Re-organizing for a better workflow…

This is my sewing room.

Yah.  I know.  It’s an unorganized, untidy mess.  And it is affecting not only how I feel about being in the room, but also about how I actually work when I’ve gathered up the gumption to start sewing.

That has GOT to stop.

In the effort to rework this room so that it is more easily kept clean and tidy, I’ve made a few changes.

Firstly, the large white armoire that holds my belly dance costumes?  I moved it to our bedroom (which desperately needs doing!).  This cleared up a lot visual space and actually made more room for future storage pieces.

Next, I moved all of my fabric to plastic tubs and piles in the hallway.

That freed up the shelves so I could remove them.   Of course, this meant I had brand new holes in the walls that have to fill and touch up.  No photos of this, since I know you’ve all seen patched walls!)

I moved my corner desk to the opposite side of the room.  Instead of pushing the “L” into the corner, I moved it so one of the legs jutted out into the room.  The space under the window is perfect for my ironing board.  From my new desk position, I face the doorway instead of a wall – so the room feels more spacious, even though it isn’t!

I took the time to paint a very old bulletin board and even older bookcase.  My grandfather made this bookcase for me about 35 years ago.  It started out as white, then was a light pink, then a beige….  But this is my room and I wanted a pop of color.  I think he’d be pleased!

Opposite to the bookcase is my shelf system.  The shelves are covered in a snakeskin vinyl print that’s easy to wipe down, and smooth enough that even the most delicate fabric won’t catch.  I installed these by mounting the brackets on two slender lengths of board.  This way, there are only 4 screws per unit in the wall instead of 12 per side!  The board backing also helps distribute the weight of the fabric over a larger surface, which helps with my brittle walls.

The shelves are above my cutting table.  To the left of the cutting table are two rather pink plastic storage units.  These units were holding the majority of my patterns (many which are pdf files), but I’m going to be using them for only the patterns that I have tried and like.  The untried patterns are now sitting on top of the cutting table, waiting patiently!

In the corner, I’ve got two wall mounted mirrors flanking a mirrored door.  This is a perfect place to store Edith as well as get a view of myself from more than one angle.  Helpful when fitting a pattern!

Right below the window, I have my ironing board.  It’s convenient here, since it’s a case of “sew a seam, press a seam”.

Getting the bones of the room this far actually took most of the weekend.  On Monday night, I decided to move the desk about 2 feet…  and broke it (don’t ask…  there was bruising and swearing, as well as a bit of blood involved.)

I spent Monday evening trying to put it back together again, but the connector units were absolutely useless by this point.  On Tuesday I picked up some corner brackets, some metal plate connectors and some longer screws.  It took several hours on Tuesday, but I managed to put it together again.  The Ogre had to help me with putting the hutch on top of the desk, but I managed to do the rest on my own.

Even with all of this, the hardest part hadn’t even started!  It’s difficult for me to just fold and sort my fabric, when all I really want to do is fondle it!  However, I was disciplined – tough, even!  I only succumbed to tempation a time or two!

That’s the story of the improved sewing studio.  Clean and neat and with a better workflow and storage.

Now I have to try to keep it that way!

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.\

Saturday’s Success!

I’m going to get to into the meat of this particular post, but I’d first like to notify you that I’m thinking about moving to a five day a week posting schedule for the summer.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday are looking like they might be the winning days, but I’m not sure yet.  If you have any input, please feel free to post a comment! I’d love to know what you feel about this.

Now…. ON TO THE POST!

Before I even poured my coffee, I had the first coat of paint on the inside of the night table for the guest room.  Those of you who know me in real life will understand how desperate I am to get this room done!  Working on it sans coffee!  Wow.

While I waited for the first coat to dry, I scooted to the kitchen, poured my coffee, took my first sip, fed the cat and then boogied outside to water my garden.  I’ve been neglectful of it, and I’m afraid it shows.  My poppies, which were showing so very much potential, seem to have all disappeared.  I’ll know better next time!

Then it was down to the basement to work on some of the other projects.  Like painting these plastic overlay pieces.  These started out life as square overlays from Dollarama.  I trimmed them down and cut them into quarters on the diagonal.

And sew the hem to the box-pleated bed skirt.

All of this while doing laundry, watching movies and chatting with the Ogre.  Multi-tasking at it’s finest!

With the overlays dry and the last stitch done on the hem, it was time to take all of my toys upstairs and really get to work!

It was also time for another cup of coffee!  ‘Cause our house runs on love and strong cups of coffee.  For real!

Coffee in hand,  I went back upstairs and added DIY bed risers to the frame for the double bed.  They are nothing more than 2″ X 2″  X 6″ with a large screw set into the center to join to the foot of the frame.

I moved on to covering the headboard I had built out of leftovers.  There are lots of tutorials out there on how to do this, so I won’t bother to show you the fifty-zillion staples right now.

Once the headboard was completed, I attached it to the bed frame and set up the box spring.

Next up was my possibly most disliked household chore!  I broke out my iron and spent far too much time running it over the bed skirt.  Am I the only one who detests ironing?  I know it’s needful, but really…

The room’s really starting to come together!  There’s a lot to still be completed, but these are smaller projects.  It’s so nice to have the big things done!

I hope you’re having a great weekend and being as productive (or not!) as you want to be!

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.

Fabric to the rescue!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the projects that bring me the most rewarding feelings – whether it be in the planning, the doing or the enjoying afterward.  I know for some, paint is the answer to any question.  For me, it’s fabric and fibres (yarns, etc).

There’s really no surprise in that.  My Mom is a long time seamstress turned quilter.  Both of my Grandmother’s knit and crochet things of great beauty – and warmth!  My Dad is a knitter.  His Dad knew his way around a sewing machine, as well.

I started knitting when I was 18.  For about 15 years I designed and knit pretty much anything.  I used to joke with the Ogre that I could knit a couch!  I probably could, but can’t see any reason to, though.

I had to stop knitting, due to the repetitiveness of the motion.  I was experiencing too much physical discomfort in my arms, shoulders and neck.

So, I started sewing.  First by machine, then by hand.  I love working with fabric.  Feeling it in my hands as I hand sew is a relaxing, zen thing for me.  Most of my sewing is done by hand.  (I own two machines, but prefer my little needle and thread!).  I began belly dancing, and the costuming for that was exciting and thrilling.  There’s something so wonderful about taking a floppy piece of fabric and turning it into a bedlah (bra and belt) or circle skirt.

When we started planning for this move, I put my needle and fabric away for a while.  Walls need painting, furniture needs refinishing…  sewing and beading just had to be put on the back burner for a while.

Of course, I did do a bench cushion for the mudroom.  And a curtain panel for the doorway leading to the basement.  Now I’m working on some curtains for the patio door.

But I have an idea percolating in the back of my brain.  A way to use fabric to shore up the wood working skills I don’t have.  I’m hoping to experiment with that this coming weekend.  I’ll keep you posted.

I will tell you, though, that it has something to do with this lovely…

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.

Inspiration out of the blue!

I’ve been thinking about gray slipcovers for my sofa and chair.  That’s what the plan was.  Fortunately, I didn’t purchase any fabric yet.

Why fortunately?  Well, because inspiration snuck up on me from an unexpected source.

When we moved, I wrapped a few door mirrors in a quilt to protect them.  The quilt was a wedding present from my aunt and has been very well loved and used.  The  top was white, yellow, red and navy.   The back was a beautiful light navy.  I had wrapped the mirrors with the top of the quilt facing in, leaving the navy showing on the outside.

I’ve had this wrapped bundle leaning against one of the living room walls since we moved in.  When I moved all of the furniture into the dining area so I could work in the living room portion, the bundle moved too.  I put it on top of a stack of boxes, and it slipped a bit to the side.  It tilted just enough that a corner of it was over the primed white trim while the rest was in front of the green wall.

As I made my mad lunge to save it from the floor, I was struck by the juxtaposition of color.  Navy, mossy green and white.  Hmmmm.

I popped into the Sherwin Williams Visualizer and played around with it for a bit.  Here’s what it looked like when I chose a gray similar to what I had in mind.

It’s all right, I guess, but boring.  A little too subtle, if you know what I mean.

Here’s the same room with dark blue on the furniture.

Much better, I think.

So, now I’m leaning toward blue.  Either a dark royal or a light navy.  But I’d love other opinions!

What would you suggest?  Gray or blue?  Or something I haven’t even thought of?  Let me know.  I’d love to see your suggestions.

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.

Gray velvet with dressmaker details…

I’ve been documenting the reupholstery of my chair from the beginning, and I’m finally at the fun part!  The muslin’s done and it’s time to move on to the decorative fabric layer.

I’ve chosen a beautiful stretch velvet in mid-toned grey from my stash.  It’s a really beautiful, rich fabric that has the added bonus of not showing my cat’s claw marks!

Just a plain chair would be lovely in this fabric, but I’m planning to take it up a notch or two.  I saw some chrome nail studded chairs at Winner’s not that long ago and it got me thinking.  I don’t have upholstery tacks but I do have lots of bling from my dance costuming.  I really don’t see why I can’t embellish this chair with the same things I add to my costumes!

For that matter, I don’t see why I can’t add some details that have been popular in clothing in the last few years…. like gathers or rusching.  No ruffles.  I’m not about the ruffles.  At all.

Details like this, though, thrill my heart.

from http://www.deadlyvintage.com

Ruching.  And beading.

Swoon.

Yes, I KNOW it’s just a chair.  But it’s my chair, and she can wear a party dress if I say it’s OK.

Trust me…. It is more than OK!

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.

Reupholstered chair… Muslin for the seat!

With the back, boxing strip and front all fitted, it’s time to move on to fitting the seat.  My fabric isn’t quite shaped the right way to do this all in one fell swoop, so the seat will have to have a boxing strip as well.  It’s a little more work than I had wanted to do, but the end result will be worth it, I think.

Apparently, though, I need to first award myself the “Bad Blogger Award”.  I could have sworn I took photos of this process!  Honest, I could.

But, there are no photos to be found.  So here’s the wordage for the pinning process.  With no pretty pictures.  Darn.

First, I cut three pieces of fabric for the boxing strip and seamed them together.  Once this was done, I pinned the boxing strip in place.  The strip needs a few extra inches in width in order to be stapled to the underside of the chair.

It took a little time to get it on and even, but then it was on to the next step.  I tucked a goodly amount of fabric between the seat and the chair to make sure it has enough there to stay put once it’s all completed.  Then I laid the fabric on the seat and started pinning – just as I did for everything else!

After the pinning, I marked the seam line with marker again.

Everything got unpinned and the seat fabric removed from the boxing strip.  I cut it with the seam 1/2″ seam allowance, folded in half and evened it out.

Then the seat and the boxing strip got pinned together and sewn.  I haven’t mentioned this, but I pin from the curved fabric – either the back, the front or the seat, but I ALWAYS sew from the “straight” side – the boxing strip.

And here is where the pictures start…

With all of it sewn together, it was time to fit it to the seat and make sure that everything works together before I staple the heck out of it.  To be absolutely honest, though, it was first time to sew it a bit smaller.  Somehow, I made it about a half inch too large.

Anyhooo…..

Then, I brought out the stapler.  I’ve had this electric stapler for years, but so seldom get the chance to use it!

I started at the center front of the seat and worked from the center out – both sides at the same time.  Basically, I stapled center front, then a staple to both the left and right of center.  From here, I worked out to the legs going from left to right equally.

When I got to the legs, I turned the excess under just until I went around the corner.  I did need to snip the allowance so that it all lay flat.  I did each side just as I had done the front – from the center working my way out to the legs.

Then it was time to staple the back.  Again, I worked from the center to the legs.

There was a tiny bit that needed hand sewing, so I took care of that.

And then, I did a very happy dance!  Muslin done!!!!  Doesn’t it look fab???

But it’s not the end of the work.  There’s the stretch velvet to cover the whole thing.  And embellishments!  Gotta have some bling.  I thought about pearls, but then I found these opalescent glass beads in my stash.  Yummy!

Velvet with glass beads

I have a few ideas for some dressmaking draping on the back of this beauty, but we’ll have to see how that works out.

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.

Reupholstered chair… More muslin!

 

When I last posted, the back had been pinned to the boxing strip.  That was hand sewn (’cause I’m weird special that way!).

I pinned this to the back of the chair again, making sure it was centered and exactly in place.  Then I started smoothing the piece of fabric that is going to be the front of the “back”.

From here, I just followed the same procedure I used to fit the back to the boxing strip.

I pinned until I got a nice, smooth fit.

Then I marked the seam line with marker.

And unpinned the whole thing.  I cut a rough 1/4″ – 1/2″ seam allowance, folded the piece in half and evened up the edges.

I pinned the boxing strip to the front right sides together, and sewed the entire seam.  Because of how upholstered chairs are shaped, I left a few inches free on the outside edge of each side.  This gives me fabric to tuck between the back and the seat for a nice, finished looking fit.

Here’s the front with the muslin.

If you look closely at the lower right side of the back, you can see the unsewn end of the boxing strip.  That will be attached to the seat fabric when it’s time.

Here’s the back.I’ve left several inches to be pulled under the chair and stapled tightly.  I’ll only do that once the seat is also on the piece.

Next step is fitting the seat.  That’s another post!

 

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.

Reupholstered chair… Time for the muslin!

From the very inception of this project, I wanted to do it for free.  That’s because I’m broke, cheap, frugal, a thrifty consumer.  Because of this, you’ve seen me reuse foam I had on hand.  I also have the muslin fabric and the final fashion fabric on hand.

The fashion fabric is a really beautiful piece of gray stretch velvet that comes from my belly dance costuming stash.  As any lady knows, stretch velvet will show every lump, bump and wrinkle of whatever body is under it.  That’s why it’s important to make a muslin for this piece.

I don’t have any cotton or other plain cloth available at the moment, so I’m using a piece of cotton cordory that made my first ever sewing project – a skirt in 1979! ( My mom, who is a seamstress, saves fabric like you wouldn’t believe.)  I’ll have to do a bit of piecing to get it all done, but it’s a sturdy fabric (despite being over 30 years old).  I’ll be using it with the reverse side as good, so I’ll get a smooth finish.  Once it’s on and everything is snugged up, the velvet will just flow over the top.

And now, a confession.

I own not one, but two sewing machines.  My Singer dates from 1986 and was a university graduation present from my Grandparents.  My Mom chose it, and it is a thing of beauty.  My Kenmore is only 4 years old or so, and I bought it when the Singer was ill.  It’s more utilitarian, with many less stitches.  It’s also mostly plastic, while the Singer is mostly metal.

That being said, here’s the thing.

I’m a hand sewer.

Yup, I prefer sewing by hand.

Nope, I have no idea why.  I CAN use the machines.  In fact, I’ve done some pretty good work with them.  I just prefer to hand stitch.

Yup, I’m probably nuts.

But there’s something about handling the fabric and manually making it do what I want that just calls to me.  So, I hand stitch.  Almost everything.

Confession over.

You needed to know that, only because you need to know that you actually DON’T need a machine to do a muslin – or a finished cover.  You just need a needle, thread, fabric and time.  But, your mileage may vary.

Here’s mine.  This is not necessarily the best way. But it works for me!

First, I pieced two pieces together to form the back.  Because this area isn’t going to take as much strain as the front or the seat, it was a good choice for placement.

There are two different methods of connecting the back to the front.  In the first, I’d use a third piece of fabric to run between the front and the back.  This long strip removes any need for pleats or gathers.  The second involves just two fabric pieces, and they need to be pleated or gathered to account for the shape of the chair.

I want the finished cover to be as sleek and elegant as possible.  No piping, no gathers, no frills.  Because of this, I’ll use the boxing method to join the front to the back.

I start with cutting a long strip to run from one side of the chair back, up over the top, and back dowh the other side.  This piece is about an inch wider than the depth of the back – enough larger to let me pin and sew.  This strip got pinned to the chair.

With that done, I move to the backside and pin my pieced section to the boxing strip, centering the seam and leaving enough at the bottom to staple down.

Starting at the center top, I pinned the back to the boxing strip.  To do this, I moved from left to right all the way across and down.  That let me moulding the fabric against the back for the best fit possible.  Notice that I haven’t actually CUT anything but the boxing strip yet.  That will wait until I get a good pin fit.

Once the back and boxing strip have been pinned, I outlined my sewing line with a marker.

Now, I can unpin the back and cut it.  I allowed somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch for a seam allowance.

Once I rough cut it, I folded the piece in half to even it up.  I’m not worried too much about small discrepancies, but having the shape flow the same on both sides is important.  When I evened the shape out, the  seam allowance disappeared in some areas.  That’s nothing to really panic about.  I’ll just use an equal seam allowance all around the piece.  The foam will squash down enough to allow for this.

I pinned the fabric together with the curvy back side facing me.  That let me follow the curves and make sure everything was pinned fairly evenly.  However, to keep my boxing strip the same width throughout, I’ll actually sew with the boxing strip up.  In my case, the cordurouy I’m using acts as a really convenient guide for seam allowance.

NOTE:  If I were using a woven fabric for the final layer, I’d use this to mark the fabric now.  Because I’m using a stretch fabric, though, I won’t be using this for a pattern.

I won’t bore you with photos of me hand sewing the two pieces together.  I’m pretty sure you’re smart enough to figure that part out on your own!

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.

Reupholstered chair… Padding those curves!

After the paint and gloss dried on those lovely legs, it was time to add a bit more padding to this girl.

The back simply consisted of strapping.  The front and seat did have cotton padding underneath the foam.  However, the strapping had loosened.  I don’t have the tools or inclination to fix those straps, so I simply added more foam.

The foam I used came from a zoned mattress topper I had on the spare bed.  My guests will just have to suffer!  (Actually, I’m hoping to get that fixed before we actually have any guests!)

Here’s a shot of that foam before it met my scissors.

I didn’t take photos of the next step, but I’ll describe it as best I can.  First, I cut a shape similar to the seat, but several inches smaller all around.  This is supposed to take care of a bit of the sag.  Then, to give a more even layer, I cut one the same size as the seat.  To smooth it all out, I wrapped the entire seat down to the frame in the foam.

This photo shows the seat and the back with only one layer of foam.  Just as I did for the seat, I extended the foam to the back end of the frame.

At this point, I attached foam at the lower back of the seat frame and brought it up and over the back.  I left enough excess to tuck in between the back and the seat.  Because there’s a curve at the top, I sliced into the foam and brought it over to the back.  As you can see, hot glue is NOT the preferred method of attachment by professionals.  But I hadn’t found the staples for my gun, so I made do.  This will all be covered by the muslin.

And this is where this lady was finished for the day.  She certainly looks a lot more comfortable than she did before.  And she passed the Ogre’s “sit test”!

Next step will be the muslin.  I may be making do with materials, but I am going to do each step as best as I can!

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.

Reupholstered chair… Prepping her legs…

After gluing and reinforcing her legs, she sat overnight for everything to set up.  A quick scuff sand of the finish and I wiped the legs down with paper towel.  When I’m repainting something, I usually just use nail polish remover with acetone on a paper towel to give it a swipe after sanding.  The nail polish remover is inexpensive, and cuts the shine on whatever finish was there before.  I wouldn’t use it on anything that I was going to stain, though.  I’m not sure what it does to the fibers of the wood and it might open them too much.

Here’s how they looked when this was finished.

The other atypical material I use is craft paint.  Simple, available at the Dollarama, Crafter’s Acrylic by DecorArt.  I can mix the shade/color I want and don’t spend a mint.  I add Varathane Diamond Wood Gloss to the craft paint to add durability and a touch of shine.

Depending upon the amount of Varathane, the paint can be rather sheer in coverage.  Sometimes, that’s a wonderful thing as it can let wood grain really show through.  This time, however, I wanted richer color, so I painted multiple coats.

Each coat gets sanded lightly before the next is applied.  I just use a fine sanding sponge.  In order to make the finish tough enough to stand up to getting knocked around a bit, I ended up with 5 coats of the paint/gloss mixture and 3 coats of the gloss alone.  I can’t get a photo that actually shows the depth, but it does give a nice finish.

Once this dries overnight, I’ll move on to the padding.

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I’d really love to see your comments on the projects I do and the ideas I have.  I learn more from critiques than praise, but, honestly, I adore praise (and who doesn’t?).

Thanks for stopping by.