POUF OR STOOL

Large pouf stuffed with fabric scraps

This idea comes from Maya Donenfeld's book, Reinvention. She has instructions for three sizes of poufs and recommends using scraps to stuff them.  Wanting to make one large enough for an adult, I opted to make the 24" X 12" one. Thinking that maybe putting a smaller one inside would help to keep the shape better, I made a 16" X 10" one first.

It was made from purple fabric and stuffed with just about one whole leaf bag full of scraps, then whip-stitched closed. No need to use a zipper for this one.

The purple one was stuffed inside the 24" one. This will only work if your zipper is just about as long as the diameter of the pouf. My zipper was 23", taken off a dress from the thrift shop.

After carefully centering it inside, I stuffed down scraps all around the inside pouf, packing firmly as I went.

I ran out of scraps and put some yard goods on the very bottom, which will be easy to retrieve due to the zipper. As soon as I start more projects, I will replace the yard goods with fabric scraps; might take a few months.

The 24" cover is made from wool pants and skirts. There is a handle, but as heavy as this turned out, it probably would not be wise to use it for fear of tearing the seam, although I did sew over it several times. Incorporated in a panel on the side is a small cross stitch that had been setting around for decades, probably. Using one of the underutilized embroidery designs on my sewing machine, I added a leaf design along a seam on the top of the pouf.

HGTV's STROLLING THE BLOCK QUILT

STROLLING THE BLOCK QUILT

In 2002, HGTV had an applique quilt block a month project which featured houses for each month of the year decorated to reflect the month's general happenings.  I just now finished it! It was a lot of fun choosing fabrics from my stash. The applique was ironed on, then blanket stitched around each piece. The first two months I had done the blanket stitching by hand in 2002, but when I picked it back up again a couple of years ago, I just used my machine blanket stitching. 

You may be able to download the pattern at the website in bold below (which I got to from here - http://groupbox.com/ViewTopic.aspx?&iTopicID=ds1+MZIzqmI-&iGroupID=6lcZL19AC9o-). When I downloaded it, not all pictures would download, so I just followed the written instructions and guessed on how some things should look.

http://web.archive.org/web/20031204163301/http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_lnb_gutter/text/0,1783,HGTV_3938_4907,00.html#

This is only the third quilt I have ever done, and I tried my hand at free motion quilting, which was not as hard as I anticipated. The outside border is where I did most of that making a flower and leaves quilting. The instructions suggested using a variegated thread which I did.

Using the walking foot and monofilament thread, I quilted in the ditch and around the appliques.

I only did other quilting where there was more than 2" spacing between seams, so in the skies mainly.

 

HOW TO HANG A QUILT

HOW TO HANG A QUILT

My quilt measures 55" across and was made to display as a wall hanging. Before attaching the binding, I made a pocket for a rod to be inserted into. I cut a 9" X 56" piece of fabric, hemmed the two ends, ironed in half, then sewed the raw ends into the binding seam as it was applied. I had about 1" space on each end of the quilt. The bottom of the pocket was blind stitched down to the back of the quilt. I was going to put a 1/2" dowel rod inside it, but they don't make them that long, then I read about the Hang It Dang It, but did not want to spend that much money. My husband suggested conduit, but that would make it stick out too far, I thought, plus it may sag.  I opted for a thick wood molding that will not sag, which I found at Home Depot, and they cut it to size for free.

I spent less than $4.00 for it. It can be hung by resting on a nail on either end, or by drilling small holes about 3/8" in from each end and putting the nails through those, and since I made the pocket shorter on each end than the quilt top, the molding does not show.

Happy Birthday Banner for Cake

Since decorative writing on a cake sometimes is not practical, I made a banner tied to skewers to poke into the top of any type of cake.  I used printed paper goods cut into two-sided triangles that were glued onto a string or yarn.  These particular triangles are a finished size of 1.25" wide by 1.5" long.  A strip of paper 3" wide when folded makes the final 1.5" long measurement.   The backside also has lettering, so I wrote H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y on a scrap of paper, turned it around and wrote the same letters under it, so I was assured to get the correct letter behind each one when writing on the triangles.

Merida outfit

With two unused scarfs, a cast-off blouse, a scrap of faux suede, and Simplicity Pattern 1219, I made an American Girl sized outfit. It is Merida's dress from the Disney movie "Brave".  Just love repurposing materials.  Instead of buying lace for the skirt, I used a decorative stitch on my machine.

Car Travel Organizer

From ideas on pinterest and googling "car organizer", we now have a back of the seat organizer for the backseat traveler.  It hooks around the headrest with straps using velcro, and the bottom is tied around the seat back.

Sheet aluminum

Simplicity 2200 pattern piece

The clothing were 49 cent finds from Salvation Army Thrift Store. The dress made the back and front. The pockets were made from two different blouses and the dress. Notice the zipper in the dress? I made a secret compartment on the back side utilizing it by adding a pocket inside where you could stash emergency cash or credit cards.

Simplicity pattern 2200, organizers for walkers, had a perfect pattern for smaller pockets or cup holders.  Elastic is in casings to make the tops a little snug.  The first attempt at an organizer had drooping corners at the top, so I had some sheet aluminum cut to fit the width and about 2" wide and slid that into a casing sewn to the inside. When stitching back and front together, I left the casing open on one side to insert aluminum into afterwards to ward off any sewing machine problems, then slipstitched closed.

Deconstructed dress

GARAGE SALE TAGS

for clothing and jewelry

Get some card stock. Color with magic marker stripes. Cut into squares with craft scissors. Punch a hole. Insert rubber band through. Hang on clothing hanger with info and price. That ensures your tags aren't switched during the sale. 

The jewelry tags are just smaller, and use crochet thread instead of rubber bands.

Slip-over Coasters for Wine Glasses

What a great idea from Half Yard Home by Debbie Shore. These will keep the condensation off your tabletop as well as provide a fun way for your guests to remember which glass is theirs, if you make them all from different fabrics. Any glass that has a wine bottom type will work.

First measure the diameter of the base. Add 1-2" to get the diameter you need to cut your circles, and find a glass or coaster that is that size to serve as a template. You may need to make one or two samples to make sure it will fit over the glass bottom.  You need two circles for the top, one for the bottom, and one of batting or felt.

Take the two top circles and press in half. If you desire to add a strip of lace or ribbon, lay on top, and sew close to the folded edge. To assemble for sewing, place felt circle down, then add bottom fabric or oilcloth right side up, and the two halves right side down on the very top. Pin together and sew completely around the outside edge of the circle. Trim to 1/8", turn, and press.

Add a button, ribbon flower, or other adornment to one side, if desired. Or before assembly, you could monogram one half circle. Have fun!

Fabric Wall Flower Project

WALL FLOWER

This project was in Adventures in Fabric, La Todera Style.  It is made by creating circles using three different fabrics, which are then sewn together in a pie shape and then the top petals, which that creates, are sewn together. Sounds confusing, I should have pictured the process. It was tricky turning the circles and getting a nice smooth edge after sewing them together. Fusible web is inside the circles to aid in the crispness of the petals. On top I put a yo-yo made with a button in the center.

BAG FROM REPURPOSED SHIRTS

From this snap front Gap shirt I found at Salvation Army, I made a bag utilizing the snap opening as a pocket on the front of the bag. I used another SA shirt for the lining.
The outside shirt fabric has Pellon Thermolan Plus fleece fused to it to strengthen the bag and to protect the contents. I used one of the cuffs to make a snap closure at the top for a little bit of security.

The inside has a long pocket on one of the gusset sides, a zippered pocket on one side, and a small pocket on the other side at the bottom. The outside back has two small pockets at the bottom, and the front, along with the pocket made with the snapped placket, has four small divisions/pockets, with two on top of each other at the ends making six pockets.

I embroidered a floral motif on the back in orange thread. The handles used the button plackets of the floral shirts backed with the other shirt's fabric. The Gap label is sewn onto one of the straps.

Red and White Quilt from Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star published patterns, a block a month, in 2013 for this quilt called "Rubies, Diamonds, and Garnets, Too..." designed by Bernadette Kent of Calgary, Alberta.  This is my second attempt at piecing, so I am happy with the outcome. Those 36 sashing strips took me weeks to do as there are 864 half triangle pieces to cut, sew two together, trim, and then sew in a strip. If I had known at the outset how time consuming those would be, I probably would not have started it. But they do add a lot to the overall look. The blocks were pretty quick to piece together; even the center star was not too bad.

Almost all of the white fabrics are from blouses from Salvation Army on their 49 cent day. The red checks and plaids are from shirts. The polka dot was a skirt. The rest of the fabrics had to be bought at a fabric store since it was hard to find red on red and red on white prints. This block to the right was from a bought fabric that had the illustrated sewing stitches fussy cut (cutting out a motif to be centered).

The center block was not what was originally published in the paper. They had to print a retraction for some reason and offered a download for this star.

If anyone wants these instructions I cut from The Star, I will be happy to mail it all to the first person I hear from.

Now I have to figure out how to quilt this 68" square. This will be my first quilting attempt, and I don't want to do it by hand. Perhaps I will practice free motion quilting and try doing that.  Those four white corners of the center block should get a special treatment. Any ideas?

Decorative Backing for old TV Armoire

 This beautiful armoire had a gaping hole in the back to accommodate the old huge TV we used to have.  I pieced together a bunch of squares made from a skirt and a jumper found at the Salvation Army, and laid that and some batting on top of a big piece of foam core. Remember to add a couple of inches to the overall fabric piece so it will lap around the board on all sides.

To attach it to the foam core, I used office clips to hold the batting and "quilt" at the edges and took yarn threaded onto a needle and sewed back and forth across the back, catching the top and bottom edges first, then the side edges. After that was completed, I added button "tufting" at each corner of each piece, bringing the thread through the foam core and tying off the ends.

close up of fabric quilt for back of armoire

Casserole Cozy

I just wanted a little blanket for my casserole to keep it warm and be able to handle it a little easier when hot.  With some quilted double-sided material (of course, you could make your own) I cut out enough fabric to come up to the top of each side and a little extra on the ends to act as pot holders.
Then to get it to hug the dish, I sewed two darts on each corner,--

--using pins, just make darts as if fitting a dress to a mannequin. I basted mine first since there is no pattern to follow and pulled out a couple to restitch.

After trimming around the top to make it all symmetrical, I made some bias tape trim and applied to the edges for the finished look.




I just turned the darts towards each other on each end and made that my inside.

Then when serving, tuck the ends down to keep food from getting on them. This particular dish has "handles" which it works well on.

A straight sided dish would not need the longer ends.

Custom Bedspread, Shams & Pillow

After seeing this fabric at Joann's Fabrics, I just had to have it for our newly painted master bedroom. It is made from two lengths that lay crosswise, and I joined them matching the patterns by meticulously pinning and hand sewing at spots to assure accuracy, then finishing on the machine. The other side is a bottom weight black cotton, and it is finished off with a black rope cording sandwiched between the two.

 On a trip to Mackinac Island, I purchased a dozen pieces of Frette linen with the Grand Hotel logo on them at a great price. Why not make shams with them? But they are stark white, so I tea dyed* two, which made them the perfect color. I added red strips of fabric to the sides to make them king size and added black braid over that seam (an idea from Eastern Accents shams). Leftover bedspread fabric was used for the back of the shams, as well as to cover cording for the edging. 

I felt it needed one more pillow, so I took an embroidered part of a blouse from Salvation Army, embellished with buttons and beads, added quilt fabric, black cording, and a ruffled edge.

*Tea dying instructions:
Boil water in a pot large enough for your fabric. For every cup of water, you will need one tea bag. Drop in tea bags; let steep for 5 minutes. Wet down your fabric (natural fabrics are best) before immersing into the tea bath. Push down on the fabric making sure it is completely covered and let it set for 10 minutes. Rinse out the tea completely and even give it a bath with a squirt of dishwashing liquid to be sure to remove the tannins. Remember it will dry a shade lighter. Repeat if necessary for a darker color. 

Flavored teas may give it a slightly different color; like, cinnamon, would be more of a red, etc. You can alway try coffee, too.

Fabric Tote for Walker

Walker tote

Tote for Walker

My mother-in-law needed something to carry a pen and phone in to 
attach to her walker, so after getting ideas online, I came up with a piece that drops over the front bar of the walker.  It has two large outside pockets and shorter divided pockets on each inside.

As shown above, there are seven pieces: a 12" X 23" backing on which I put velcro to keep from slipping off the bar, a 12" X 23" lining on which are sewn the shorter pockets, a handle to assist in lifting off walker if needed, and the 2 outer pockets which are 12" X 16" and folded over to create 12" X 8" pockets. 

Assemble the pieces as shown, then flip the outside velcro piece on top so right sides are facing, sew around, keeping a 4 to 5" open area to turn. Make sure handle in on the correct side and topstitch all around which will catch the open area, so no need to slip stitch closed.

The outside fabric was a jumper and the two other fabrics are from blouses. Of course, I got each piece for $.49 on Salvation Army's day of the week when a certain color is ready to be taken off shelves and they mark down to a crazy $.49 price.

Tote Bag From Old Jacket

Cotton Velour and Linen Tote Bag

Good old Salvation Army find for $.49 last Monday!  An XL purple cotton velour button down casual jacket had embroidered flowers at the bottom.  The left side is the front of the bag and the right side, the back. Using knowledge from Amy Butler and Lisa Lam, it is made with a gusset, an inside zippered pocket and open pockets, as well as an outside pocket in the gusset using another embroidered flower that was on the back of the jacket. The yellow flower showing on the right is part of the gusset. A gusset is simply one straight piece sewn between front and back...think upholstered seat cushion. This one is 4" wide.

The inside is made from an orchid linen jacket. One of the straps is the front buttonhole placket. Each strap is faced with the linen fabric and attached using the applique stitch on my machine.



A decorative stitch was also used along the top of the open pockets. The tote is lined with fusible fleece, so could be used to transport a laptop, if desired.

Little Girl's Pink Bedroom Makeover

Bedskirt with Pottery Barn bedspread and wall hanging

After Painting, Before Decorating

Granddaughter's Bedroom Before

There was no bedskirt on the twin bed nor were there curtains. So using my Salvation Army finds in pinks and greens and whites, I fashioned a gathered bedskirt with alternating pieces of fabric from skirts, blouses, and shirts.

The wall hanging above the bed was made with pink satin as the background, a crown cut from a skirt & pink trim from another skirt. Gathered fabric circles with buttons at the center are at each point and "Princess" is embroidered below.


The ceiling light was an old can light, so I found a small chandelier that didn't drop down very far. Electrician husband had to do a little tweaking in the old can and also had to buy a cover from Home Depot to camouflage the big hole.

Chandelier and curtains

The ruffled white curtains were a purchase from ebay.

Fabric bins and stool

The fabric bins were in one of my previous blogs, now filled with toys. The coffee table was found at an antiques consignment shop, bought with the intention of being a longtime piece that can be repurposed as my granddaughter grows and even go into a first apartment.

The stool is made of felt and filled with all  my scraps from all the projects I've worked on this past year. The instructions are in the book, Reinvention.

The lamp beside the bed has a shade I covered with fabric that has flowers made from ribbon; round swirls of ribbon.

On one of the walls, I placed a castle decal from Disney.