Saturday Projects

I've had a very productive Saturday, and I'm so happy to finally post again and show off the fruits of my labors.

I recently got a a Martha Stewart email newsletter showing tons of sewing projects for the home as well as clothing. This plastic bag organizer interested me since my bags have been out of control underneath my sink. This organizer was really easy to make and I'm happy with the results -both the look and function. Check it out hanging in my pantry:

Here is Martha's link for the how-to: http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/sewing-projects-for-the-home#slide_20

Next up was a folding chair upholstery project I've been wanting to do since seeing similar chairs at Anthropologie. I decided to use more red Marimekko fabric for this project to keep a cohesive look in my kitchen. I started by cutting a piece of 2" foam for the seat and wrapping and stapling batting around it.

Next I cut a piece of fabric to the right size, ironed out the wrinkles, and started stapling it on -sides first. I cut the fabric long enough so that one piece wrapped all of the way over the top and bottom, with the seam at the back of the seat on the bottom. I then hot glued a piece of red ribbon over the stapled seam on the bottom of the seat.

Next up was the chair back. I had a piece of 3" foam that was the right size so I used that, and again wrapped it in batting and stapled in place. Once again the piece of fabric was long enough so that it wrapped completely around the chair back, with the stapled seam on the back. I used the same red ribbon to cover the staples, shown below.

Here is the final product in the kitchen, shown with my kitchen chairs. I can't wait to cover my other folding chair in a different Marimekko red fabric.

Baby Clothes!

I am so thrilled that I am soon to be an aunt, I had to share my newest craft projects which have been baby focused. I took some plain white onesies and undershirts from my sister's pile of hand-me-down baby clothes and decided to get crafty with them.

I decided to do the first ones in a garden/little girl theme using embroidery and scrap fabric from my Pottery Barn Kids days. Not sure how the embroidery and hand stitching will hold up in the wash, but they look adorable for now.

I'm sure you'll recognize the bird stencils used in the second set of baby clothes. I thought these would look a little more sophisticated and less "girly", but still be very cute on a baby girl. I enjoy the contrast of the dark brown paint on the white fabric, and look forward to doing more stenciling on clothes, and to seeing my niece in these outfits.

Sewing Projects - Tablecloth

I was asked to make a tablecloth for the dining room of a recent staging. We normally do not use draped dining tables in staging, but this dining room called for some drama, and so we delivered the table and chairs shown above. This was an easy sewing project, but ended up having a lot of impact in the room.

Sewing Projects -Duvet Cover

I made a duvet cover for a design client at work recently. It was a pretty simple project of sewing together two flat sheets in order to make a custom duvet cover that would match the sheets on the bed. It was a significant project for me because they are cal-king sheets and I live in a small apartment with very little room to lay out fabric of that size. I also learned how to do buttonholes for this project, which was very exciting.

Once the duvet cover was on the bed at the client's house, my boss didn't even realize that I had made it, he assumed it was purchased for the house. What a great compliment!

Bird Chair

I loved the way my bird bench turned out, so I decided to try out the bird stencils on a chair. This chair was hardly ever used in stagings so I gave it some new life with a coat of paint and a new seat cushion. I used an old tablecloth to recover the seat and then used the black fabric paint and bird stencil from previous projects to make an updated cushion. We were able to use this "new" chair in a black and white bedroom almost immediately!

Updates! Furniture in stagings

I am pleased to show photos of some of the furniture I have recently refinished now being used in stagings. Check out the photos below to see the flokati bench, bird bench, and painted seat desk chair.

Fabric Paint

I've been working with fabric paint recently and really enjoying the multiple uses and looks that can be achieved with plain, black, screen printing fabric paint. I decided to work on some seat upholstery projects at work last week and took a few photos of the process and results. The base fabric for both cushions was the same, an old tablecloth with white on white stripes.

The first seat cushion is for a Danish mid century modern desk/side chair. For this funky chair I decided a funky seat was in order, so I used blue painter's tape to make random lines on the seat.

The next cushion was for a Chippendale style bench. The frame of the bench was recently painted glossy black (as you can tell, we are very into the glossy, black paint at my office right now). I like the sort of gothic look that this bench has now that it is black, and thought that this would be a good opportunity to pull out my bird stencils. Next I really want to get a large scale stencil to use on seats, maybe of a chandelier?