Dining set redo in progress

      Yesterday, I mentioned I had started on a massive project that I planed to get done this weekend. Well, I can tell you right now, there is no way it is getting done this weekend. I have this table and eight chairs I want to redo. (the table is the smallest it can be in this picture, it seats eight when all the pieces are in it)

     The set is pretty scratched and nicked up from various moves and the fabric on the seats has turned a dingy grey which is not super beautiful. It is beautiful furniture though, lots of detail and curvy lines. It was very generously given to us and I am very grateful to have it.
     I decided to sew slipcovers for the chair seats rather than recover them, because then I could wash them. Slipcovers are more time consuming, but I feel like they will be a better choice in the long run. I also decided to glaze the details on the chairs and table which is also more time consuming. Glazing brings out so much in a piece though that it is definitely worth the extra time.
     So far I have finished sewing the slipcovers, finished four chairs and have the next four painted and ready to glaze. Here is a sneak peak.

     Love, love, love them so far! I didn't expect the chairs to take so long to redo, but I'm trying to be careful and do it as well as I can. I'm thinking I'll have to be satisfied with finishing the chairs this weekend and tackle the table next week.
     This will be so worth the work...the difference it already makes in the room is lovely. Have a happy weekend!

Linking to:
Miss Mustard Seed
Funky Junk Interiors
Tatertots and Jello

Screws for the crib!

     If you read this post, you know that I recently purchased a crib at a garage sale, repainted it, and then realised I had forgotten to get the hardware to put it together when I purchased it! Aghh! Leave it to me to do something so brainless!
     Well my hubby came to the rescue, figured out all the screws needed and put it together for me. Here is what it looks like all together.

     I decided to use it as a toddler bed for the little lady and let the new baby have our old crib. Their room is actually not a bedroom, but an open loft. This bed is up against the rail, that is why you see windows behind it. The walls are yellow and the crib is a grayish blue. I distressed it to bring out the details and then coated it with poly acrylic to keep it from scratching or chipping.

     I like how the back looks a little like bead board.

     I normally spray paint everything, but I had a specific color I wanted for this, so I hand painted it. These little bars take fifty million years!

    
     Well, now I just need to get sewing bedding for both cribs. That is, if my sewing machine decides cooperate! It decided it hates me yesterday. I just got it in December and have never had a problem till yesterday. It works fine and then out of no where it sounds like a jackhammer and the needle pops! I tried a new bobbin, new roll of thread, adjusting tension and anything else I could think of. If any of you have any suggestions I'd be so grateful!
     I'm working on a massive project that I can't wait to show you! Sheesh! That's a long project two weekends in a row...I must be getting more patience in my old age or something! =)

Linking to:
Miss Mustard Seed

Boutique copycat outfit

     The other day, when I was out strolling through boutiques, a friend who was also along spied an outfit she really liked. She asked me if I thought I could copy it for her little girl. I'd never made a top like it before, but I do love to figure out new clothes styles. I pulled out a couple remnant pieces today and gave it a try. I never actually picked the outfit up in the store, so I have no idea what the back of theirs looked like. I made mine a halter top with elastic around the back for easy fitting.

      The top is a criss cross top.

     And of course, I had to make a little hair clip to match.

      I make all my clothing without patterns, and I've discovered,when copying things especially, if you think of a garment as a collection of shapes it is pretty easy to replicate it. For instance, this top is two triangles attached to a rectangle. The straps are also rectangles. You have to add the things like arm holes that make a garment fit a round body, but getting the shapes the right size are the main thing. Pants are simple once you understand how the slope should work. It works for me, but I am also no expert. Trial and error are my best teachers.

Linking to:
Someday Crafts
Tea Rose Home
Sew Much Ado
Simple Home Life
The Freckled Laundry
Just A Girl

Sewing "room" clean up (or shovel out as the case may be)

     I hardly ever do projects that I can't get done in an afternoon. I have no patience for long drawn out processes. This however, took me three days...that. is. ridiculous. Why, you may be wondering, should it take that long just to clean out some sewing stuff? Excellent question. That requires I show you some before pictures. Really these are simply to make you feel better about yourself, as I am sure few can claim the honor of owning such a mess as this.
     First, let me explain that my sewing area is outside the house in a long, very narrow utility room that was meant more for a garage type storage area of sorts. There is only one small window so the lighting is really awful in these pictures. I had a horrible time getting clear pictures and the color is off. My area is in the middle, to the left of mine is our "reading" area filled with shelves and books, and to the right a collection of mister's hunting things. The whole thing is way over due for a clean out. When we first moved here, my mister built me large shelf that used as much vertical space as possible. We were in such a hurry to get things out of boxes that I never really put things away properly to start with. As time went on it just got progressively worse...as you now may see for yourself.

     Look! My threads are grouped by color that should count for something! =)

     Yes, there actually are two machine's on that desk...how I got to them to actually use them required great acrobatic skill.

     There now, don't you feel better about yourself? Told ya. This was definitely one of those rooms that when guests come over, you shut, lock and barricade the door and never acknowledge that it opens.
     Would you like to see it now?

     Well lets start with the desk. This is actually not a desk at all, but an old drafter's table. I got it at a yard sale for super cheap and loved it.

     It sits on sawhorses that have nifty old hardware attached still.

     The top has some weather damage and one day I'm going to redo it, but I kind of like it's imperfection. I had a dear friend that passed away that worked for a surveyor's office and this table makes me think of her. I'm thinking I might make a skirt for the front to hide the totes underneath eventually.
     Next off, check out my shelves. The bottom row holds totes from the salvage store with all knit material.

     The top holds cotton, a massive bag of pollyfill I found unopened at the thrift store, home decor fabric, more felt than I could ever wish for (a garage sale find), and some yarn.

     The side shelves hold vacuum pack bags of burlap, clothes to be cut up and refashioned, and trays of fabric that are one yard or less.

     I got these little hangy things at hobby lobby and mod podged pretty paper to the front to hold sewing books and papers.

     You should recognize the two stools from past posts. They both were garage sale finds that I repainted and covered.

     I used my buckets from the dollar section at Target to hold things I frequently need for sewing like, elastic, bias tape, trim and such. They spell out the word "imagine".

     Do you remember these old nesting boxes that were given to me that I showed you before?

     I used two more sections of them to create some extra shelving. After bleaching, scrubbing, and painting them with some left over yellow paint, they look like this.

     The bottom part hold mason jars and jelly jars collected at thrift stores and garage sales. The jars keep small things like ribbon bits, buttons, snaps, clips, etc all tidy and organized.

     The jars are all labeled with key tags purchased from the hardware store.

     The top section hold all my ribbon on dowels. This I LOVE! I cannot express how annoying tangled up ribbon spools are to me!

     The bookshelf was tidied and prettied with some boxes mod podged with paper and spray painted baskets.

     My dry erase board also received a face lift with some mod podge and paper.

     The door is mettle so I use it for a magnetic bulletin board of sorts. The top rod has some clip curtain rings that can hold notes and pictures, the little cans hold safety pins and such, and the bottom rod works for a convenient spot to hang things while I'm working on them.

     A lot of the containers I used were random garage sale finds. I think this little basket is actually a door flower holder, but it holds my serger thread just nicely.

     Mod podging fabric and paper to things is cheap way to add color and a cohesive look. I showed you my clock a few days ago that I used the same fabric for as I did to cover my stool.

     There is still things I need to fix a little better and I'd like to add more color here and there. All in all though, I am loving my "new" work space. All the work was sooooo worth it!

Linking to:
The Stories of A to Z
Restore Interiors
Someday Crafts
Tea Rose Home
Sew Much Ado
Organize and Decorate Everything
Simple Home Life
Just a Girl
The Freckled Laundry
Tatertots and Jello
Funky Junk Interiors
Lolly Jane Boutique
Between Naps on the Porch
The Girl Creative

Happy Easter!

     In my house growing up, instead of saying "Happy Easter", we would say "He is risen!" to which the other person would reply, "He is risen indeed!". This was a nice way of reminding each other that, although pretty new dresses and chocolate bunnies were very fun, the day was really a celebration of life. Jesus conquering sin and death means hope for me and all the rest of the world.

    "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died onto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God."
Romans 6:9-10

    "But as many as receive Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:"
John 1:12

     I hope you have had a blessed Easter!

Fabric clock and pincushion

     I'm on a mission to clean and organize my sewing and craft stuff this weekend. I'll save the embarrassment of a "before" picture until I've got some progress to show. I needed a clock, so while cleaning I found everything I needed to make one. I used a plastic plate from the dollar store, a scrap of fabric from that stool I recovered, some stickers and a clock motor left over from making Christmas presents. This is the plate I used.

     I cut out a circle of fabric and mod podged it on the plate. (or hodge podged it as my hubby says) Makes a cute clock for only a dollar!

     The next quick little improvement was to make an extra pincushion. I always end up having a pile of straight pins next to one machine because I'm too lazy busy to get up and get the cushion from the other machine. I had this little tin bucket set that I found for 50cents at the thrift store. I cut out a circle of the same scrap fabric, making it about twice the size of the top of the bucket.

     I sewed a loose gathered stitch around the top to make a pocket of sorts.

     I stuffed the bucket and the pocket with a generous helping of pollyfill.

     Then I just hot glued it on. I left the other side empty to hold bobbins and such that I change out frequently.

     I'd say I've gotten my money's worth out of that fabric. One little remnant has covered a stool, made a toddler size kitchen apron, covered a clock and made a pincushion! I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to part with the rest to the trash now, I've only got strings of it left. Well, hopefully I'll have shockingly gorgeous craft area to show you on Monday....or just a clean one. =)

Linking to:
Simple Home Life
The Freckled Laundry
Just A Girl
Tatertots and Jello

Easter Dress

     I went wandering through a few local boutiques the other day and found the most beautiful little white Easter dress for the little lady. The only problem being that it was $57! Gulp, gasp, um noooooo thank you! I might have been able to justify it if she actually needed clothes. However, she has a bazillion adorable dresses thanks to her cousin's hand me downs, and a pretty dress is not the point of Easter anyway. So, I gently and reverently hung the $57 dress back on the hanger and took myself right home to see what I could come up with. I really wanted a non-pink dress. I like pink quite a bit, but variety is always nice too. I found in my stash a remnant I had bought a while ago with lovely green and blue paisley on it. I have a soft spot for paisley. Using it, some scrap white material, and a scrap of tulle I came up with this. It cost me about $5 as apposed to $57.

     It is just a simple peasant top style with an extra full skirt. The sleeves are just hemmed and sewn with elastic thread.

     The bottom is edged with ribbon and the underskirt has tulle sewn to it for a little extra fullness.

     I made a  matching hair flower with scraps.

     I didn't take pictures along the way, but this is basically how you can make one.

     At any rate, they are not hard to do. You can easily make one in an hour or two. Quite a good thing for me, since anytime the little lady isn't sleeping I seem to be moping up puddles off the floor. If anyone has any magical tips for introducing the wonders of indoor plumbing to the their two year old without loosing one's sanity I would be eternally grateful!

Linking to:
Just a Girl
Simple Home Life
The Freckled Laundry
Tatertots and Jello