my friend Jack makes ceramic pillow bookends that I just adore. So check out his Etsy page!