fabric Archives - Page 2 of 4

Nursery Window Treatments, Part 1

April 17, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 16 Comments

If you’re a professional drapery sew-er, you probably shouldn’t read this post.

Neighbor Jami presented me with a sketch of what she had in mind for her nursery window treatment. (The valance will be in another post, which will also show the complete window treatment installation. For now, you get my lovely helpers holding things up.)

The main panel is the measurement of the window, plus the depth of the board we’ll be mounting it to at the top. I didn’t include seam allowances because I was adding ruffles to the edges to make up the difference. If you’re not adding ruffles, add seam allowances. I was working with a wide (60”) window and typical cotton fabric (45”), so I needed to seam the fabric.

I added strips of a contrasting fabric for a little visual interest.

I ruffled strips for the edges (3” strips pressed in half) using my ruffler foot and then basted them along the edges.

The back is a piece of a cheap-o white sheet cut the same size as the main panel. I sandwiched the pieces together, right sides facing, and sewed both sides, leaving the top and bottom open.

Next I turned it right side out and marked where the contrasting stripes were on the back of the curtain. I made a small button hole towards the bottom (about 2” up) on the backing fabric in the middle of where the stripes lined up.

Turn it back inside out and sew the bottom seam closed.

Turn it right side out and press.

Next I sewed along both sides of the contrasting stripes to form 2 casings.

Then I got a couple of these:

I think they’re called cord stops or toggles or something. You can find them in the notions section of the fabric store.

I threaded a piece of cotton cording (with a knot at the end) through them and then through the buttonholes on the curtain backing and up through the casings.

I pulled it taught-ish (i.e. not so tight it puckers) and then stitched the cording down so it wouldn’t move along the top edge of the curtain.

Why? So Jami can do this to let some more light in during the day:

(I swear to you it’s cuter with the valance, this post would have just been so long I’d have gotten kicked out of blogging if I’d put it all together.)

Stay tuned for the valance and the installation!

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Filed Under: DIY, fabric, home decor, Lucy's Nursery, sewing

Guest Post: Neighbor Jami & Her Nursery Details

April 6, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 24 Comments

Jami’s back today to show us the rest of her nursery details!

This chandelier is another DI score…$2 whole dollars! I added some cream spray paint and these amazing magnetic pink crystals I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby and, voila! A dainty little chandelier!

It is screaming for some little lamp shades. I have been visiting Hobby Lobby weekly and buying them out of lampshades similar to these self adhesive, cover–it-yourself lampshades. Apparently they only stock 2 at a time?

This lamp is another DI find:

The lamp post was cute, so I spray painted it cream but the shade that came with it was pretty beat up, so I bought a “cover-it-yourself” lamp shade from Hobby Lobby and came up with this.

And of course, the name art.

Char actually did most of the work on this. (Char interruption: That is not true. Jami was the mastermind, I was just the man power.) I LOVE the way it turned out. Here is a better picture, minus the frilly iron decor above it.

The room is small and there wasn’t really room for a traditional changing table. My fabulous neighbor Decorator Wendy came up with this solution:

Handy to have a laundry basket underneath for all those newborn blowouts, right?

And then I hung the diapers and wipes bins on the wall above it.

Who wants to tell the cat her days of hanging out in here are numbered?

-Jami

Most of the curtains are done, I just need to finish the valance portion. Look forward to that project next week!

-Char

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Filed Under: DIY, fabric, guest post, home decor, Lucy's Nursery, makeovers, paint

Crib Bumpers

March 31, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 55 Comments

***I realize that some people have strong feelings about crib bumpers. The comments on this post are not the place to share those feelings, K?***

Jami picked up a damaged Pottery Barn Kids bumper at our local Down East Home store for $10 (cheaper than buying new batting, right?) and I recovered it. It was all one really, really long piece and stuffing it inside the new cover would have been a nightmare, so I cut it into 4 pieces (one for each side). I measured each piece and added 1′’ for seam allowances. I’m not giving you specific measurements for this because your bumper may be a different height and/or thickness. The top and bottom ruffles are 3” strips pressed in half and then ruffled with my ruffler foot.

I put large ties (5” strips, sewed RST into a tube and angled on the end) on the corners and a small tie on the top and bottom centers of each long side.

The bumper fabrics and the yellow for the ties are all Amy Butler fabrics.

The green ruffles are Heather Bailey.

The houndstooth on the sheet is Free Spirit. I used Dana’s tutorial for the crib sheet.

And someone remind me to head over to Jami’s to photograph her nursery in the afternoon next time because no pregnant woman should ever have to do this to help you get a good picture:

Or maybe I should just finish the window treatments next…

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Filed Under: DIY, fabric, home decor, Lucy's Nursery, sewing

My Peeps Shirt

March 26, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 11 Comments

I wanted to try Silhouette’s sewable interfacing, too, so I could give you my thoughts on it.

I decided on a quick shirt for Campbell, since I’m positive he’ll continue his streak of demanding mom-made holiday wear.

The chick shapes came from the Silhouette online store. The font is Aharoni.

The sewable interfacing definitely doesn’t cut as cleanly as the clean cut, BUT there still were not a whole lot of places where I had to trim strings…maybe 2 or 3? And, honestly, even if I’d had to re-cut every single line with scissors it still would be faster than tracing and cutting manually. Especially when I forget to mirror image stuff on the back when I’m doing it the old fashioned way and have to cut it more than once.

It was a good thickness for sewing and held stuff in place nicely.

So yeah. I liked it.

I sewed the letters all messy (on purpose, with my free motion foot). I’m not sure how I feel about them.

The March Silhouette promotion runs through Sunday. Use code “CRAP” to get a machine, both kinds of interfacing, and a roll of white flocked heat transfer for $229. Code “CRAP” will also get you 25% off the interfacing.

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Filed Under: applique, fabric, Silhouette

Name Art + March Silhouette Promo

March 21, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 71 Comments

You’ve heard me talk about my insane neighbor Jami before, right? Hint: The Smelly Barn Adventure™. After 3 boys, Jami’s expecting her first girl, and I’m lucky enough to be sewing the bedding and helping her execute the awesome ideas she comes up with. (We joke that we’re going to buy land with a barn in the country and have sleep over craft retreats. She’ll come up with the ideas because she’s WAY more creative than me and I’ll figure out how to make them happen.)

Do you see that freaking amazing wall treatment? We’ll talk about that in a few days. After I posted the preview of this project on Facebook, I received several emails asking about how she painted the furniture. We’ll talk about that, too. Be patient. Today’s just the name art. Winking smile

Jami picked up a framed picture at the DI (thrift store) for a couple of dollars. She picked it based on the fact that the shape was good for spelling out a name. We pried the print out of the frame using butter knives and then flipped it over so that you couldn’t see the print through our white on white backing fabric. If your frame doesn’t have a print in it, you could cut some foam core or cardboard and accomplish the same thing. We applied the fabric to the print using spray adhesive.

We figured out what size we wanted our letters and cut a test run with the Silhouette on notebook paper. You could ABSOLUTELY do this project without a Silhouette, you’d just have to cut the letters by hand. And unless you named your kids something long (like Charlotte…thanks mom), it won’t take long.

Because I know people will ask, the fonts are:

L – Big Top
U – Mixed Up, it’s the capital U
C – Oliver
Y – BoyzRGross

Once we were happy with the size, we got out Silhouette’s new fabric interfacing. We used the clean cut (stronger adhesive, not machine sew-able) because this project isn’t going to need to be washed or handled and we wanted the stronger adhesive.

We applied it following the package directions and got cutting.

We had the Silhouette double cut the letters, just to be safe. Look how nicely it cut!

After we had all the letters cut, we positioned them on the backing fabric

and ironed them in place.

Then we folded the edges of the backing fabric around to the back and secured them in place (more spray adhesive).

Jami hot glued some jumbo ric rac along the groove in the frame.

And…

Then she called me back to say she’d hung it, so I went back for a couple more pictures.

(Thanks to our other fabulous neighbor, Decorator Wendy, this is where it’ll stay.)

MARCH SILHOUETTE PROMOTION:

Silhouette SD, one of each fabric interfacing (clean cut & sewable) and a roll of white flocked heat transfer material for $229.

If you already have a Silhouette and want to try out the interfacing, you can get 25% off.

The March promotion will run from the 21st through the 27th.

Code “CRAP” will let you take advantage of either of the deals.

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Filed Under: fabric, home decor, Lucy's Nursery, Silhouette

Stenciled “Fabric” Bins

February 23, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 23 Comments

***February Silhouette deal info at the bottom of the post***

You know the cheap “fabric” bins you can get to fit square bookshelves? Like these?

Image from ClosetMaid

You have some, right? Us too. We have a bunch in the playroom and some in kid closets and I think there are even a few in my sewing room.

They’re practical and they’re cheap. They’re also a *little* bit boring. And, my kids never remember what goes back in which bin. I bet your kids are smarter than mine though, right? Winking smile

I saw this post over on Crafterhours yesterday and I felt my wheels turning! Keller’s new Utah Jazz inspired room doesn’t have a dresser…we’re using lockers instead. And in those lockers? “Fabric” bins.

I used some downloads from the Silhouette store for my clothing shapes…except for the underpants. I drew those on my own using the Silhouette Studio software.

I cut the shapes out of freezer paper and then stenciled using Tulip Soft Fabric Paint in Metallic Platinum. Check out my freezer paper primer for the basics on freezer paper stenciling.

Things you should do differently to stencil on this type of bins:
You’ll need to crank the heat on your iron way down to a wool setting at the very highest. I’d probably start even lower and then bump the temperature up a bit if the paper isn’t sticking. You’ll also want to place a press cloth or a scrap piece of fabric over the paper and the bin before ironing.

February Silhouette Promotion:

Valid February 23rd-28th

Silhouette SD
1 roll black premium vinyl
1 roll frosted vinyl
1 roll transfer paper
Home Décor CD

all for $225

Use code “CRAP” to take advantage of the deal.

Already have a machine?

Take 25% of Silhouette’s new Premium Vinyl using the same code (“CRAP”, in case you forgot. Winking smile )

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Filed Under: fabric, fabric paint, freezer paper, home decor, kids, Utah Jazz Room

YCMT Discount Code

February 16, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 13 Comments

The sick around here has reached epic proportions. 2 kids have puked repeatedly (including the one who can’t get to the toilet reliably). 1 kid has strep for the second time in 19 days. The healthiest kid is the one that had impetigo (don’t Google it…the pictures are DISGUSTING). We’ve got a chart to keep track of who had what medication when.

So, to thank you for hanging around and being patient wit me, I’ve got something for you. And it’s not even contagious!

I recently had the opportunity to test sew Carla’s (aka The Scientific Seamstress) latest pattern, Reversible Rompers.

You can make it any length (short, capri, pant) and you can ruffle it up for girls. Plus, reversible = 2 outfits for the work of one!

I chose a madras plaid and a navy solid for mine. I’m not kidding when I tell you that my actual sewing time was about an hour. SO fast and SO easy.

And SO cute!

I think he looks like he’s up to no good.

He may also be sick of pictures.

Want to try this or any other YouCanMakeThis.com pattern yourself?

How about 15% off through the end of the month?

Use code “YouCanMakeThis” at check out to take advantage of the deal through 2/28/11!

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Filed Under: fabric, review, sewing

Silhouette Dust Cover

January 31, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 47 Comments

***This dust cover is for the original Silhouette SD (which was THE ONLY Silhouette when I wrote this post). I don’t have dust cover patterns for the CAMEO or the Portrait.***

So, you’ve taken advantage of one of the Silhouette deals and you’re LOVING your machine so much you can’t bear to put her in a drawer…what’s a girl to do?

Whip up a quick and easy dust cover, that’s what. And did I mention that you can make this out of a single fat quarter? ‘Cause you can!

Supplies:
Fat quarter
Silhouette Dust Cover pattern piece PDF (the bottom measurement will be 6 3/8″ when printed correctly)
Sewing machine with thread
About 15 minutes Winking smile

Turn your fat quarter so that one of the 18” ends is at the bottom. Cut off 14″ so you have a piece that is 18” wide and 14” high (the bottom piece in this picture).

Fold the top piece in half and cut out the pattern piece. You’ll have 2 opposite end pieces

Place the end pieces even with the bottom edge of your fabric so that the short end (of the end pieces) points out and start pinning.

Pin all the way around the end pieces and then sew with a 1/2” seam.

Then you’ll want to hem the bottom of the dust cover 1/2” all the way around. I folded and pressed a scant 1/4” and then another 1/4”. Stitch hem in place.

Put it on your Silhouette and feel much better about leaving her out to admire.

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Filed Under: fabric, sewing, Silhouette

BIG NEWS from Silhouette

January 29, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 27 Comments

I’ve gotten a TON of emails asking if the Silhouette can cut fabric.

Guess what?

It can now!

I haven’t tried it yet, but you KNOW I’m gonna.

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Filed Under: fabric, Silhouette

U of U Scripture Case

January 27, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 91 Comments

Remember how Keller turned 8 last week?

When you’re a Mormon, that’s kind of a big one. He’ll be getting baptized next weekend. He requested a sports jacket for the occasion (which made me pee my pants a little). He also got a new set of scriptures.

I made him this to haul them around in ~~and hit his brother with~~:

I didn’t tutorialize for a couple of reasons:

1) I wasn’t sure if there were enough of you that would care to make it worth my while (since I know that many/most of you are not Mormons).

and

2) I had no idea what I was doing. Open-mouthed smile

So, now that it turned out quite nicely, I need to know if there’s enough interest to warrant a tutorial. Leave a comment if you want one and I’ll see what I can do.

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Filed Under: fabric, sewing