Stop staring and start sewing!

One Room Challenge - Week 4 (3 too honestly) - Master Bedroom - Sew a Bed Skirt

Okay, I'm a little behind on documenting my master bedroom for the One Room Challenge but I am busy working on things here.

The walls have set up beautifully. I was worried the fabric might shrink more as it dried but it's good. This week I tackled the old bedskirt. I've had my eyes on Sharon Holland's Something Blue fabric from her Everlasting collection and this seemed the perfect place for it.

 

Here is my boring old bed skirt. It's been a good place holder but I've never really loved it. Plus it shifts a lot so I need to deal with that.

I  decided to keep the fabric with the gold flowers because it worked with everything else I was incorporating so why add another big step? I cut into the checked fabric and literally ripped it off all the way around. Clean and time saving.

I wanted to repeat the tuck in the new skirt. I like the look and it adds some weight to the bottom to give it a better shape and drape. Plus, when done the way I do it, it's just one stitch all the way around instead of making a hem, then folding the tuck, then sewing the tuck. When you're sewing 13 yards it's nice to be able to cut out some of the steps. Here's a quick run down...

Fold a BIG 3" and iron.

 

Fold another 3" and iron again.

 

Then sew 3/4" away from the folded bottom edge.

 

Open up to the back of the fabric and you can see the entire raw edge is neatly sewn inside the tuck.

 

On the outside, there's a nice clean, even tuck and it's done!

 

I mean except for the gathering and attaching which is another thing altogether. But it's looking good!

 

Since it's such a big gathering job I used my favorite method for "big jobs". I use a nice strong string (baker's twine since that's what I have on hand) and sew a nice big zigzag stitch over the top of it.  I have a more detailed post here if you want to check it out.

 

I'm loving how things are coming together! The rug, the fabrics, the paint (more on that later), everything! I'm already working on re-covering and repainting the headboard, plus painting the walls so things are moving along.

Be sure to check out the dozens and dozens of other projects folks are working on right now for their own One Room Challenge! So many inspiring and creative renovations. And everyone is so generous in showing their process so you can feel confident trying it yourself.

One Room Challenge - Week 2 - Master Bedroom - Fabric on Walls

This week my work on the One Room Challenge has been all about the fabric (my favorite thing ever!). Getting my curtains hemmed and trimmed out. I bought these at IKEA for 9.99 a pair so I bought 2 packages. A few rolls of gold tassel trim and I'm on my way.

 

Then over the weekend (so hubby can help) we started on the walls using this beautiful Dreamscape fabric from Premier Prints in Waterbury Slub. I needed a lot so I bought the whole 30 yard bolt. And it's still cheaper than wallpaper. I received a huge amount of good advice from Christine Kohut on putting fabric on walls and fortunately she used fabric from the same manufacturer so that really gave me the boost I needed to take the plunge.

 

It was a little tricky (maybe more than a little) but I'm happy with the results and it makes the whole room feel cozier and cared for.

 

Then, because IKEA was out of the shelves I wanted, I put my husband to work creating a Rustic X Console Table using plans from the amazing Ana White.  He did a great job and I love this so much more than the generic look of the IKEA shelves I'd initially planned for.

For painting he used our Rexbeti Power Sprayer and it did a great job hitting all the nooks and crannies. It made everything so much faster than brush painting.

Here is a little corner of bliss. It's coming together and when the whole room is done this dreamy look will be in the whole room.

 

Here's a bigger peek at the direction it's going. Next up is wall painting and new curtains!

Be sure to go to the One Room Challenge site and look at all the AMAZING transformation happening! So much inspiration!

Master Bedroom Makeover - One Room Challenge Week 1 - Fall 2020 - Coastal Cottage

One Room Challenge - Fall 2020 - Week 1

I'm so thrilled to take part in the One Room Challenge for Fall 2020. My master bedroom has been a disappointing dumping ground for far too many years. I got started on it but, in retrospect, at some point I realized I didn't like the direction I was heading in style-wise and just sort of stopped. Life is always busy and it's been a neglected space that should be a peaceful retreat.

Here is my mood board for the upgraded room. I think the theme might be coastal cottage with a kick (not everything will be soft and muted). The headboard will be re-covered with this gorgeous print from Bari J's Virtuosa collection. I knew the first time I saw this fabric that I wanted it for my headboard. Sometimes I fall out of love with a fabric but I've never wavered on this print. I love everything about it and with the trim painted gold it's just going to shine. 

For the bedskirt I'm using the beautiful Something Blue fabric from Sharon Holland's Everlasting collection. Check out my store for some of these fabrics!

The room currently looks like this (when it's picked up!). I'd prefer a bench at the foot of the bed but we have to have something that works for our elderly cat (who sleeps on our bed).

Here are some of the things I've already procured and we already put the new rug under the bed (love it!).

I'm using the dotted fabric for slipcovers on the chairs because it's what I have.  In an effort to stay on budget (1000.00) I'm trying my best to use what I have and keep it uncomplicated. I happened to have purchased a full 30 yards of the dotted print in the spring when it was marked down, so I'm using it!

The walls opposite the bed are getting a fabric treatment! I'm nervous but excited. It's significantly cheaper than wallpaper and easy to peel off if I ever get tired of it.

MUCH more to come but for this week I'm working on the slipcovers and my husband is building a console for our tv since IKEA was sold out of my intended solution (but I'm saving money!). 

So I'm off to do some sewing, paint purchasing, and curtain embellishing (the stripes are leaving, but the black out lining is staying). Follow me here on instagram and don't forget to follow the #oneroomchallenge hashtag.

 

DIY Outdoor Nativity Set for your yard - Angel and Star - Free Pattern Included

Okay! In the past I've always had a special Christmas Gift for my blog readers sometime in December. But this year I want to post your gift sooner so you can get an early start on it (because if you do the whole Nativity set it's quite a project). I already had a request for this newest segment of the set (previous segments are in the links at the bottom of this post) so I figured I'd better just put it out there. This time I'm including a disclaimer....

DISCLAIMER: This is a sewing blog (at least 95% of it) so you'll need to forgive our lack of lumber acumen. Sewing questions? I'm your gal! Woodwork questions? Not so much. So please don't expect the same details you would get from a woodworking website. Thank you!

Our latest addition to my beloved nativity set is an angel and star set. I designed it to fit on a 4 x 4 piece of plywood so it's not crazy expensive and it's wonderfully uncomplicated. We mounted ours on a long strip of firring and tied it to our palm tree. Unfortunately our palm tree has since kicked the bucket (if you look at the other patterns you'll see we started with two palm trees and they've both died, not sure why) so we'll have to find another solution this year. But, I can't express how much I love this set and how happy it makes me to get it lit up every year!

Here's a closer picture of the angel and star. I'm going to paint the firring black this time (we painted it to match the tree last year and it was too bright for me). I also need to darken the little "connector" that goes from the sash to the gown (black sharpie does the trick quickly).

So the pages simply get printed (link for pdf file at bottom of this post) and taped together. You only need tape for the page edges inside the lines really. There may be printing gaps at the edges depending on how your printer works (if you can set it to "no borders" that would be great). Don't worry about the gaps, just pencil in the missing lines or cut right across them. Cut both images out.

Position your pattern shapes on your 4 x 4 and tape it down on some of the edges (or use pattern weights if you have them). Trace around the shapes. We just used a sharpie so it would be easily visible and it won't show once it's painted anyway.

Use your skill saw to cut the shapes out. We sanded the edges where there were any obvious rough spots.

Paint with white paint. Or black paint if you want a dark silhouette with a bright back light. We just used random white paint from our paint collection. You may want to paint both sides so you can turn it either direction when you're setting it up. Screw the pieces onto your firring strip and you're done (you can dab paint on the screws if you want them to blend in).

Please let me know if you use this! I'd love to see your pictures! If you blog about it or make a video with it please give me credit (Jona Giammalva, @jonagiammalva on instagram) and link to my blog. We have worked very hard on these over the years and we realize we could be selling the patterns instead of giving them away so any credit would be appreciated. Thank you! And Merry Christmas (early)!

 

Link to Angel and Star set

Link to Holy Family set (blog post Here)

Link to Wise Men set (blog post Here, at bottom of page)

Link to Shepherds and Sheep set (blog post Here, at bottom of page)

Link to Camel and Donkey set (blog post Here)