Back in Business!

Hello, again!

Sorry for the long absence, folks.  As I mentioned in my last post, I was struggling with creative block.  I found a project(after a visit to Goodwill) and have been slowly working on it for awhile. 



What's Taking So Long?

As you'll see in the picture to the above, I had to cut out a boat load of quilt squares-- 120 to be exact.  Generally this shouldn't take 3 months, but when you stop, start, need to get more fabric, etc., I guess it does!

The Project

I am working on bedding for the guest room.  The quilting squares and  picture to the right are for the duvet cover.  Quilt on the back, and the fabric yo-yos on the front, bottom corner.

What inspired me at Goodwill?  The gray and white fabric for the front are window panels I purchased there.  I figured they would be a lot cheaper than purchasing that much fabric elsewhere.

If you want to see the instructions I used to make the yo-yos, you can find them here

What's Next?

Well, sewing the 120 squares together, obviously.  And now with moving and craft ADD, I'm not sure how long that will take.  But I do know I want to get this done so people will come visit our NEW guest room!

I also have a new project I thought of yesterday... going to get supplies today and will share later.  I'll just say it could be a total disaster.  If it is, I'll share it anyway :)

Thanks for continuing to read, even after such a long hiatus!  I really appreciate it!

Celebration and Frustration

First for the good news...

This is the first thing that comes up in a Google image search for "celebration 500"

Thanks to you all, I've now had over 500 views on my blog!  This really means a lot to me that people find what I'm doing interesting enough to visit.  Thank you!!

Now the (not really that) bad news...

Ever since my last post, I've been suffering from a major case of creative block.  There are certainly opportunities around the apartment and I need your, my wonderful followers and readers, help! 

I'm taking suggestions for projects!  It can either be something for my home, or a project you have been putting off doing yourself!  

If you suggest the latter, I will make said item/project out of the goodness of my (bored) little heart.  Just keep in mind it has to be something that I can easily send to wherever you are from California.  And nothing too expensive!  I'm on a budget, remember?  If you choose the former, here are a couple photos of areas that are lacking for inspiration:

Guest room/office/craft room... there's only this one wall to work with, the rest are windows or taken up by shelving

No mantle fireplace.  Simplicity is bliss or could use a little pizazz?

I look forward to your ideas, suggestions and tips!  And if this idea works (aka people actually submit ideas), there may be a contest in the future with some amazing, possibly shiny, prize...

Nightstand Project

I eluded to a spray paint project awhile ago and here's what I was talking about.  I have a nightstand that was my mom's when she was little and that I've had since I was about 7.  There's nothing super awesome about it-- to be honest, it's not the greatest quality and it's lived life off-white.  The drawer is also missing(must be in a box in Minnesota?).  The back was not attractive as it was just a panel of cheap MDF or something similar.  It was time to give this puppy a face lift.

What I Used

Supplies

- Scrap of leftover pillow fabric
- Cardboard
- Batting
- Packing tape
- Upholstery tacks
- Spray paint
- Fabric pen/pencil
- Q-tip
- Ruler/measuring tape
- In the picture you'll see ribbon... I intended to use it around the boarder, but kinda forgot about it in all the excitement :)

Step 1: Look awesome

How the Heck Did I Do it?
1) Put on a super sexy outfit for painting(sweat shorts, calf-high socks and old sneakers didn't make it into the photo)

2) Make sure nightstand is clean and spray paint away, making sure to cover every last bit and add a second coat if necessary.  Let dry.

3) Cut cardboard to fit the area you want to cover.  Cut fabric and batting 2 inches longer and wider than cardboard.  Layer pieces.

4) Pull tight and secure with packing tape.  Check to make sure corners look nice and not bunchy.

5) Using the fabric pencil/marker and measuring tape, mark the lines around the boarder where you'd like the tacks to go.  Insert tacks, starting at the corners, then middle, making sure they are evenly spaced.  Use Q-tip dipped in water to gently rub away pencil marks.

6) Hammer into nightstand, starting with corners.  Go straight and not too hard!  The tacks aren't as durable as nails.

7) Admire your glorious work 



Ta-Da!

Post-paint but before panel is attached...

The only things I had to purchase for this project were the spray paint(a mere $3.50) and upholstery tacks, which are an affordable $1.49 for 24.  So for $5, this turned out pretty chic if I do say so myself!

All Done!

Now to dream up another project!

A Plethora of Pillows

Happy Monday, all!  Today is just a quick little post revealing what I've done with the two pillow projects I posted.

Ta-Da!
Instead of buying or making a headboard, I decided to beef up the amount of pillows so it looked a little more interesting and substantial.  The middle hounds tooth pillow is also a skirt from Goodwill and the patterned pillow was made using the same ruffle technique in Pillow #1 Project.

A more substantial post about my project this weekend either tomorrow or Wednesday!

Pillow #2

Hi all-- It's time for me to show you another pillow project!

This was my first-ever attempt at piping and I was real nervous about it.  I pictured countless frustrating hours with my seam ripper but thankfully that wasn't the case-- but that's not to say this went 100% smoothly.

What I Used
- An old skirt.  That's right, the main gray fabric you see was once a lovely(?) little number that I picked up at Goodwill for $2.  I washed it, cut out the lining, cut down one of the seams and voila!
- Cording-- I think I used 5/8"
- Long scraps of an accent fabric
- Pillow form

How the Heck Did I Do it?
1) Cut out a square for the front panel, 1" bigger than size of pillow form

Step 2

2) Fold strips of accent fabric, right sides out, around cording
3) Use a zipper foot on your sewing machine to get as close to the cording as possible.  If your sewing machine hates you, your stitch may look a little something like this:

Yucky Stitch

 

4) Pin right side of cording and ride side of the front panel together and sew.  When it came to the overlapping of cording, I did the end at an angle over the beginning in the bottom corner.  I was also a genius and apparently didn't measure well enough-- I ran out of the cording for the last 2 inches or so.  I decided you couldn't really tell and I think it made the overlapping a little easier

5) Pin front panel and back panel(s) together, right sides facing each other.  I chose to do the 2 piece back panel once again to take advantage of the hems that were already in the skirt. 
6) Cross your fingers that the super thick parts won't kill your sewing machine
7) Get mad when your sewing machine acts up, and not even at one of the super thick parts
8) Finish sewing seam and turn inside out.  Oops, some of the crappy, crappy stitches are showing... Too bad-- no one will see it any way :)

Front

Ta-Da! 
And here it is.  A re-purposed skirt looking way cuter than it did-- I saved someone from a fashion mistake AND helped the environment.  Win-Win!  I love seeing something beyond what it's meant to be(though really, fabric is fabric just sewn in different shapes).

Since this was a little stretchier fabric, the measuring ended up not being perfect, but it's not radically off.  I was concerned about the curve in the waistband, but thankfully I used enough of the bottom layer to account for that.

Back with Skirt Waistband Detail

There you have it folks, another glimpse into the bigger project I've been working on these days.  Can you tell I'm loving gray?

Until next time!

Project Preview: Pillow #1

Front

 

I've been spending the weekend working on this next project and thought I'd give you all a little preview of one of the pillows that has been completed.

The ruffle was inspired by a blog I've been checking out lately, Tatertots and Jello.  Her explanation is better than what mine would be and I didn't do a good job of taking pictures along the way.  Whoopsies!  However, here's what my process...

What I Used
- An old throw pillow that I wasn't using anymore(or a pillow form if you want to be fresh and fancy)
- Enough fabric for the main cover(I got a yard of clearance suiting material for $4 and had plenty left over)
- Accent fabric(You can get away with about 6-7" of 44" wide material unless you're making a BIG pillow)
- Ribbon I had laying around

Pinning ruffle

- A cooperating sewing machine

If you don't want to read the long instructions...
... I'll just go over a quick run-down
1) Cut the fabric to fit your pillow(add 1" for seam allowance on each side)  For the back, I chose to do the ol' overlapping thing cause I can never sew a pillow shut and make it look good
2) Cut a strip of the accent fabric about twice as long as the length of where it's going.  Make a tube and turn right side out.

Fabric tube

3) Sew a basting stitch all down the length  of the fabric tube and pull the thread to make a ruffle.  Pin to front and sew.
4) Turn down inside edges of back pieces and hem.  I wanted to fance it up and use some ribbon-- I measured one side and then matched up the other side. 
5) Sew front and back together, turn right side out and insert pillow.  Tie pretty bows(if you're my friend Liz) or not so pretty ones(if you're me).  Finito!

Back

Ta-Da!
I was really excited about this because all the lines were straight and it fit the pillow well.  I'm also happy I used black fabric and didn't try to make the lines too straight on the ruffle-- it looks intentionally shabby that way :)

If you have any questions about executing this little number, please let me know and I'd be happy to advise!

Next up... the project which has my hand covered in spray paint

Uber Easy Project: Shadow Box

Just a VERY small, quick, easy project while I work on something bigger.

I've had this shadow box from Target for quite some time and kind of forgot about it until I was unpacking in the new place. There have been a lot of  projects being made in the world with dictionary pages.  I decided I wanted something simple yet pretty.  I've liked butterflies for awhile, so I thought those would be a good shape to choose. 

Paper punches are pricey, so I looked on Etsy for any pre-punched shapes.  Score!  I got 50 butterflies for $1(way more than I needed, but good for the price.  And who knows, maybe they'll creep up in another project later).

This is the super simple part: I chose placement and inserted the pins.  I also decided to fold them in half to add a little more dimension.  Done.  Easy.  A 5 year old can do it!  And I'm super happy with the result-- it's the pretty, "shabby-chic"-ness and simple design I wanted to create.

I love shadow boxes because they're inexpensive to buy and make.  You can do anything you want-- a piece of art or to preserve a memory.  Try it!

And here's a little preview of what I'm working on:

Stay tuned!