jcaroline's blog

BH&G 100 Decorating Ideas under $100

The Fall issue of Better Homes and Garden's 100 decorating ideas under $100 is out and again, it is packed full of reasonable DIY ideas.

And Pamela Porter styled just about every piece in this issue (okay, I exaggerate a bit).   As you flip through you'll recognize some Michael Miller, Amy Butler, Sandi Henderson and Dena Fishbein fabrics.

And Pamela always has a super clever idea and here it is.  She took a plain white purchased bed skirt and stitched ribbons to it.  So no more stressing about finding a bed skirt to match your favorite bedspread-- just pick matching ribbons and go to town!

So pick up a copy at the grocery store or bookstore.  You won't want to miss the room done entirely in orange!

More Decorating Ideas from BH&G

I just received a copy of Better Homes and Gardens Creative Collection: 100 decorating ideas under $100 (Spring 2009).  Pamela Porter, whose work I've shown you here and here, has done some more great features in this edition (with our fabric and ribbon).  The chair above she repainted, added some grosgrain flower ribbons and new cute cushion covered in Heather Bailey fabric.

 

This room is a profusion of orange and pink using fabrics from Amy Butler, Dena Fishbein and Sandi Henderson.  I think Jennifer Paganelli's new Flower Power would also work great with this look.

 

My favorite project from this issue has got to be in the "Chairs with Flair" section by designer Becky Mollenkamp.  She glued chipboard letters to the chair and then spray-painted it.  I just adore this. If I did this project, I might want to finish with a clear sealer.  I'm afraid water could seep into and under the chipboard without some protection.  I can so see this concept on a child's (or an adult's for that matter) dresser or armoire.

How-tos and lots more inspiration in this issue, available on newstands.  I do like BH&G's Creative Series-- they do have some great attainable ideas.  And can you think of a better time to decorate under $100?

A Little Press

That's our fabric on the ottoman and the tray (below).  Pamela Porter designed this room whom we have worked with before.  ("Worked with" meaning she finds fabrics on our site that she likes and we send them to her.  She works the magic.)  I'm always so impressed with the combination of colors and fabrics she puts together.

And check out the bit of genius she worked on that tray. It is a picture frame with fabric under the glass and handles added. Now that is clever. I also like her painted side table shown on the cover. You know how I like painted furniture and they show a lot of clever painted furniture ideas in this issue.

So while you are shopping this weekend (gag), pick up a copy of 100 decorating ideas under $100 (Winter 2008 issue).  They include a lot of very clever ideas, including decorating ready-made pillows, using felt as embellishment, and unexpected items used for storage.  This is one of the magazines you will keep flipping through for ideas-- and they really do have some great ones.  Did I mention the great ideas?  This issue is kind of like Domino for the rest of us.

Have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Various Eye Candy

My employee, Maribel, has been at it again.  Look at this cute diaper bag she made out of Joel Dewberry's Ginseng fabric.  It's a very basic bag with patch pockets on the outside and inside and webbing handles.  And the bottom is brown canvas.  But that fabric makes it extraordinary!  And she made it from fabric out of our Short Cuts.  (As a side note, I had originally named those "Short Ends", but someone's blog referred to them as "Short Cuts" and I thought that sounded so much cuter!)  BTW, those usually get updated every two to three weeks and they tend to go fast.

I whipped up these key fobs out of the new Kathleen Rietz ribbons.  I never get tired of these things... they are quick to make and make a great little "happy" gift.  And these new ribbons make them so fun!

Starch Your Walls

Kathy Miller (of Michael Miller Fabrics) told me she would be doing this a couple of months ago and I've been dying to try it- starching fabric to your walls.  She and her sister did a room makeover for Designing Spaces (scroll to the bottom of that page and you can watch the video).  Of course, the show makes it look like it can be done in a little over 2 minutes.  I would allow more time than that for your project.

Anyway, Kathy gives a quick explanation of it on her blog.  The great thing about it is the fabric stays as long as you want, but pulls down with a little water when you are ready to move on.  It sounds like a great alternative for apartment dwellers forbidden to wallpaper or paint!  Or for those that don't want a long-term commitment with their wall choices.  I'm sure the technique would work for fabric appliques on the wall as well.  (I see visions of flowers and trees for children's rooms, scroll designs for living rooms).  The great thing is it appears that the technique is infinitely redo-able (so mistakes can always be undone), the fabric won't rip like wallpaper, and someone on the web claimed you can wash the fabric when you take it down and use it for something else.

Kathy used Sta Flo starch for their project (the liquid kind, undiluted).  If you can't find liquid starch at your grocery store (it will be with the laundry soaps and spray starches), you can make your own from cornstarch.  The Argo Corn starch FAQ's say:  "In a large bowl or pot, stir 1/2 cup of corn starch into 1 cup of cold water. Stir in boiling water (2 quarts for a heavy solution; 4 quarts for medium and 6 quarts for a light solution)." For these purposes, I'd go with the "heavy" solution.

Now everyone, everywhere can stick fabric to their walls.  And if you do it, be sure to show me a picture in my Furniture DIY flickr gallery (again, Jessica and my projects are so lonely over there)!  The fabric on the walls above, by the way, is Dick and Jane's Harlequin fabric.  Where can you get that fabric?  Hummm, let's see--  oh yeah, from me, here.

New Inspiration: Painted Furniture

This Nautical Entryway Cabinet from Pottery Barn caught my eye in the last catalog and sent me on a frenzy of finding other ideas and products for making your own painted furniture. Share in my frenzy here.

My $3 Chair

I bought this chair a couple of weeks ago at Goodwill for $3.  But, when I stripped it down I found $1.40 in the cushions, along with two ink pens, a pencil and several pieces of children's toys. So I would say I'm even.  Okay, maybe I'm more than even...

I covered this chair in Alexander Henry Home's Black Veronique, which I liked on the bolt, but I LOVE on this chair.  This chair was very different than the Blue Leaflet chair I did- much less sewing, much more stapling and using special upholstery supplies.  I also didn't attempt to match anything on this chair, because I just couldn't figure out the repeat.  But, I don't think it matters.  I did match the covered buttons I put on the back, but you wouldn't know that because they blend in so well, you can't see them!  And I made a couple of boo boos on this chair, but a little Fray Check prevented further disaster.

I'll write up a pictorial essay this afternoon or evening.  I'll even point out my boo boos.

(Update 3/13/2008:  My write-up is done.)

Why did I let my mother go home?

I recently discovered Design*Sponge's Before and After feature, where they show furniture redo's.  They are fabulous and inspiring!  So, Friday I went to the Goodwill store across the parking lot from the office and picked up this little gem of a chair for $5.  The shape is great, but the fabric is...well, just gross.  So I worked today on stripping off the fabric.  Why didn't I start this project when my mother was here?  She's an upholstery wiz.  I hope the couple of times I've watched her rubbed off!  I got most of the fabric cut today.  Guess what I'm covering it in?  Leaflet from Modern Flora, of course.  Yes, that's part of the deal- every project for awhile is going to be out of Modern Flora.

The chair is resting on a dresser that I picked up for $7 and two nightstands for $5 each.  I told you I was inspired.  I have visions of a paint/ fabric/ paper/ mod podge redo on those.  I'll report back on the progress of all three.

I May Have Outdone Myself...

Well, Mother and I did have a sewing session on Saturday.  I recovered this darling Poang children's chair from Ikea and Mother worked on huge floor pillows.  And we praised each other's work constantly, which helps a lot.  However, she cut the first pillow cover thinking the pillow was 24" square.  She had sewn on the cording when I realized what she had done and told her, no, the pillow is 28" square.  She said a dirty word.  Then she told me to buy a 24" pillow.  This is her sewing her second pillow-- 28" square. I think she cranked out almost three large pillows that day.  I'll shoot pics this week.

Well, enough about her, let's get back to this darling chair.  I am quite proud of it and I think it shows off the Sprig fabric very well.  I plan to do an adult version of the chair and footstool.  I did take pictures at some points along the way, so I can construct a general how-to on this.  I'm awfully proud of the back.  The seat is actually a Tyvek-like material that literally slips over a frame.  So I just made a canvas "bag" the same size as the Tyvek one to cover all that stuff up.   The cushy part of the seat just slips over the frame on the top and the bottom.  I reused the fiberfill cushion of the cushion, and just restitched the "channels" on the front.  Then I essentially sewed it up like it was a pillow, with an opening on the side to turn it right side out.  Voila!  It really wasn't terribly hard and I think the same technique could be used on lots of chairs-  just use the original materials as your pattern.

(Update 2/6/08:  I did write up a general overview of what I did here.)

Modern Flora Projects

My mother has been here this week and I have kept her locked in the project room.  Well, not literally, but she has been in there all day every day but today.  She came in Monday morning and insisted that we clean it up, because she apparently can't work in the same environment I can.  We did get some things organized and picked up off the floor and then she went about sewing.  I had started the larger storage basket, but fortunately she finished it and made another smaller one.  I will write a how-to on it sometime in the future.  (Update- your lovely comments motivated me to get them done!  A detailed how-to is available here.)

She also whipped up this little outfit for Olivia off of my idea and pieces of other Olivia patterns.  It is so cute, I made Olivia go outside this morning (it was 40 degrees) to take pictures in it.  The top needs to be longer, which Mother suggested I make the straps an inch or two longer to drop the whole thing, but it still might need another inch or two added to the length as well.  She also did a cute little vent at the hem of the pants, faced with a solid green fabric.  I'll write a how-to on that too, once I figure out exactly how she did it.

Then tomorrow we have crazy plans to sew up floor pillows, recover some chair cushions and various other Modern Flora projects.  There is no way we'll get them all done tomorrow, but if she can get me started on the tricky parts, surely I can (and will?) finish them.  In the meantime, Jessica and I started a Flickr group for Modern Flora projects and I contributed what I have so far.  Jessica also made me a cute little button for it on the sidebar.  So make something and upload a picture!

Shoe Redo

This pair of shoes I bought from Lands End last year.  I like them, but I made a crucial mistake when I first got them.  I assumed that the leather lace was more than decorative and if I untied the carefully tied and sewn bow, I could actually tighten up the shoe a bit.  Ooops.  The laces on the side and the top are in no way connected and now the top laces just come untied all the time and never look right.

So Friday I decided it was time to redo them a bit and turn them into some weird mix of practical moccasin with decorative ribbons.  And voila!

I pulled the laces out of the top and actually cut the holes just slightly larger so I could slip a 5/8" ribbon through them.  I used long tweezers to push the ribbon through the holes.  I then tied the ribbon, put fray check on the ends and placed a little tacky glue in the knot hoping to keep it from untying.

Of course, then the laces on the sides looked out of place.  I used a hobby knife to cut the lace out of the first grommet on each side.  (I used a hobby knife versus scissors as it let me cut it down in the grommet so it wouldn't stick out.)  After much fiddling, I discovered two things.  First, I should use two ribbons, one for each side of the shoe (to avoid trying to pass the ribbon through the heel).  Second, I just needed to tuck the ends of the ribbon back towards where I laced it to avoid conflicting with the piece of leather lace I just cut off.  I stuck a little Tacky Glue in the beginning and ending grommet and tucked the ribbon back under and held it with a clip until it dried.  I used a 3/8" ribbon on the sides.

However, after I finished, I thought of another idea.  Since you can't tell if the side is one continuous piece of ribbon or not, next time I might try treating each pair of grommets separately.  For example, I would run a short ribbon through the first and second grommet, stitch it together and then slide the ribbon until the seam was buried within the shoe.  Then you could repeat the same trick for each pair of grommets and you wouldn't have to worry about the ribbon ever coming undone.  That method would also make it easier to change out the ribbons if you got tired of the old.  I may have trouble getting the glue/ribbon mass out of mine.

I'm excited about my new ribbon mocs.  Admittedly, I wouldn't have had the nerve to start cutting on them if they were brand new.  But I didn't have much to lose since I had owned them a year and not worn them a lot because of the untying laces.

Squirrel Feeder Project

Emily at What's That Gonna Be? has posted a crafty tutorial for a squirrel feeder.  She warns you "There are a lot of steps, but don’t let that fool you! They are all easy and involve little or no effort on your part."  Sounds like my kind of project.  You might find it your kind of project too.

Trimming the Tree, Literally

First, I should probably admit that I don't put up a tree at home.  No, I don't have a hang up about traditions or the meaning of Christmas.  We are usually out of town for Christmas and I really don't want to bother with putting one up and taking it down.  (You know how I dislike a mess.)  I'm sure in the coming years a certain little girl will insist on a tree.  I have on occasion decorated with a bowl full of ornaments or a poinsettia or two.

I did buy a fake tree for the office this year.  I take pictures of my employees' children in their Christmas finery and I thought it would be a nice prop.  So I experimented with some decorations using trims and ribbons.  Check out my tree experiments here.

Other decorating ideas around the web:

How About Orange shows you how to make cool retro ornaments out of craft foam.

Design Sponge shows you how to make some modern paper ornaments.

Visit Heather Bailey's tutorial on making yo-yos which you can hang from your tree or sew together into a garland.  (Don't forget, you can cheat and use a yo-yo maker.)

My friend, Rhonda, suggested making ornaments out of holiday themed heavy paper, using your Christmas cookie cutters as a stencil.  Then you can punch a hole in the top and string ribbon or string through to hang.  Great idea!  (Too bad she or I didn't make some and show you a picture.)

On a related note, Mommy Poppins posted on not spoiling your children at Christmas.  Downplaying the gift thing a bit.  I'm going to keep Olivia's Christmas small-- a new potty seat and a serrated bread knife.

Wall Treatments

This room was done by Jessica Jones over at How About Orange.  The before picture is a study in beige.  She did a few simple and inexpensive things and made it look fabulous.  I love the idea of stretched fabric on the walls.  What a great way to adore your favorite print.  (She added a tutorial for stretching your fabric on a frame.)

She painted the tree on the wall and then hung leaf pictures.  How cool and 3D is that?  However, if you are terrified of trying to paint the wall yourself, I keep seeing wall decals on design blogs lately.  Elly Nelly offers self-adhesive decals on their Etsy shop .  They are a mother/daughter team and I like their designs a lot.  They range from $25 to $65.  It appears that you can choose from one of 14 colors for each design.  And don't forget you can hang things with your wall decals to add more interest.

Go forth and decorate!

Inspired by Tory Burch

The picture on the right is from Time Magazine's Style & Design article entitled "Tory's Turn" about designer Tory Burch.  First  off, I was inspired by how cute she is, but I loved this straight dress in a big pattern.  The picture on the left is my rendition in Amy Butler's Silver Wood Fern from the Nigella home dec collection.  The collection is full of big prints (I also think this could be darling in any of the Grandiflora prints) and the sheen and weight make it fun for apparel (heavier than quilting cottons, lighter and softer than canvas).

I have no idea what is around the neck and sleeves of the Tory Burch dress, but it looked complicated.  I settled with a strip of Gray Floral Sequins around the neck only.

The pattern is another matter entirely.  I used Simplicity's New Look #6086.  But wait, that's a slipover tunic.  How did that metamorphosis into this dress?  Hummm... not easily.  I couldn't find a pattern that had a one piece front with just darts (I didn't want to break up the design on the fabric with princess seams or other nonsense).  So I took about 2" out of the center of the front and back of the tunic, lengthened it, added a zipper in back and shortened the sleeves.  Oh, and added a facing to the neck, since the pattern just called for a hem.  Would another pattern have been better?  Absolutely.  If you find one, use it instead.  The front of the dress worked out great (though I think the shoulders are a little narrow- maybe 2" was too much?), but the back is still under construction.  It needs darts above the waist, but I haven't quite gotten the right size in the right place.  So this dress will be gorgeous for entering a party, but not yet great for leaving.  I'm going to let Mona party in it while I ignore it for a few days to approach it with fresh eyes (and attitude).

In an earlier post, I railed on invisible zippers, but I feel better about them now.  I did figure out how to get the invisible zipper foot on my machine (the instructions on the package are non-existent).  The zipper went in fairly easily, but do follow the zipper package instructions about not sewing up ANY PART of the seam before installing the zipper.  (I tend to take those instructions as helpful suggestions only.)  Allows you to compensate for the zipper being a little higher or lower on one side.  Now I need to work on getting the zipper and fabric to feed evenly, so I don't get ripples in my fabric.

Perhaps this will inspire you to make some apparel from Nigella or any other home dec fabric and to completely butcher a pattern to get the look you want!

Skull and Bones

I made a pair of pants for my favorite model this week just in time for Halloween.  The fabric is Black Jolly Roger from Alexander Henry.  I then ironed the Skull Applique on a plain white T-shirt.  A pants pattern is here if you are so inspired.  I did figure out a new trick for pants adjustment that is really helpful.  I needed to expand her pants pattern a bit and rather than rework the whole thing, I just cut it in half length-wise and taped another 1 1/2" of paper in between.  The crotch then stayed the same, the pant length is easily adjusted and I have bigger pants. If the crotch needs adjusting, I'll just cut the pattern widthwise and insert paper as needed.  It's not that profound, but I had never approached it that way before.  Much easier.

Here is the angry model walking off of the shoot.  She has her agent on her Barbie cell phone, I'm sure.

I'm in Print (if you look really close)

Better Homes and Gardens Storage magazine just came out and look at the goodness on page 56.  That's a duvet cover I made out of Fantasia Sherbert (if you have Superman vision, you can see how I beautifully matched the seams where it falls over the bed- thank you).  The awning I made out of the Michael Miller Turquoise Ta Dot (now discontinued) and the pillow bolsters are the Michael Miller Turquoise Snuggle Up (discontinued).  I can only take credit for those items- the concept and room was put together by Pamela Porter, an interior designer whose work you will often see in Better Homes & Gardens publications.  This is actually her daughter's room.  She produced this piece for BH&G's Kids Room magazine to be published last January, but Kids Room was axed before that issue came out.  So I made this stuff over a year ago and didn't think I'd ever see it again.

This is the closet in that room complete with Fantasia Sherbert curtains by moi bordered with Michael Miller's Pink Ta Dot (which was discontinued, but came back).  The same Pink Ta Dot is on the french doors.  That's a patchwork of various Michael Miller fabrics and Fantasia Sherbert on the window seat cover (my fabric, not my sewing).

It's so fun to see the room in print because Pamela literally emails me with what fabrics she wants and what she wants made and I have only a basic idea of how it is going to be used.  She is so good at putting fabrics together and really comes up with combos I would never have imagined. 

Check out the other room she designed on page 84 of the same mag- a guest/work/bonus room that she decorates with Amy Butler fabrics.  You'll be intrigued and inspired by how she puts the fabrics together.

It's "Storage" magazine, a Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publication and will be on the newstand until December 25.

Inspired by Pink Lemonade

You know when you see something that catches your eye and you can't forget about it?  That's the way I feel about Pink Lemonade Boutique and her divine bags.  Lisa is the artist behind Pink Lemonade and I found her blog and website a couple of months ago and was really intrigued with her use of fabrics (mostly Girlfriends, Freshcut, Flea Market Fancy, some Alexander Henry) with natural linen.  She has a great eye for colors and patterns.  She also uses a lot of quilting in her bags and her sewing looks meticulous.

Thus the dress for Olivia, my daughter, (oh, have I mentioned her before?) from Freshcut by Heather Bailey with natural linen.  She has a little knit dress that has three panels, so I just copied that.  However, I should remember to cut a non-stretch dress just a tad bigger- it is a bit of a struggle to get it over her booty!  Once it's on it fits very well.  I love the way the linen really makes the fabrics pop.  And I can't resist a flower button.  My sewing, on the other hand, is not meticulous but I think the dress is darling and she is always in motion, so no one will know.

Then I was so inspired, I decided I wanted to make a matching jacket and quilt it.  Quilters everywhere are snickering, but I just realized that quilting fabrics gives them body without the stiffness of interfacing.  Okay-- some of us are slower to catch on than others.  So I layered some linen, low-loft batting and another Freshcut pattern and starting quilting away.  I did a diamond quilting pattern made much easier by the quilting guide that came with my machine (you put the guide foot on a parallel stitching line so you can follow it for the current stitching line).  Someday when I'm more confident I'll do a more modern freehand design. I am binding it in a Freshcut stripe and used my Bias Tape Maker and I love it.  We got those in about a month ago and I hadn't used it yet, but it is fabulous.  It produces a perfectly folded tape and it really didn't take any special talent.

The jacket needs the sleeves put in, which I'm dreading, so I worked around them as long as I could. The sleeve holes need to be adjusted, but I'm so scared to start cutting.  The jacket may rest for a few days but it must be done by Thursday.  More on that little bit of excitement later!

New Duvet Cover

I know.. two posts in one day!   However, I feel a little badly because the pants post is really boring if you don't want to make pants.  Okay, it's boring if you do want to make pants, but at least then serves a purpose!  As I was writing that post, my sister emailed me pictures of the duvet cover and pillows she just finished for her daughter out of the black & white flower fabric from the Follow Your Imagination collection.  I think it's super cute!

Another project finished!

When I last showed you this skirt, it had no zipper, facing or hem.  Voila!  I finished it Tuesday.  If you remember, I tried an invisible zipper which was an utter failure (don't know if it's mine or the zippers).  I even bought the invisible zipper foot suggested on the package- couldn't even figure out how to put it on my machine.  So, I just went back to the tried and true 7" regular old zipper.  The zipper doesn't look bad- once I stuff my body into the skirt, it doesn't dip in like it does on the picture (sigh).

Of course, since I hadn't worked on the skirt for several weeks, I first had to clean up my project room to find the facings that I had somehow lost.  Fortunately, I found them and I had not cut them into something else.  Also, I had only basted the side seam for fitting, but forgot that when I picked it back up.  Ooops- I noticed when the skirt was almost finished, but I did go back and correct that as I don't want the side seam ripping open when I sit down!

I also used my new serger, a Janome MyLock 204D, and I like it.  Now the inside of my skirt looks as good as the outside!  I had put off using it because I dreaded threading it, but it arrived already threaded!  Hurray! 

Anyway, the skirt is from Sew What! Skirts that I've written about earlier (though I think I already admitted that I cheated and took the measurements from a skirt I had).  The fabric is Anna Griffin's Pink Closter, part of her Grace collection.

The skirt fit and is a success (I think it will look darling with a white polo shirt and sandals).  So... I immediately traced a pattern from a pair of pants that I liked and started on some linen pants.  Hot tip:  skirts are easier to fit than pants.  Another hot tip:  the crotch shape and inseam control a lot of the fit.  Yet another hot tip:  don't clip your seams too early.  The pants are not a success (and will never be finished- at least that version), but have led to two days of a pant pattern frenzy.  I will learn to fit pants and I have some resources that can help you.  I'll share those in another post- I'm still debating whether I prefer taking a purchased pattern and altering the fit (which I did for years), tracing from an existing pant, or starting from scratch.  I'm trying the last two today and will share my results.

I'll also add that Mona (my trusty dress form) is now naked again.  She got to wear the half-finished skirt for weeks, but now that it's done, I took it from her.  Maybe she can wear the linen pants that are too tight in the rear with no waistband.