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One Room Challenge Fall 2020 - My DIY Tufted Headboard, Revamped!

Last fall I joined the One Room Challenge and finally finished my master bedroom. One of the pretties upgrades I made was re-covering and re-painting my headboard. It was pretty boring before (here's the post from when we built it and covered it the first time) and I wanted a more glamorous (leaning towards gaudy) look.

Here it was before. Cute but safe. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it.

We took it apart and I worked on the inside padded part in our bedroom (it's heavy and we didn't want to haul it down and up the stairs). The yellow vintage quilt I'd originally covered it with was definitely wearing out so I was okay with thanking it and sending it on it's way.

The frame was taken outside for painting. We started with a couple of coats of gold spray paint.

Unfortunately I have never found a spray paint brand that has the right shade of gold so we went over it with Craft Smart bright gold acrylic paint. It takes a couple of coats but it is so worth the extra work.

Inside I laid the fabric (I used Bari Ackerman's Cinese Mystery from Art Gallery Fabrics) in place and ironed it just to get a good, smooth start. When I was shopping for this fabric I couldn't find any in the 45" width and I was starting to panic. Then I realized I could just get the 54" wide rayon and I wouldn't have to piece it together (which would require matching the design), PLUS it's softer than the cotton which is perfect for a headboard.

I kept the buttons from before because the color worked with the new fabric too. The tufting was pretty quick because I'd worked out the bugs the last time and now I'm pretty efficient at it.

This is the bottom after getting the tufting done. I used washers again to tie the thread because they will lie nice and flat.

I also reused the piping because it was already cut to the right length. I just removed the yellow fabric (which I always hated actually!) and covered it with the main fabric (but this time I used the cotton 45" fabric because I had enough for piping and it's easier to work with on the bias).

Once I sewed the bias fabric strips on the piping I simply hot glued it in place, hiding the raw edge in the back, and the result was perfect.

Just what I wanted! This is one of my absolute favorite fabrics ever and it needed a grand purpose in my room. Voila!

It didn't take long for my kitties to find their place in this glamorous suite. They are definitely aristocats.

I made a darling baby quilt out of an IKEA duvet set

We have a new baby in our family and I knew his mom (my niece) was doing a dinosaur theme for his space.  Well, it turns out, cute dinosaur fabric is hard to find. I mean I found lots of dino fabric but it's usually very brash and busy and I wanted something sweet and whimsical so I had my heart set on the fabric in this JÄTTELIK duvet set from IKEA. They never seemed to have it in stock so I finally got wise and ordered it online (duh).

For 24.99 I got a bucketload of fabric when I separated the sides of the duvet and pillowcase, plus a seriously long zipper that I'm hanging on to (those can get expensive!).

I took part of the dinos on the main side and cut then into squares while making sure I left enough of a big piece to be the whole back of the quilt. Then I started framing them out with this sweet print from Heather Bailey's True Kisses collection (which I carry in my Fabritopia store).

I cut the pillowcase for this big t-rex panel and framed it out with a green Pure Solid from Art Gallery Fabrics (again, in my store and truly the softest cottons!). 

I pieced it all together with a white solid and was sort of bummed when I realized it wasn't an exact match to the white in the dino fabric. But I don't mind a little contrast so, all in all, I'm really happy with it. The duvet fabric is 50 % lyocell, 50 % cotton and it did behave a little bit differently than the cotton fabrics I was adding to it (kind of wiggly like a rayon) but it all came together with the quilting.

My thread kept on breaking at first and it was really frustrating. I have a Juki 2010Q and after quite a bit of online searching I found a great post by Quilting Jet Girl that had great advice (in the comments too). Since I'm in Arizona the part about my thread getting too dry made sense so I got it damp (by squeezing the spool with a wet cloth and letting it set for a bit) and tried again. It behaved so much better! Whew!

I worked my buns off on the front, but to be honest, the back is just as cute! Now you can see why I fell in love with the print!

I always use the Binding The Angel video tutorial from Sharon Schamber and it never fails to give me beautiful results with my quilt binding. The glue tips come from her daughter Cristy Fincher's shop Purple Daisies Quilting and they are the best!

Look at this pretty miter! And black and white fabric makes everything look more vibrant!

I had it all glued and ready to go just in time for my road trip to Oklahoma with my mom, sister, and daughter. I spent my down time hand stitching the binding and unwinding from all the driving.

I used the dino panel on the other side of the pillow case and some other fabrics (including the dino footprint fabric from the duvet) to piece together a new pillowcase to match the whole set. I just sized it for a standard sized pillow.

I still had the complete other half of the duvet sitting there (with the blue dinosaur tracks) and didn't want it to go unused. Then I realized it was perfect for a baby sized fitted sheet! And those are easy so I whipped that up just before leaving town! By the time our road trip was over I was able to hand the whole set over to my sister and watch her stuff it into her, already stuffed, suitcase for her flight back home.

I'm way behind on baby gifts from last year so I'm already on to the next project (and it's so cute!). Keep on sewing!

Another awesome book from Abigail Butler! Sew Home in The Kitchen

I'm so thrilled my friend Abigail Butler (formerly Abigail Long) asked me to be a part of the blog tour for her new book Sew Home in The Kitchen. In 2014 she wrote her first book Modern Prairie Sewing and I had the honor of being part of her blog hop then too! Her new book is just as loaded with useful, cute projects and I had a very hard time picking one. So I picked two!

I finally decided to make some things I need right now...new potholders and a skillet handle cover (so clever!).  I picked some cute fabrics from Maureen Cracknell's brand new Homebody fabric collection (again another hard decision picking from all the beautiful fabrics), grabbed some batting and Insul-Fleece, and started cutting...

I made my own bias tape but you don't have to! The instructions call for pre-made bias tape so you can grab some of that at the store and you are good to go (saves a lot of time too). I'm really in love with my new goodies! I have seriously burned my hand on that skillet more than once and I'm thrilled to have a solution that is this cute and takes up very little space in my oven mitt drawer.

I highly recommend this book! It is a great resource and I know I'll use it for years to come. If you need a house warming gift, wedding or shower gift, or a gift for any occasion really, Sew Home in The Kitchen is loaded with cute, practical ideas that don't take a lot of fabric or time. I made two of the projects but there are 16 more and they are all things people will use. So there is a lot of value in this beautiful book and frankly, it's just cute to look through.

I couldn't help but use a different fabric on each side of my potholders and then I realized they would be adorable if you quilted them too (I didn't but I will next time!). There is so much room for creativity in all of these smart projects.

Jump over to Abigail's shop and use the coupon code: TOUR1 for 50% (yes, you read that correctly!!) off everything in her shop. It's a wonderful shop filled with the best fabrics out there. This book is a true joy and I already have my next project planned (a casserole dish carrier!). Great work (again) Abigail!

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.

 

Learning a new sewing skill (and loving it!): Double welting / piping for an upholstery project

Been away for a bit. I got caught up and the mask making craze and it was a wild ride. But things have slowed wayyy down so I'm changing my focus back to building a fabric store and that feels right. In the meantime I've been taking lots of pictures so I'll share what I've been working on.

In the spring I was invited to make a project for the Look Book (an online book of different projects showcasing the fabric) for Bari J's new 365 Fifth Avenue fabric collection. I was so excited to volunteer to recover 2 ornate chairs I'd had in my garage for a couple of years. 



The fabric showed up and I thought I was ready to go. Then all heck broke loose. My husband's truck spontaneously combusted with some of the flames reaching the house. The fire department got here quick enough to keep it from spreading further than the front of the garage but still, the damage was enough to stop us in our tracks. We were now getting quotes for hauling the truck, repairing and painting the house, replacing the garage door....so much.




So we had that handled and then my mask sales went through the roof. So my terrific husband Joey stepped in and started stripping the chairs while I sewed like crazy with the help of family members who came to help me try to keep up with orders. I had planned to replace everything on the chair, including the padding, webbing, etc. but once we saw under the original fabric I said "Forget it! We'll put the new fabric right over the top!" so that's what we did. Joey spray painted them and it was an improvement but the paint wasn't gold enough for my satisfaction so I bought some nice, shiny gold acrylic paint from Michael's to go over the top and it was perfect.

Now I was ready to have some fun. I bought a set of double piping feet from GoldStar Tool (it's like Harbor Freight but for sewing tools!), found a great video by Broadway Upholstery School on making double piping, and got to work. It was a LOT of fun and I learned a new skill!

Very very satisfying stuff folks.

 

Once we got the fabric on (again another new tool, fun!) it was time to hot glue the piping in place. This part was fun and I hadn't realized these were glued on so it was a lot less intimidating than I had made it out to be.

I was working on a deadline and had to have these pictures to Bari before morning so we glued the rest on and ran outside before the sun went down .

I still have one more chair to go so I'll get some better pictures of the part where we attach the fabric. But isn't it gorgeous!??!  More to come!

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The fabrics used in this project are: Dressing Room Rouge (main) and Manhattan's Foliage (arms) and are both available in my fabric store Fabritopia as well as many other beautiful fabrics.

Another new chapter

Here comes a pop up! Join that email list! You'll be glad you did!

I'm back at it. Yep, I'm slowly, methodically, carefully...who am I kidding? I'm kind of nervous but...I've re-opened my Fabritopia store! I wish I could say I'm taking a huge leap but it was so painful to shut it down after the economy tanked that I can still remember the sting even today, so I'm trying to be careful and not buy anything on credit. It's been 10 years since the downturn but it was such a sudden punch to the gut I've remained very shy about trying again (even though I was so happy when I had my sweet store going!).

But I've been talking to other store owners and hearing great reports so I'll try again. Older, wiser, grayer...but what the heck.

So I'm slowing rolling out some of the most beautiful quilting fabrics available today. Beginning with Art Gallery Fabrics (because they are beyond compare in their quality).

Look at this amazing, sweet fabric from the oh-so-talented Mister Domestic and his Playroom collection! If you don't follow him on instagram you are missing out.

I've already made a quilt out of it (just a whole cloth quilt but there's really no need to get to fussy when your fabric is this pretty).

And I couldn't wait to get my hands on Sharon Holland's amazing Everlasting fabric collection...

Working on another baby quilt!

And coming soon! Another gorgeous collection from Bari J.! Brace yourself people...I'm getting some rayon!

I'll be back with more. So much going on! Oh, and if you order some fabric please be patient while I work the bugs out on my shipping (this is the tricky part!). I ship fast but may need to refund any differences in shipping costs while I tweak that area. Thanks!

I made my fastest bed skirt ever!

My hubby graciously gave up his office so we could have a guest room instead. He's been carrying his laptop around the house and working where ever he sat and we both realized that he really didn't need a whole room to himself. Especially since he wants to be out where our family is sitting.

I'm going to cover the whole process of re-doing the room but right now I just want to show off the new bed skirt.

This cotton gingham is one of my favorite staples and it's available at Walmart for under 4.00 a yard! I just cut it into 8 strips 14 3/4" long (x width of fabric) and sewed them together making a very very long piece of fabric. I didn't bother with serging my seams or anything fancy since nobody will ever see the underside of the bed skirt. I just pressed the seams open which made the next step so much easier.

I used this 3/16" rolled hem foot on my Juki 2010Q and had all 336 inches hemmed in just a few minutes! If I had done this the usual way it would have taken hours to double fold and iron and hem all of this. Seriously, tools are everything!

Then, since there was so much ground to cover, I decided to try the gathering method where you sew a zigzag stitch over a thread and then pull the thread. It worked like a charm. I used a very thick utility thread for pulling so it wouldn't break. It was perfect. I can't recommend this method for garment sewing because it's kind of loosey goosey and hard to distribute the gathers evenly, but for something big like this it was ideal.

For the base fabric I just bought a 4.00 twin flat sheet at Walmart and actually snipped and ripped it so I'd get nice straight lines (60 X 80). I moved my furniture to have room to work and it didn't take long to have everything gathered and pinned in place (lots of pins just to be safe!).

I rounded the corners slightly since that's the shape of the corners on the bed frame.

Pretty good for a days work. We are stashing my hubby's outdoors and boy scout supplies under there, which gives me room in the closet for guest supplies like blankets and towels. I'm happy.

Poppy is happy. Perplexed, but happy.

My daughter's quilt is happy (the fabric was a wedding gift from Bari J.). I'll be sad when my daughter takes it back. I'll just keep quiet about it so she forgets.

 

A new direction and my first youtube video tutorial!

Hello! Sorry for the terribly long absence! I've been very very busy with something new and amazing and here is one small portion I can share right now. But first, an updated picture of me (remember when I started growing out my grey hair?). I'm still here!

 

I've missed you all and will be back with lots of fun stories about my new adventure. But be sure to watch this, leave a comment if you want, and download the full pdf pattern (link under video) if you want to try this project.

 

Here's the Patchwork Coffee Cup Cozy pdf pattern just for my blog readers! 

 

Oh! And join me on facebook at Make Sewing Studio!

What's new - Have you seen Bari J's new Joie de Vivre fabric?

Full Definition of joie de vivre

1. :  keen or buoyant enjoyment of life

 

 

Thank you merriam-webster.com! This new fabric collection from Bari J embodies that definition. I've had so much fun making things with this fabric and I'm not done!  Take a look!

 

First I got to make some samples for Bari to take to Quilt Market. Usually designers are working with their strike offs (initial samples from the manufacturer) so there's not a lot of yardage to play with. It becomes a fun challenge to use small pieces to make something that properly showcases the beauty and versatility of the fabric. I used this gorgeous Angle Folie print and bits from Bari's other collections to make these zipper clutches.

 

 

 

When I eventually had some real yardage to work with I got busy around here and the results thrill my heart. My kitchen window!

 

 

Here's my patchwork curtains in the works and you can see how these fabrics would make a great simple patchwork quilt or dinner napkins.

 

 

Lately I've been on a sewing kick making planner covers and the Joie de Vivre fabrics are perfect for smaller projects like these. The fabric in the bottom is from Bari's Petal and Plume collection.

 

 

I finally got brave and cut into this glorious alphabet panel

 

 

The letters are the perfect sizes for small planner covers (like the little Field Note notebooks). Bliss!

 

 

Here are some photos by the folks at Art Gallery. What a beautiful way to use those letters! 

 

 

Such a great wall quilt. Check out those butterflies!

 

 

And this little sweetie! Pattern here, courtesy of Art Gallery Fabrics. Go check out all of their "Look Books"! They are full of free patterns!

 

 

And you can use this fabric even if you don't sew! Check out this gorgeous panel of fabric hung in a simple frame (IKEA has great hangers for stuff like this). The ideas are endless!

 

 

This is just a small sampling of the fabrics in the Joie de Vivre fabric collection. Art Gallery has the softest fabrics around and I highly encourage folks to give them a try (you can feel the difference). Have fun sewing!

 

If you are a store carrying Joie de Vivre please feel free to leave a link in the comments for folks to visit.

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