Success... so far

Last night I only got as far as washing and ironing about 9 yards of canvas. I figured that was enough to at least get the main part of the slip cover done. I got up this morning and got right to work. It took most of the morning to get to this point of pin fitted and excess fabric trimmed:

It was actually kind of fun and not too difficult to get to this point. I did make one mistake, I must have been distracted by the kids because I trimmed the front way too high. It's OK though because I'll just make it more of a waterfall skirt. I had intended to only raise the skirt about 3" ... whoops!

After a couple more hours of setting up my sewing machine, trying to keep the almost 3 year old from touching anything and general distractions, I was able to get it sewn together. By golly it actually fit quite nicely:

 I am pleased as punch with the results. I did end up with 2 little tucks on one arm but it's not something I feel I need to re-do. Tomorrow after church I will tackle the skirt. Once that is done I will serge all the seams and then I plan on top-stitching for that nice crisp look. I probably won't be able to tackle any of the 8 cushions until next weekend.

~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

Date Night

I've got a date with my not-so-white-anymore couch tonight. I'm prepping yards and yards of natural colored canvas so that I can get started on that slipcover I mentioned. The canvas is more off white/almond colored than I had hoped but it will do for now, especially since I don't really know what I'm doing! Ha!

I often dive into projects without really knowing what I am doing but I'm usually pretty confident going in because I tend to research things to death. I plan on making a basic slip cover with a box pleat skirt. The cushions will be individually slip-covered as well. I am forgoing the piping because I don't feel like making it and because I'm not 100% in love with the color of the fabric.

How about you, do you have any weekend sewing plans?
~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.co

Should Have Left it at Good Enough

I had made excellent progress on stripping that dresser I got the other day. In fact on Sunday it looked like this:

Score!

I found this vintage/antique dresser on Craigslist. After a few back and forth emails I had it “claimed” as mine for a mere $50!

Strawberries, Sprouts & Boards

I uploaded these to my Flickr photo stream and forgot to share them with you all (or should I say ya’ll?)

The $10 CL Find

Once I found out that we would be moving back into our home I got a little crazy and started to get rid of furniture that I had had enough of. I just didn’t want to have to move something that I really hated. It was functional but did not bring any beauty to our home.

Of course that meant that I had to replace some of those things, like a futon that had been our couch for the last 6 years, with nicer versions. Having already lived in this home before I already had a list of things that I knew I had to change. At the top of my list were the super ugly light fixtures that are in the kitchen and dining room.

Home Décor Work in Progress

I was in need of some privacy for my front door. So I went hunting on Pinterest for some ideas. One thing link led to another and somehow I ended up at 7th House on the Left where I found an awesome tutorial and ready made pattern to do this:

All you need is some contact paper, scissors and a sharpie. And a good movie.

I do want to give you my advice on choosing a contact paper to use. There are lots of different brands that are readily available. I happened to have these two on hand:

The top one is Duck Brand Peel and Stick Clear Laminate. The bottom one is Con-Tact brand Clear Adhesive Laminate. I did a small test before I started and I’m glad I did:

As you can see the one on the right is basically see through (great if I’m laminating something.) I would have been so annoyed if I had gone ahead and cut 50 pieces out only to find out that it was see through! The one on the left is fantastic and you really cannot see through it. Care to take a guess as to which is which? ….
The one on the left is Con-Tact and the one on the right is Duck Brand.

Now I’m off to watch a movie so I can finish up my window and protect my piano from direct sunlight.
~ Norma

Handmade Bookcase

A while ago I decided to organize my sewing space. I ended up having a few boxes that didn't get put away. I was hoping to be able to go back to TN and pick up some cheap bookcases I had left there in storage. You know, those fake wood laminate ones that you can get at the big box stores for $50-$100 with the flimsy card board back. Oh and lets not forget the shelves that sag!

After thinking about it I decided it wasn't going to be worth the cost to go an get them. I thought I could buy some locally for less than it would cost in gas to drive to TN. After looking around and not really wanting to waste money on something that would eventually end up in the trash or the thrift store, I sweet talked Mr.PD into making me some.

Nothing quite as sexy as a man with tools!

...and while I could have very easily {well maybe not AS easily as Mr. PD} made these myself I let Mr. PD have the fun of building said bookcase. Besides, if I show too much independence in the tool department he won't want to build me my furniture in the future when I'm feeling too lazy to do it myself! You know I think deep down inside our men like for us to ask them to make things for us.

This is what she looked like after Mr. PD put her together. 

 we added a 1x2 along the top sides so that the profile would not look weird from the side

She sat like this for a few days until I got fed up with my sewing room arrangement once more. I was so tempted to just bring it upstairs like this and put her to good use. However, Mr.PD made me see the error of my ways {boy does he know me} and convinced me that if I brought her upstairs in such a sad state she would remain like that forever! That wasn't something I wanted to stare at every day.

Sooo... we dragged her into the kids playroom {it's air conditioned, plus I could watch movies as I worked} 

Where I lovingly {over several days} filled in her blemishes, primed, sanded, painted, and sealed her until her outer beauty was as apparent as her inner beauty. *Note: don't waste your money on Olympic Paint (from Lowe's) that stuff is like trying to paint with water! Their Valspar paint is much better.

Finally I took her upstairs only to find out that her shelves didn't fit!

Mr. PD forgot to make them just a tad smaller. So she sat like this and waited for the rest of her shelves. Meanwhile I could not wait, so I filled her first 2 shelves with neatly folded fabric.

Finally I had to force Mr. PD to fix her shelves {threats of no dinner may have been involved!} so that I could finish organizing all my fabrics.

Isn't she so pretty? I could stare at her all day. I'm really glad Mr. PD did not let me bring her upstairs in her unfinished state.

We used Ana White's Knock-Off Wood plans for "The Favorite Bookshelf." This is definitely going to be one of my favorite pieces of furniture. I'm already planning on making a second to replace that brown one in the picture. Just so you know the cost was Pretty much $90 just for the lumber. We already had paint, brushes, wood filler, nails etc. On Ana's site it gives the cost at $50. Oh but this is such a bargain! See these lovelies here? Those are $500 a piece!! That image is exactly what I want my sewing room to look like, just replace all the pink with red. {...mmm dreamy.}

... in case you are wondering what all I have on this beauty...

Now go build your own!

Norma


*materials used: mdf, bead board panel, Zinsser BIN primer, Latex paint, Min-Wax Poly Acrylic Top Coat