Framing

If you have a miter saw, it is a simple process to add a frame to a mirror or a bulletin board to spice it up and give it some class!

In the bay area, it's sometimes too expensive to buy your own home, so renting is the only option. But, often rentals have odd colored sinks and counters. Here I took a not so pretty counter top, put a frame around the mirror, and painted it the same color as the accent on the counter. I did the same thing for the wooden cornice over the window, added some fun accessories to give the bathroom a richer tone, and it tied the room together beautifully.

I took the rust color that was prevalent in the counter top and added dark wood accents and a double shower curtain; one in rust, the other in cream with embroidered flowers in greens, peaches and lavender. It really helped make the room into a retreat of sorts.


If you've purchased a bulletin board for an office or child's room, and want to give it a face lift, add a frame and paint it to coordinate with your office or a playroom.

This set of frames was made for a Curves workout gym. The owner wanted me to make the frames all the same but to cover each of the boards with a different color of fabric to give them some pizzaz.

Once they were all up on the wall, they gave the room a coordinated look and brought some color to it, making it a happy place for a workout!

With a miter saw it's easy. Set up the saw to cut each end of your frame at a 45 degree angle. Measure your sides, remembering the longest point is going to be the outside end of each frame piece. The inside end of each piece will be the shortest distance.

cut each piece to fit into each other (2 long sides and 2 short sides). Glue them together and use framing clamps to keep the pieces square. Once the pieces are dry, paint them and set them aside.

Miter Saw with Stand

Painting the New Frame

Now, remove the outside frames that came with the bulletin boards. Remove the cork portion of the board and cover it with desired fabric, using spray adhesive for fabric. Once it's dry, fold the fabric to the back of the board and staple it to the board using industrial staples.

Remove the Original  Frame

You're almost done! Now attach the frame you made to the board with staples and/or glue.

Cover Board with Fabric

Your masterpiece is done and it looks great!

Finished and Ready to Hang

Tufted Bench Seat

The Tufted Bench!

Old bench

Now that I got my drapes, dust skirt, and shams done for my Master Bedroom, I wanted to tuft a bench in the same linen.

The first step was to remove the existing bench cushion from the hinges and the catches. Making sure the bench top was leaning against something (to catch it if it fell), I unscrewed all the parts holding the cushion onto the bench.

Removing the old staples

Then the challenging part; removing all of the staples holding the backing. I used a long flat head screwdriver to slip underneath each staple, and then a pairof pliers to lift them off. While some were a little difficult, the worst ones were lying underneath, holding together the top fabric of the bench! Once those were off, the fabric and foam came off as well. I re-used the foam because it was still in good shape.

Marking the new holes

To mark where the tufting went, I divided the wooden bench top into 8 sections (I wanted to use 8 buttons) and marked them evenly. It helped me to lay the buttons on top of the foam rubber to visualize where they should go. With a Sharpee marker I put a small dot where the holes were to be drilled. (In the photo you will see 3 large holes down the center of the lid; those were from the manufacturer and I did not use them). I took the bench top to the workroom and drilled the 8 holes using a drill bit just large enough that an upholstery needle with carpet thread would go through. After that was done, I took the drilled piece back and laid it atop the foam rubber. With a Sharpee marker, I marked each hole that would soon hold a button. (You want the mark to be on top of the foam so you can see it while you're working).

Making the buttons

Before making the buttons, I backed my button fabric with a fusible knit interfacing to give the buttons a little more body (in hindsight I should also have backed the bench fabric to give it a more strength since I did not use upholstery fabric). Oh, well!

Using a spray adhesive, I lightly covered the back of the foam rubber and adhered it to the wooden base of the bench top. I let it stand the manufacturer's suggested amount of time to get it to stick.

Pulling foam out

I cut an X into each of the small marked holes in the top of the foam, and pulled away about a 5/8 inch circle of foam from each of the markings. This was so my buttons would set down into the foam and give it the "tufting". 

I wrapped the foam in 1/2" batting and allowed the batting to move over the sides of the wood so it wouldn't poke through the fabric. Then, I cut out the 5/8" holes from the batting too. I pressed my bench fabric and centered it over the top of the batting/foam. Once I knew it was centered properly, I folded back one side and sprayed adhesive on it, then repeated with the other side. (Make sure you test your adhesive with your fabric). At this point, I made sure I marked my screw holes before stapling everything onto the base.

Pulling up the needle 

Stringing an upholstery needle (7 to 9") with carpet thread, I worked from the bottom of the board, threaded the needle up through one of the center holes into the 5/8" tear-away, and through the upper fabric. I threaded one of the buttons onto the needle and sent the needle back down into the hole to end up through the drilled hole again. Now, I pulled as hard as I could to set the button down into the fabric. Using an industrial stapler, I anchored the carpet threads pulled them to one side, stapled, and then pulled them into a triangle shape and stapled one last time. Satisfied that the button was set deep into the bench, I hammered the staples down so the thread wouldn't pull through. I also tied a knot in each end and stapled again just to be sure. Then I repeated it 7 more times with the other buttons.

Now that the bench was tufted, all that was left was to staple down the extra fabric around the corners and edges. Starting with the corners I cut away extra bulk and pulled the center corner tight smoothing as I moved around each corner. Once the corners were done, I moved to the center of each side and smoothed as I went.

I replaced the backing with a new one since I got some holes in the original, but other than that, it went well.

If you want to try this, you can get most of your supplies in a local fabric store (including adhesive). If you want to put piping around the edges, cover your welt with bias cut fabric and give the welt a long lip. Put the welt on before you put the final backing to the underside of your bench.

Mock Roman Shade

I've had an embroidered shower curtain I have loved, for over 5 years now. And I keep thinking I'm going to make something. It has all of the colors I am using in my Master bathroom so I've been looking at it and trying to figure out what I want to do with it.

I finally decided to make a mock Roman shade and re-cover the vanity chair to match. Using a fabric shower curtain in the bathroom is especially nice because if there is over-splash from the shower onto the Roman, it will dry quickly and not streak.

The mock Roman uses the same process as a regular Roman except it doesn't need to be strung and you don't need to mess with all of those cords and safety anchors. Since I like to see the sun through the textured glass, it will act more like a valance than a Roman shade. The formula for width measure is: Width of fabric = 1/2" less than actual inside window measurement. Wood header = 1" less than actual inside window measurement (or...1/2" less than fabric measurement).

Squaring the Fabric

It's very important to square your fabric all along. If the fabric is not square, it will not fit into the window properly. I start by pulling a thread across the bottom of the fabric and create a good cutting line for myself. Cut away the selvedges, making sure they are square to the bottom cut line.

Now you'll  want to measure the width and length of your shade. I always add 6" to my width (1-1/2" double hem [3"] on each side) and 3" to the bottom (1-1/2" double bottom hem). Since I am going to create 4 folds at the bottom, I added 16" extra inches to the length (4 folds at 2" doubled = 16"). In addition, this particular Roman has to be a little wider at the bottom in order for it to hang square in the window, so I made the bottom 2" wider than the top.

I purchased a light weight lining (a little heavier than batiste) so that the Roman would have soft folds at the bottom. Before stitching up the bottom and side hems, lay in the lining and cut it away at the crease for the hems. If you want to add a trim to the bottom, like I did, do that now. Go ahead and hem the bottom, then the sides. I did mine by hand, but you can use a blind hemmer.

Tacking the Folds

Press everything and line it up on your cutting table to be sure it is square. As you will see, the bottom is 2" wider so you'll have to take that into consideration when squaring. Hand stitch the lining to the face fabric across the top of the Roman.

From the bottom, mark a skirt (1-1/2 to 2"), then 4 spaces of 4" each for your folds. Pull up the folds and anchor them with strong thread (I use hand-quilting thread because it's strong but light weight). Tack close to the sides and go through all layers of the Roman. Leave your tails long and slip in an acrylic (or wood) dowel covered in fabric. Stitch it to the 4 folds. (Your dowel should be the same width as your finished fabric at the top (remember? 1/2" less than your window measurement, see paragraph 3).

Repeat the same procedure on the other side and anchor your bottom rod on that side as well. Softly fold along the entire width and finger roll your pleats to give them a natural look.

With push pins, hang your Roman into the window and be sure it is hanging square. Move the sides or middle to help square it before putting it onto the board. Once you know it's going to look good, use a disappearing marking pen across the top of the Roman where it meets the window frame.

Now you're ready to mount your board to it. Your board should be narrow enough to fit between the window jam and the sashing.  A 1 to 1-1/2" return is usually adequate (mine is 1-1/2"). Cut your board and cover it with lining fabric if you desire. I painted my board white so didn't need to cover it.You will mount your board (inside) to the line you made while it was hanging from the push pins. I use a heavy duty workroom stapler. No need to finish edges as everything will be hidden inside the window frame. Now simply drill  3 holes and send screws up into the head board! Easy Peasy!

A lovely place to sit your hiney!

I went ahead and recovered the vanity chair also, but this time I decided to add a single button to the middle. I didn't have the strength to pull down as tightly as I would have liked (due to the stroke) but I think it looks better than it did. And, the nice thing is that it matches the Roman!

If you try one of these Romans, be sure and send me a photo!

Draping a Sundress

 Things You’ll Need

                 L-square, sharp pencil or marker, calculator, 1/8" black art tape, lots of pins, scissors, tape measure.                                                                                     

                              

Draping is a technique designers use to create patterns for the fashion industry. On one hand, draping uses a lot more fabric than making a traditional paper pattern, but it can also take less time, particularly for asymmetrical or pleated designs. 

There are 3 (three) major draping styles; Sloper Draping, Engineering Design, and Free-style Draping. For this sundress I used Engineering Design, but my favorite is free-form draping where  I can let the fabric dictate the design.

I like to drape only one side of the mannequin if I'm not doing an asymmetric design; it saves fabric and time.

Placing the tape

1.  Always block your fabric to be sure it is true to the grainline.

2. Using 1/8” black art tape on your mannequin, create a neckline, waistline, back plunge, or whatever details you would like in your finished design. These will serve as your guidelines.

3. Once you’re happy with the look of the tape, use a fabric similar to your finished design fabric, and drape, using your guidelines. If you use your actual fabric you will not have a pattern to re-use, so use a fabric with the same construction and weight as your actual dress will have.

Note: Unless I’m making an asymmetrical design, I like to drape only one side of the mannequin. 1) It can help me decide whether to put my front or back center piece on a fold just by what the fabric is doing. 2) It takes less fabric.

            

Pin down the center front

4. Always start with the center front and pin down the grainline so your   fabric stays true.

Cut away bodice, but leave pinned

5.  Remember, you may need to add darts or tucks to keep the grainline true. I added a dart in the front and two in the back of the skirt.

6.  Once you like your creation, mark all seamlines, special    placements, etc. on your sloper carefully.

Add the skirt along the bodice line

Add the back of the dress

            7.  Now you are ready to take the
            dress off the dress form.

            8.  Double check that everything is marked and then you can cut  
             around the pieces to create a paper pattern. Don’t forget to add seam allowances, notches, and other things that will help you sew together your new design.

            9.  Add seam allowances and use this as your pattern. When garment is complete, make final adjustments and transfer to paper pattern.

Remember to keep darts and grainlines true

Add seam allowances, mark gathering places

Woodwork Projects Remembered!

I was trying to clean up some of my old photo files today when I ran across some woodworking projects I'd done several years ago. I hadn't remembered doing all of these until I started going through them. I've since gotten rid of my radial saw but I still have my router, saber saw, miter saw, and jigsaw. This has given me a renewed desire to get back into the shed to make sawdust again!

Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of the process of creating these items, but I hope you can see what was done and perhaps it will help generate some ideas of your own! Please share your projects with me!

Planter Box: A gift for my Mother-in-law!

I had to piece together 4 wood slats to create the base for this planter box. The tiles I found at Home Depot, I believe. This was really fun and very rewarding as it turned out so nice. It was approximately 12"w x 30"l  x 12"d (pretty good sized).

Monogrammed magnets for the metallic note-bar

When my daughters moved into their first apartment (wow, a very long time ago), I made them a bulletin board/white board for the front door.They could slip bills and other mail between the folds of the fabric, and leave notes for each other. And, of course the keys were always handy this way.

Side view and front on...very convenient 

I always like to keep my paper plates handy--we use those more than our every-day dinnerware--so I created a holder that matched the kitchen theme and attached it to the cupboard. Quite a hit!

The sides are attached to the front with a series of dowels. I do wish I'd made this a little larger, though. It will only hold 8-3/4" plates.

For breakfast in bed

The breakfast tray turned out to be a gift for a bride and groom. I made the tray from pine and used the side handles as a guide for the napkin rings. I embroidered the linen napkins with the new couples monogram and did an Italian hemstitch on the napkins as well. I finished everything with a natural stain so it would go with any decor, although now days this isn't really a desirable stain color.

The Growth Chart is an easy gift to make and takes very few supplies. It's approximately 18"w x 60"h (I'm working from memory, here) and it's just a sheet of 1/2" - 3/4" pine. I used my router to bevel the edges and then I painted it and personalized it. I believe you can even purchase these already cut and beveled at Home Depot or Michael's if you don't want to cut the wood. I used acrylic paints (my paints of choice) and measured off numbers so it could hang about 1-1/2 feet off the floor. I added screw holes and, there you have it!

Frosty

These Christmas Card Holders were fun and simple. I came up with 3 designs (Santa is not shown) and just sketched them out. They're about 18" long. You can't see it in the photos but there is a semi-circle shaped piece of wood perpendicular to the length to create a base that will not fall over. Once I painted the designs, I added heavy wire (I actually think this is solder) and looped it so cards would stay in the loops. Not too many people send Christmas Cards any more, but at the time, these were very useful. 

Rudolph

Another project was cookie jar covers. You can purchase these traditional glass cookie jars at OSH or Michael's (well at least you used to be able to. They came in two sizes). I took off the metal screw-on cover it came with and cut out a 3/4" thick wood circle that fit perfectly into the opening. Then I used my jigsaw to carve out different shapes for decoration and made sure they extended beyond the mouth of the jar. I screwed the circle base into the bottom of the new shape and the cover fit right over the mouth of the cookie jar, keeping the cookies fresh and clean.

I even did a year's worth set of covers for my sister-in-law. That way she could change out the top of the cookie jar for each month of the year and her kids could have fun deciding what they would put on it for the month. Again, I used acrylic paint. Hint: if you're not good at free-hand art, blow up graphics from the Internet, or use a color book for your designs!

Layered bear form my teddy-bear-collecting sister

An apple for the kitchen

A year's worth!

Perfect Applique Every Time

I just finished making a gift for my niece's baby girl (not born quite yet) and I thought you might like to see a quick, fool-proof way to applique.

Start with "Steam-A-Seam 2 Lite" (SAS2). This a double-stick fusible web that allows you to fuse one side, peel off the other side and fuse it to something else. This product stays flexible and won't stiffen up when you want to use it on clothing. Make a rough cut of the applique you want to add (if it's attached to something else). I used a section from the bottom of the jumpsuit I'm making so it's already printed for me--I just have to cut it out.

Rough cut applique and SAS2

Lay the applique piece or pieces over the top of the web (don't fuse yet) and rough cut them out together. Cutting them together will help you avoid having the web stick out over the applique and fuse to your iron or ironing board. Yikes!

Iron the web to the back of the applique

Fussy cut after fusing

Now flip over the web and peel away one of the layers of paper. Place the applique against the sticky side of the web (the side you just peeled) and iron the web side onto the back of the applique per the instruction on the SAS2 package. Once that's fused well, it's time to fussy-cut the applique. I leave about 1/8 inch around my applique so I don't cover so much of the design when I do my satin stitch.

Applique is almost ready for garment

Peel off final paper backing

Your applique is almost ready to attach to your bodice (or wherever it's going!). Flip over the applique and peel off the final backing from the web. This will leave you with a sticky-backed product. You can now easily put the applique were you want it and move it around till you're happy with it. I left a space at the top of the bodice so I could embroider the name of my new niece.

Once it's evenly positioned onto the garment, press it. If you're working with anything that shows marks easily, use a pressing cloth or press from the back. You should now have an applique that is ready for sewing.

Fuse the applique to the bodice

Choose a thread color that will compliment your garment or the applique. I like my applique stitches to blend rather than make a statement, so I chose a color close to the bodice color. I like to use Sulky Rayon Embroidery Thread in 40 weight. It gives a little sheen to the "patch". For the bobbin, I use a lightweight cotton embroidery thread (Mettler; comes in white or black). By using lighter weight thread specifically for embroidery in the bobbin, the bobbin thread pulls the satin stitch to the bottom of the project and keeps your bobbin thread from showing on top of the work. You'll be very pleased with the professional results you get by using these threads instead of your standard 50 weight sewing thread.

There are lots of ways to stitch down an applique; blanket, zig zag, straight, satin, or decorative. And you can do the stitching by machine or by hand. I will be using my sewing machine, and I've set it for a small satin stitch (SL is 0.6 and LW is 2.0). Always do a test first and make sure your stitch will grab enough fabric, otherwise your applique will fall apart after the first washing. I suggest you never go narrower that 2.0 in a satin stitch.

Open Toe Foot

I use an "open toe foot" for my applique. It allows me to see my stitches more easily and helps me glide around the turns. You will also want to reduce your presser foot pressure. By releasing some of the pressure of the foot on the fabric, it will allow you to turn the corners of your applique much easier. This particular applique has a lot of curves, so I take it slow and steady. If your sewing machine is going at a consistent rate of speed, it is much easier to control the turns. The less stopping you do around the curves, the smoother your curves will look.

Before you begin sewing around the applique, always add a stabilizer. There are many tear-away stabilizers available (once you've sewing the applique, you tear away the stabilizer and no one is any the wiser that you had it in there!).

Adding tear-away stabilizer

I LOVE the Sulky product Totally Stable. It irons on to give you a very firm foundation, and then it tears right off afterward, leaving no residue. Once you've got your applique stabilized, begin sewing in a non-conspicuous place on the applique.

After you go around the entire applique, take a look at it and add to it if you want to. In this case, I added another row of satin stitching inside the large heart. I also did a straight stitch around the elephants' ears and gave them each a tail since I had cut off their tails earlier (small details, such as elephant tails, whiskers, etc, are better left stitched later).

Tear away your stabilizer

If you like your finished product, turn it over and tear away your stabilizer. Don't be too rough on the stitches you just made, but once you've started, you should be able to tear right along the stitching line of the design. Use your seam ripper to start the sections inside hearts, balls, letters, etc. Now turn over the finished applique and press it.

The final product is clean and neat!

Double stitched heart

That's all there is to it! The applique looks professional and it only took about 40 minutes from start to finish. You can add applique in this method, over holes in jeans, on ready-to-wear clothing, tote bags, or like me, on something you're sewing from scratch. Enjoy doing applique, the easy way!

Final product--sorry about the lighting!