Custom Curtains

Woohoo! Take a look at our sun room before the curtains...

...and after! The fabric is perfect and my crew of workers couldn't have been better! My mom and I sewed for a day and a half straight (it was a LOT of fabric to deal with) and then my hubby and dad hung the curtains for me today. Aren't they cute?!

Picture perfect!

I got the original idea from a page that I ripped out of Good Housekeeping. I loved the bold print and Roman shades--and I already had the red couch--so I decided to copy cat. The result is just lovely! Whimsical, light, and airy, just like this room should be. I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that I followed a tutorial for the faux Roman shade.

Grandpa's Craft

Yesterday I drove home to visit my mom, Grandma, and Grandpa. They were together at a Christmas Bazaar selling Grandpa's wooden wares (bowls are his specialty). I came home with a set of gorgeous napkin rings Grandpa turned. I love that although they're all made of walnut, none of them match. They make me want to start using fabric napkins with every meal!

Since I had my camera with me, I couldn't help but stop along the way to snap a picture of the fiery Autumn trees lining the street. Stunning!

WIP: Mosaic Pillow

Check out the new pillow I'm making! I got the idea here.

Yarn Wreath - So Cute!

Cobble turned me on to this tutorial for a yarn wreath. I finally collected all the materials to make my Spring wreath, and I love the way it turned out! Check out S's on her blog, too.

Ottoman Slip-Cover

B and I are expecting a house-guest later this week. That meant that I needed to finish at least one of the sun-room-makeover projects: the ottoman slip cover.  It was a work in progress, and much like the beer-jug-cozy, I figured it out as I went along.

Step One:
While in the fabric store, I made a sketch of the dimensions of the 5 faces of the ottoman and used that to plan how much fabric to buy. I used those same dimensions to cut the 45" wide fabric into five pieces.

Step 2:
I sewed each of the four side pieces to the top piece, one at a time, right sides together. I pressed the seams "down" toward the floor.

Step 3:
I placed right sides together and sewed each of the corner seams.

Unfortunately, I had over-compensated too much, so my slip cover was too big. You can see the excess fabric in the picture below.

In order to correct that problem, I tucked the excess fabric underneath itself, creating a small fold on each corner. I pinned these in place and then sewed a one-inch line (from the inside to hide the stitches) to hold the tucks in place.

Yeah, this part didn't go so smoothly. The first time I sewed my one-inch line it showed through to the front.

Here, you can see the one-inch line that I sewed approximately one inch in from the original side-seam.

Step four:
I moved the ottoman to my kitchen floor so that I could accurately measure for length. This ottoman has feet that sink into the carpet, giving me a false sense of height. I put the slip cover on the ottoman inside-out so that I could roll up the bottoms and pin them in place.

Step five:
As a way of checking the accuracy of my pinning job, I measured from the sewing line to the edge of the fold and pinned it into place. Then I ironed each fold to make a crisp edge.

I put the slip cover on the ottoman one last time to make sure that I had done a good job of pinning the bottom. You know how anal I am. And how much I hate my seam ripper!

Step six:
I went back to the folded edges and unpinned them. As I did so, I folded the raw edge under and then re-pinned the fabric into place. I ironed everything again. Finally, I was ready to stitch the "hem" into place.

Step seven:
First I sewed around the bottom of the slip cover -- as close to the edge as I could get.  Then I sewed around the bottom again, this time using the first line of stitches as a guide along which I followed with my presser foot.

All done! I would estimate that this project took me about 3 hours from start to finish. At least now I can finally relax (and see if I can't get a shoulder massage)...

Sun-Room Makeover

B and I spent our *five day weekend* shopping for furniture, assembling said furniture, and then shopping for fabrics to complete the sun-room makeover. This room gets the most natural light in our house (hence the name), so it was important to have a multi-functional space. A place where I could sew, B could study, we could snuggle up and read... you get the idea. The result is still a work in progress, but it's well on its way to beautiful!

BEFORE: Maple table and chairs. No color.

PHASE 1: New black chairs and red comfy couch. I also moved my reading lamp and an old ottoman into this space so that we could better appreciate them.  Although there's color now, the room still doesn't seem cohesive.

PHASE 2: After spending two-and-a-half hours in Jo-Ann Fabrics, I came home with the following array of new fabric. The plan was to find a way to tie the yellow walls in with the red chair and the teal accents in the living room. You can see that two of the prints combine all three! Score!

Here I've draped the fabrics over the pillow forms and the ottoman. I still have LOTS of sewing to do, and I can't wait.

"Phew, the relief!"

If my house could talk... that's probably what it would say!

I'm ashamed to admit it, but Christmas decorations were still in piles--halfway packed up--on my dining room table and in various corners of my living room. I just didn't have the motivation to finally finish wrapping all those breakable ornaments! However, I'm proud to say that in a fit of energy (or desperation?), I put the last piece of tissue paper around the last little glass angel. B came in for the assist and carried all the boxes (and the bagged Christmas tree) up into the attic.

Yay!

PS: Dinner at the dining room table was a nice treat last night.

New Post, New Year

I love the feeling of rejuvenation that comes from the new year. This morning I was so inspired to have a fresh start, that I ripped through the rooms in my house, clearing away the clutter. Maybe that will be my motto for this new year: Clear Out the Clutter! Literally and metaphorically.

I hope that this new year brings wonderful experiences and opportunities to each one of us. Happy 2011!

Spring Awakening!

Our countertops and new sink have all finally been installed! Of course, nothing goes smoothly, so technically we're still waiting to have the bar-top adjusted. But... for the pictures' sakes, that doesn't matter. It looks good, and I finally have before and after photos to share!

Before:

After!