Leftover Curtain Fabric

And this is what I did with the leftover curtain fabric. The other print is Gotcha Gray also from Premier Prints and it is a twill. They have lots of other colors as well. . . wonder what I could possibly need them for?

Dutch sneaks in the picture for the sunshine.

Our couch pillows were looking really awful, but the inserts were feather and still nice, so I made some new pillow covers.

They definitely need to be removable and washable, but I hate how an envelope back pillow always seems to gape open in the back, so I decided to put in invisible zippers. I've never done that on a pillow before, and when I tried it on The Little Man's bean bag, it worked okay, but not perfectly.

This time I found several different YouTube videos to see how its done, because none were completely clear to me and I can never understand the product directions on traditional sewing supplies like zippers or patterns (is that just me? I consider myself intelligent and the sentences read like some other language altogether). Anyway, it worked and it was easy. They aren't quite invisible because I didn't buy the special Coats invisible zipper foot and just used the one that came with my machine, but they're darn near invisible. Good enough for me!

Porch Pillows

We bought rockers for our front porch this summer, and I was feeling like we needed some pillows to go on them. I was sorta leaning towards buying the Sundial pillow from West Elm for out there, but decided against it, because it was just too much after paying for shipping. I'm pretty sure that these will be on the ground fairly often, as the front porch is an outdoor play area for the Little Man.

Sundial outdoor pillow in Papaya from West Elm

So, this is what I did with the fabric from the Little Man's old curtains. I made some pillows for my porch!

This is a much better use for that shower curtain fabric. I like it much better as pillows, and since its "recycled" fabric, let him throw them on the ground if he must!

Curtains for the Little Man

I finally found the fabric that I wanted to make curtains for the Little Man's room. Yay! I believe that its been a year and a half since we moved him out of my office (his nursery) into his own bedroom.

I tried out some all white grommet top curtains at first, and they were just too plain and boring. Then I found a navy shower curtain with a printed ivory design on them that I thought might work if I cut them and reconfigured them into panels. You can see them in the bookshelf post. They ended up being to dark and too skimpy for my taste.

I was hoping for a chevron print that I could use, but I never could quite bring myself to buy the ones that I found. They have a nice blue or yellow or brown at Fabric.com, but I what I wanted was gray. Pale gray.

Well, then it occurred to me that those are all Premier Prints fabrics. So I searched for Premier Prints and found their website. I am such an idiot. How did I not know these existed? I've actually used several of their prints before when I made all those aprons for Christmas several years ago. Ta da! Their Zig Zag design comes in the perfect Ash/White print. (I'll save you the leg work if you happen to want this fabric and tell you that the cheapest place that I found it was here, btw.)

I ended up buying 8 yards of fabric, so that I would have some extra, because I love it. I was trying to figure out how to cut it the right length, so I ended up folding it in half and laying it out the length of my living room/dining room and just using a measuring tape. Of course, the Little Man decided not to nap that day, so I had to get him up while I still had the fabric laid out and was trying to double-check my calculations before cutting.

He put on his rain boots and his 8-ball bike helmet and was riding his trike up and down the fabric like it was a runner just for him. He was saying "Wheeee!" and going back and forth and stomping around in his rain boots. He was in rare form and totally cracking me up. I was laughing so hard and trying to capture him on video to show The Man. Its a wonder I even cut these things right.

So here they are . . .



I'd never made curtains, but I wanted to do it right, if I was going to spend so much money on fabric. I wanted fully-lined, professional-looking curtains. I found an excellent tutorial here. I bought drapery lining at JoAnns. I don't know much about linings, but it was heavy enough and soft and about middle-of-the-road price. I learned how to make a blind hem on You Tube. Awesome. They turned out perfect!



I am so happy with how these look in his room. They are perfect! I'm nearly finished with it now. I wish I knew of a better way to store all his stuff, but this is how it is. We've already swapped his crib for a toddler bed, and now we need to swap out a new dresser for his changing table/dresser. We've already got the dresser, and I painted it last week.

Now I just have to get my act together and get my office ready to be set up as the nursery again. I'm getting concerned that number two is coming sooner, rather than later, so I need to get things done. Seriously. I'm not ready.

Oh, and if you happen to like this fabric for curtains, but don't want to sew them - lookie here. Someone is selling custom panels on eBay.

Catching Up {again}

I know I said I was going to try to start posting again, but surprise surprise, it hasn't really happened! But I have a good excuse.

We are expecting again. Our second little boy is due in September. I'm sure you know how it goes...at first too tired to do anything, then too busy trying to do everything and then too tired to do much again.

I have been doing some things here and there, though. This is a project that I made for the Little Man for Christmas. Its his very own monogrammed bean bag. It turned out nicely, but it was more of bear to make than I expected, though.


I Googled for free bean bag patterns for awhile before I settled on one. I wish I could remember where I got it from, but I can't. Its been awhile. I just picked one that seemed as if it would be big enough. I made an inner bladder for it out of muslin so it could be washed and of course, this means that the outer cover needed a zipper.

I've never really understood zippers and I've only attempted it once or twice. I ended up buying a couple zippers before I finally got one that would be appropriate. I think it was a parka zipper or something ridiculous that I had to buy in order to get one that was long enough. I found a tutorial for a hidden zipper and it turned out well enough.

Then I picked out bean bag fill. I wanted to buy the tiny little beads so that it wouldn't smoosh down completely over time. Well, I can't say I recommend what I settled on. I bought the Poly-fil Micro beads. They're expensive, but I didn't figure it would take too many bags. We bought them at Joanns one bag at a time so that I could use coupons on them. And each time, I would carefully dump the bag in, make a HUGE mess, and realize that it wasn't going to be enough. Seriously. I can't remember for sure how many I bought, but it was waaaay too many. Six at least. They cleaned up easily enough, but they were everywhere.

I sewed up the muslin and the outer bag with a regular stitch and went over that with a zig zag stitch as well, hoping that would ensure that the bag would be leak-proof. I monogrammed Jack's name on it (that part turned out well - yay!) and stuffed the bag.

Well, the bag has been loved and enjoyed by both the little man and the dog since then. It of course, has needed to be washed by now. I took it apart in the basement, since it felt like there were stray beads inside. There were. Everywhere. There is about an inch long opening in the bladder. How? I have no idea. I tried to vacuum them out of the cover and then I gave up and put it in the washer. After the washer filled, I fished beads out by hand as best I could.

Its been sitting in my basement now for months while I get around to sewing it shut.

Long story short....I think I'd recommend plunking down the cash to buy a monogrammed bean bag elsewhere. Or don't use micro beads. Maybe shredded foam? This project was way too expensive and messy and aggravating. I did actually buy the pattern for a Rollie Pollie from Dana-made-it and perhaps sometime I'll try it again with another fill. Someday. When I recover from my annoyance at this one.

I Actually Sewed Something

I am full of big ideas. I think its because I've managed to surround myself with inspiration from all the blogs, magazines, catalogs, and TV that are full of things that I just have to have or make. The problem is, I never get enough time or focus or whatever to do the things that I would like to.

Part of it is because I am cheap. Part of it is because the Man and I sometimes can't make a decision to save our lives. Part of it is because there are too many ideas, too little time. Whatever it is, its ridiculous and frustrating. I've got to adjust my expectations down to realistic levels and learn to be content with whatever it is that I can do with what I've got. And try to focus.

So that's where I'm at. My house is a mess, there are projects started and not finished. There are improvements that should be made to our house. But we'll get there. Right now, I am trying to just enjoy a certain little man who smiles and laughs and thinks its hilarious if I squeal back when he squeals. I am crazy about the little monkey.


But anyway. I did sew something the other day. I saw this bedskirt at Pottery Barn and I wanted it. I figured I could just add buttons to my bedskirt and get the same thing. It would make those pleats lay nicer.


I couldn't find any fabric-covered buttons, so I just bought these shell buttons cause I thought they were prettier, anyway. I took it off the bed and measured 3" down the pleat and sewed them on. I wrestled the thing back on the bed and then it occurred to me. You'll never see them! The duvet is much too long for that. Suck. Now what? I don't know. I'm still mulling that one over.

Crib Set

I finally finished my crib set yesterday. Not that it was that difficult to finish, but its more like I had a hard time getting myself motivated to finish it.

I skipped making a crib sheet, since it is so darn cheap to buy plain sheets. Someday, though, I'm going to try making crib sheets. It looks easy enough. There's a tutorial here from Michael Miller Fabrics, should you want to try it. There are also instructions for making a crib set here (at J. Caroline Creative) as well.

Anyway. The dust ruffle is easy. There is a pleat in the middle of the front and the back. You could skip the back, since no one will even see it, but that didn't occur to me. I just measured how long each side needed to be and sewed on the grosgrain ribbon and hemmed the bottoms. Then you attach them to the rectangle that is the deck (the part that goes under the mattress). Easy enough.

I bought bumper batting at JoAnns, cause I wanted it to be a little thicker than just a quilted bumper, but not too thick. I just sewed on the two ribbons and extended them out 15" for ties. You sew the rectangles together and then hand sew the bottoms shut. That's what I've been procrastinating about - sewing the bottoms shut. I didn't do a terribly neat job on that and I'm not sure why, but whatever. It doesn't look that bad and it is the bottom of the bumpers, after all. Oh, and I used Fray Check on the ends of the ribbons and that seems to work great.

The only problem that I have with the bumpers is that they are a tad too long, but you can make them fit fine. The other thing is that there is an even number of posts on the front of the crib, so there is no "middle" to tie the bumpers too. What's up with that? Also, there is ribbon on both the tops and bottoms of the bumpers and only the bottom one can be seen. Oh well!

I like how it turned out overall and I like the gray bows on the outside. I am tempted to make up a dust ruffle in brown as well for another sheet that I have, but I don't think I'll do any more bumpers. Technically, you're not even supposed to have them anymore.

So there it is. Very simple. We'll see if we can keep it clean.

Diaper Bag

I have been slowly making myself a diaper bag and some accessories to go along with it. I don't really have any idea what I need/want in a diaper bag, but I made something I think I like and there's no reason that I can't just use it for something else if I want. I just liked the fabric. Its dry clean only, which may be dumb on my part, but its what I wanted. I bought some Scotchguard to spray it with and hopefully that will help keep it clean.

I made it 6" wide and put some nice deep pockets on the sides.

Clip for hanging keys

Lots of big pockets in the inside for who-knows-what?

The changing pad I backed with iron-on vinyl and added ties to the end so it can be rolled up.



This is probably unnecessary, but I used the leftover fabric to make a diaper and wipes bag. I was thinking that perhaps it could be carried instead of a diaper bag occasionally. It didn't quite turn out exactly how I pictured it - perhaps because the lip won't lay flat for me and velcro looks dumb. I haven't thought of a better idea for it yet, though. Pretty buttons?

I must admit that I am looking forward to seeing the

tiny bum that fits in such tiny diapers. They're cute.

Finally, one that worked

I finally made a shirt that may actually work. Granted, its maternity, so its perhaps not as hard to look bad. It was easy to make and I think it turned out okay.

Simplicity 3762

I think I'm going to try another version with gray t-shirt fabric and see how that turns out. I made a shirt with a similar knit awhile ago and I never got around to putting that on here, cause it turned out awful. It was too heavy a fabric and didn't lay nice at all. I bought a thinner fabric to try for this pattern, so we'll see!

Flannel Blankets

I saw this idea awhile ago, perhaps it was Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. I'm not entirely sure, since it was something I borrowed from the library.


Its just some solid-colored flannel with binding sewn on it. The flannel is inexpensive and its a pretty easy project. I enjoy sewing on binding, but I suppose that hand-sewing the binding is a little labor intensive for such a simple blanket, but whatever. I might make some more if I get the hankering. They're kinda cute to look at, anyway.

Collar Two

I made up another collar for Dutch the other day. I decided to try white to blend in a little better. Okay, so it kinda makes his fur look dirty, but whatever.

The thing that bugs me is that it makes his fur stick up. If I make it any looser, though, it wouldn't be safe to hook a leash to. I've tried that. Bad, bad idea. Chihuahua run fast.

Scraps

I screwed up the size on my iPod cover the first time - again with the not being able to concentrate long enough to add properly - and I made it a bit too small. Voila! Its a card case!

iPod cover and card case. Aww, how sweet. They match......

The Failed Shirt Experiment

Okay, so I still can't sew clothes.

This is Simplicity 3956.


I suppose it was not the brightest idea to use such a slippery fabric, but that's what I did because I'm like that. I had a hard time cutting out the fabric straight. My hemline was a bit uneven.


It turned out alright, though, until I got the zipper. I am no good at zippers. It was supposed to have an overlap, but I don't know what I'm doing and it did not end up overlapping at all. I'm not sure how to bury the bottom of the zipper either. The instructions said to sew together the two halves from the notch down and then put the zipper in above that. Well, the zipper wasn't as long as the opening, so if you put the zipper in at the top of the shirt, you had a inch or so gapping still below the zipper. Not sure if that was my mistake or what, but I didn't quite understand. It also seems like the zipper is really stiff and it doesn't really lay flat in the shirt. Perhaps its because the fabric is so light? Or maybe the zipper loosens up after washing? No idea.


But its a moot point anyway, since by then I figured out that the dumb thing doesn't even fit me. I got it on, but the zipper wasn't going up the whole way. Oops. Obviously, this is not my size. I imagine that's something I should have realized before I got halfway through. Just guessing.


I should really go take some classes or something. Or try easier shirts first. Either way!

iPod Cover

I actually finished something else! Its a small miracle! Its an iPod cover. I used the leftover fabrics from my botched bag attempts the other day and some polka dot fabric that I had leftover from something else.

I sewed a long rectangle with interfacing and turned it right side out, sewed the bottom half up with a ribbon sandwiched in between for a flap and voila!


I decided to get all smart and put a long buttonhole on the bottom so that I could plug in the USB cord, but honestly, that doesn't work all that well. I had a hard time getting it plugged in and then cable stayed loose. Egh. I also tried putting an eyelet stitch thing up top for plugging in the headphones for the bag and that worked well enough.

But a cover it is.

Look! I Made Something!

I don't seem to be making anything these days. I have actually finished another 3 doilies (I've got something bordering on obsession with those at the moment) but haven't blocked them, so there's nothing to show there yet.

I had an inspiration the other day, though, and bought a bunch of shirt patterns and Amy Butler's Weekend Travel Bag and Birdie Sling patterns to try. Hopefully those will actually happen. I'm working on a shirt at the moment.

I did, however, finally make a bag that I've been thinking about. Its a very simple bag, but that's just the way I like it. I was having a terrible time using my brain that night and I managed to cut it out 3 times before I got it the right size. I know. I'm reasonably intelligent, but sometimes, I can't think worth a darn. I'll chalk it up to starting way too late and spending too much time home alone with the dog the past couple weeks.

The first time I cut it out, I cut it the size I wanted it, which doesn't take into account the size of the bottom. I wanted a somewhat fat bottom to it. So I added 2 1/2" to the height and recut. Yeah, I'm that dumb. I neglected to add that amount to the sides as well. I sewed the whole thing together (lining and pockets and all) before I realized that. Sheesh.

Third time was a charm. Although I still had one oversight. I wanted the pockets up towards the top of the bag, so that I didn't have to dig through the bag for my cellphone or credit cards or lip gloss or whatever. I failed to consider that putting things in pockets in the top of the bag would make it collapse. Screw it. I did interface and put a strip of plastic in the bottom so that it has some structure. Good enough for me. I'll know better next time, right?? In my defense, it was 2 AM before I quit and crawled into bed.

Anyway. I like it. I'm having a gray phase. I have more ideas up my sleeve and I hope that I can make them without wasting all that fabric again. Well, not wasted. I'm thinking iPod covers with the excess from the bag. That is, if I can measure the iPod all by myself. Perhaps if I start earlier in the day . . .

Here a Pillow, There a Pillow

I made another pillow today. This one I've been thinking about for awhile too and haven't gotten around to making it. I'm not sure why I do that, but The Man says that I'm afraid to cut my fabric because I don't want to waste it. I think he's right. I have issues. It is just white cotton for goodness' sake.

Photo from CB2.com

This one was inspired by this bedding at CB2. I bought the pintuck foot awhile ago (ack, was it a whole year ago?), and haven't hardly used it, but I did get it out today and tried it out. It turned out really rather well.



I cut the front a few inches larger, because I wasn't sure how much the pintucking might shrink it up. I thought I'd give myself more room and just square up when I was finished, but really probably wasn't necessary. Maybe 1/2" extra would have been sufficient.

A long time coming

I have been contemplating making this pillow for awhile, and for some reason, just haven't done it. After all, how long does it take to make a pillow?

Today I decided I was going to do it. It is made out of Egyptian cotton and shell buttons. I hand sewed each of the buttons in place, because I couldn't quite figure out the button-sewing function on my machine. Any idea how that works? I put the button foot on and put it down on the button with the feed dogs lowered and found the right spacing for the holes and I started sewing. It stitched a few times back and forth and then a few reinforcing stitches on the left. I pulled it off and it was sorta loose and messy looking. Any idea what I did wrong?

I sewed the buttons on by hand instead. I sort of enjoy the hand sewing anyway, although I wasted waaaay too many hours of the day on this, when I really should have been doing other things. But I can't put things down in the middle. Must finish. I have a touch of OCD, I think.

I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I think I like it. I'm having a little bit of an obsession with lace and doilies at the moment. I'm thinking of making a white pillow with a doily sewn on it. Actually, I'm thinking of making a bunch of white-on-white pillows. We'll see if I get around to doing any of it.

Some of the inspiration for the lace & doilies in my head right now comes from Matthew Mead Style and some from these photos from Brocade Design etc.

From Brocade Design etc.

Photo by Paul Lowe.

From Brocade Design etc.
Photo by Paul Lowe.

Maybe someday I'll post again. . .

Where did January go? I don't feel like I've gotten much done, so where have I been? I really don't know. . . I'm going with the excuse that my real job has taken up more time than normal. Just that time of year.

One of my other little projects that I didn't get around to posting about was a set of pillows for Dutch to sleep. Well, it started out as a set. I bought box pillow forms and soft chocolate-colored fur and spent too much on them. Then I set out to make the pillow covers with a zipper in the band. Oh my word. These did not turn out well.

The zippers were really p*ssing me off. I couldn't get those right for the life of me. I did finally get one in, but I had to practically shave all the fur off around it to get it to zip up. Then I had a heck of a time sewing the fur together and keeping the edges even. Much too slippery and a bit of stretch in one direction.

It turned out okay, but so not worth the money in materials. He promptly peed on this one, so I couldn't return that pillow form. But I did return the other pillow forms and retrieve a little bit of my wasted money. Dutch tried it out and will get on it now and then, but he eventually retreats to the folded up blanket in our bedroom.

I still have the other pillow pieces cut out and I think I may just get a cheapo flatter pillow form and make pillows out of those and see if he'll sleep on those. I hope so.

Roman Shades?

I forgot to mention several weeks ago that I finally tried my hand at making a roman shade for our kitchen door. I was thinking that if I liked it, I may do it in other rooms. I bought some white Egyptian cotton for the front and backed it with plain white muslin. I bought one of those Wright's Roman Shade Kits on sale for $12ish and I bought the fabric on sale for maybe $6. This is how it turned out.

Nevermind that my door is ugly. I'm not sure I like the shade. Its okay. Then I saw that Ikea sells them for $6.99. Okay, so this was clearly a dumb idea. My other problem is that after hanging it, there was so much condensation on the inside of the window, it started to soak up on the bottom of the shade. Now there's that faint brown line from the water on it. I've stapled the dumb thing to a piece of wood to hang it. Clearly this whole thing was a dumb idea. Back to the drawing board.

Oh, and about the kit? It was fine, but clearly overkill. The brackets were waay larger than I wanted to use and I have plenty of cording and tape left over. Maybe I could sell what's left on eBay and salvage something from this experiment.