Owl Brooch

Lately I have been loving owls. You can see the great ones I've pinned here on pinterest.

Found this at Walmart for $3.00. I clipped off the top loop, filed it and added a small amount of black sharpie.

Cut out one of the flowers from this thrifted scarf. I glued the charm to the flower, then added some felt on the back to add some stiftness and glued on a pin.



Tutorial for Sewing Machine Cover from Pillowcase

Heather from The Vintage Sheet Blog ask that I do a tutorial for a pillowcase sewing machine cover. It should be similar to the one I made here.  Here is my finished product.

Start by picking a pillowcase you like.  I like the ones that have borders.

The finished size should be 24.5" long and 18.5" wide. On this pillowcase I trimmed 5.5" inches from the top. (This will depend on the size of your pillowcase.

Then trimmed 3" off the side.

Turn inside out and sew .5" seam across the top and down the side. Then trim the corner.  Turn inside out and press.

I found some embroidery pieces from an old dresser scarf and cut out each individual one.  Position and  zig zag stitch around all the edges.

Here's a close up.

Cut 4 pieces of ribbon 9.5" long.  Measure down from the top 6" and measure bottom up 6".  Then sew the ribbon on the back side of the pillowcase.  (Two on each side of the pillowcase.

It should look something like this when you finish.

Tie ribbons in a bow and you have a sewing machine cover.

Hope you like.

Tutorial for refinishing a chair bottom

I got this awesome fabric at Old Time Pottery (didn't even know they sold fabric. Got 6 yards for $25.00.  The batting is rather expensive. I had a coupon at Joann's and it was still $10.00 a yard. I bought 4 yards. It was plenty enough to do 6 chairs.  I pieced some together and made 4 more seats for some stools. When I finished I sprayed the bottoms with Scotch Guard.

I have 6 of these dining chairs and decided they needed a little extra something.  I had cushions on them, but they never seem to stay on.

The bottom had 6 screws.  I only put 4 back when I finished, that was enough to hold it. 

I laid the seat on the fabric and allowed about 2.5 inches all the way around

I laid the seat bottom onto the 1/2 inch batting (made for cushions) and traced around. Then cut it out which was kind of hard to do.

Then lay the fabric, right side down, then the batting, then the chair bottom (upside down). Pull the fabric taught and add a tack to the middle of each side.

Cut the corners diagonally.

Turn the middle to the corner.

Then neatly fold each side to the middle.

Then tack each side.

Tack all along the edges, pulling the fabric taught.

Screw bottom back on. I loved it.

I went a little crazy with this fabric and refinished several things.  I'll show you tomorrow.

Pillow Tutorial

It's a lot of fun trying to find the right pieces for these pillows. The lady I'm consigning with suggested custom made pillows. Maybe pieces you have from loved ones that have passed (I did this with my sister's pieces for my niece and nephew).

1. First I lay out the main piece in the middle on a white piece of fabric (I used 14 x 14 white sheet), then start building around it.

Auditioning pieces as you go.

2. Start adding other pieces to fit around the edges.

3. Zigzag around each piece, so they won't ravel.

4. Straight stitch pretty lace around the edges (some of the pieces already had lace.)

5. Sew around the outside edges of pillow

6. Then add lace of chose. This lace was new, but I love adding older laces, maybe from pillowcases.

7. Sew right sides together ( I used a pretty pillowcase for the back) and leave opening at bottom for stuffing. Stuff and hand sew the bottom.