Living with Punks floor cushion - with homemade piping

With bias tape and now piping on the brain, I've been collecting ideas and projects perfect for utilizing both.  I loved this one from Living with Punks - a Land of Nod knock off floor cushion.   So...when I was in Joann's last weekend with 50% off their red tag, I couldn't pass up this faux cream leather and faux turquoise suede!



I opted for the fabric covered button accent to give it a bit more pop.

And altered the pattern a bit to include a side zipper.  MUCH easier to stuff and then close with a zipper (the tutorial has you handstitch closed - this material is a bit thick for handstitching).  On that note, I did really like the look of the handle, but was having a very hard time sewing with all the layers of piping and faux leather.  My "be kind to self" mantra kicked in and I threw the handle in the trash.  Oh well. 

I think the cushion was well-received despite the missing handle. 

What do you think?

Just a few more days to enter the Mirabelle Messenger Bag pattern GIVEAWAY!

 

 

Yarn wreath tutorial

As mentioned in my last post, I found this great project in .  It's from Stash Happy: Felt by Jennifer Fitzsimmons. 

In the book, she calls for a straw wreath for the base of the wreath. 

As I didn't have one on hand, and didn't feel like buying one, I figured out the following.  I hope you can use it to make one of her beautiful felt blooms wreaths.

To make your own:

Materials: one 10" cardboard cake circle (or a 10" circle cut from a repurposed box)
                scrap battting
                glue gun
                chunky yarn

1. Decide how large an opening you want and trace.  Mine is a 4" diameter (leaving 3" around for the yarn wreath).  Trace the center circle.

2. Cut out the center circle.  I use an exacto knife (be careful!).

3. Roughly cut the batting to the size of the circle.  For mine, I cut two layers.

4. Glop on some glue and stick that batting on.  You just need enough glue to anchor the batting on.

5. Cut the center circle out of the batting.  Repeat with a second layer of batting if desired.

6. On the back, glue one length of your yarn.

7. Start wrapping the yarn.  You want the yarn to be snug enough to hold its place, but you don't need to over-pull.  The batting will squash down quite a bit as you wrap. 

8.  If the skein is too big, you might need to cut a long length of yarn to be able to fit through the hole. No worries. You can tuck and glue (as in photo above) ends and then start another.
When you are done wrapping, cut a length, tuck under the back yarn and glue in place.

9.  You now have one yarn wreath ready to create something beautiful!  Be sure to check out Stash Happy: Felt for Jennifer's gorgeous (and simple) felt blooms.

My favorite part of this project is that, by making the wreath base this way, I had all the materials on hand.  In my mind, that makes this a FREE project!  (Never mind I had bought them at some point in time, right?)

Wishing you some thrifty crafting thrills!

Rainbow birthday - the decorations, part 2

Once the holiday decorations come down, it's time to decorate for our January birthday girl.  That poses a bit of a question of what to put on the doors. 

This year, I found this yarn wreath in Stash Happy: Felt.  I tweaked the directions a bit (I'll show you how tomorrow) to make these two wreaths.

I love the pop of color against the natural color of the yarn and our weathered doors.  I think these fall right into the birthday decor and will be a favorite for years to come.

Wishing you a pop of color in your day!

Couch cushion recover - finally!

Until this past weekend, this was the view on our couch. Old, grungy pillows...

...complete with holes...

...and poorly-fixed corners where the dog chewed them in his younger days.

Look at them now!

I found this floral fabric in Florida almost one year ago and just finally got to sewing up new covers.

 

With orange piping for added detail.

I've had this Heather Ross fabric even longer. Every so often, I dare cut into it.  I think this time was worth it!



And, I think the dog agrees. 

Wishing you something refreshing and new today!

Just a little something...

Yesterday was one of those days I just wanted to sew something simple.

Since putting away the Christmas decorations, the house felt a little bare, and my milk glass dish looked a little lonely on the table.

I raided my stash and made up this simple mat/coaster - lined with cotton batting for a bit of cushion.

My milk glass dish looks cheerier and my sewing craving was met.

Wishing you a satisfying project kind of day!

Merry and bright

Hello, my friends.

It has been a long time since I last posted - not for lack of crafting, taking photos or thinking of posts to share. We had a busy, eventful fall and it felt like every week was a call to tend to family, house and friends.

After little A turned 2, we faced a long stretch of illness. Luckily, through it all, we were blessed with good spirit and love, and now health again.

We then experienced the October snow storm that took out our power for close to a week. Again, we were blessed with good spirit, a sense of adventure and good friends to help clear the debris.

November brought two craft fairs that kept these fingers busy sewing for weeks. Both events were successful and fun - a chance to connect to community and friends new and old. We also celebrated two birthdays in our house - one for a furry friend and one for yours truly. While the number hit a bit harder this year, I am thankful for so much and consider myself a very lucky lady.

December is now here and we are in the throes of preparing for Christmas. The decorations are up, the tree is lit (cut from our backyard - it is beautiful!), gifts are purchased and parties are beginning.
It is a magical time of year and I wish all of you the very best for your seasonal celebrations.

P.S. The photo is of a holiday swag I made for a friend using many of the broken tree limbs from the October storm and berries picked on the side of the road. 

Another bunting

It's almost Halloween - hooray!  I don't know what it is about this holiday that always has me a bit giddy.  We are definitely not the family to recreate a graveyard in our front yard or go to town carving pumpkins.  But, I love my Halloween decorations that come out of the box each year, and have been enjoying creating a few new ones this year. 

First up, another bunting/garland.  I made my first appliqued bunting for little A's birthday.  I thought I would do another very similar but with square panels instead of triangles (it was kind of tricky fitting and centering the letters on the pennants).  I had planned to sew orange pom poms to connect all the letters but then saw the orange rick-rack and went with that.  After seeing an old post on Made by Rae, I decided to use the tiny black rick-rack to make little tags instead.

All in all, I like the look of this, but, let me tell you:  it is NOT easy to slide tiny rick-rack along a larger rick-rack length.  And....if you want to get a photo of your completed project, don't do it on a windy day - these letters were flipping around all over the place!  (Where I actually hang the bunting inside is in our stairwell - the light is really tricky for getting a good photo.)

Also, if you have a dog, you might want to keep him inside for your outdoor photo shoot or he might grab the bunting and run for it, causing a tangeld, twisted mess (not that MY dog did that...wait, yes he did.  Sigh...)

On a last, wonderfully positive note:  I found a new product that I love, love, love - Sulky Temporary Spray Adhesive.    Not using iron-on fusible web makes me feel a bit like a cheater, but it was soo easy to simply spray, stick and sew!

Happy Halloween!