DIY High Chair Cover

My sister passed down this great high chair for Rae to use in a few months.  It was given to her from a family member, and I love knowing Rae gets to use it too.

 

It’s so pretty as is, but I wanted to make a little cover/seat for some added comfort for our baby girl.  I got some great fabric at the fabric store, along with a few other materials.

Here you can see the fabric, piping, batting, scissors, pins, and measuring tape.  Not pictured is some wrapping paper that I made my pattern on.

I started by just drawing and measuring the back and seat of the high chair  right onto the wrapping paper.

 

Next, using my pattern, I cut out the fabric and the batting, allowing for a bit of a seam allowance with the fabric.  By the way, I used a pretty thin batting, I didn’t want something too plush, I thought that would look strange, but that’s just my preference.

 

I just sewed everything together, adding the piping, (which in full disclosure, I still need to work on this skill) and came up with this…

 

If you can’t tell, it’s actually 2 pieces.  (Also machine washable which is obviously important).

 

I kept the wrapping paper pattern I made in case I want to make a new one with a different pattern, or this one gets stained or ruined.  Oh, and I also added some ties, to keep it attached to the high chair.

I was happy with how this turned out, and I’m loving the fabric.  I want to make Rae a little maxi dress, and this would be a cute pattern don’t you think?  Stay tuned for that…

And because this is all for our little angel I’ll leave you with a little picture of her.

 

Glitter Eggs

This post is from last Easter, but I wanted to share it again since there isn’t any time for Easter Eggs at our house this year… these were really pretty. 

I made some Easter Eggs this weekend.  I wanted a little decoration, and this was easy enough.  However, I didn’t want to mess with the dye or anything…so I used glitter!  Yes, glitter, (we all know is much easier to clean).  Oh, and I also didn’t want to boil the eggs (I wanted to keep them around for a while) but I had to get the egg out.  So instead I blew the inside out.  If is sounds weird, it was.  I didn’t let Kevin watch me do this.  All you do is poke a hole in both ends of the egg with a needle.  You kinda have to move the needle around a bit to make the hole big enough for the egg to come out.  Then, you just blow the egg out.  Obviously there are no pictures of this process…you’re welcome.  The first few were time-consuming, but then you find your rhythm.

And wash them out.

Next, I got my glitter, Spread glue on each egg, and proceeded to shake a ton of glitter onto each egg.

Let dry, and enjoy!

This was super easy, and not too messy.  I did have to wash my hand after each egg, but the glitter I used is really fine and washes off easy.  I like it as an alternative to dying eggs. I will do it again.  This is off topic, but I glittered a pumpkin once and that was fab. Are you the more traditional egg in the food coloring person or do you like the glitter?  Or do you have any other ideas?

Stuffed Animal Owl

Since I’m having a baby I admit I have some baby DIY projects on my mind.  I wanted to make a stuffed animal, so decided to make one for little Gray, Vanessa’s adorable son. This was really simple, and I will probably be making some for our little girl, as well as the many kids in our family.

First I just cut out an owl on construction paper. I folded it in half to make sure it was symmetrical.

And then traced it onto fabric.

I then pinned the owl onto some softer minky fabric.

This will be the back of the owl.  Once everything was cut out I just sewed right sides together, leaving an opening for the batting.

Now. this is what I’ll do different next time.  I had originally thought I would just have the owl, without a lot of details, but once I was finished with this step I decided it did need a little more detail.  Next time I will sew this onto the patterned fabric before sewing the two pieces together.  This time I just used my liquid stitch.

I just cut out some eyes and a beak.

And glued them right on.  I let them dry overnight.

Then I decided I needed some wings.

Once everything was dry, I just stuffed it and sewed the opening.

My favorite part is the different textures.  Especially for a little baby.  And there are so many animals you could make.  This was really easy, stay tuned for more I’m sure…

 

 

 

Baby Love

As you all know by now from this post, Kevin and I are expecting our Baby Girl in February. I had these great plans of making our baby bedding, because I made Vanessa’s and really enjoyed it and loved how it turned out.  You can see that here.   Well, once we decided what we wanted I started the fabric search.  I looked everywhere.  Everywhere.  I found exactly what we wanted but noting for less than $20.00 a yard.  That was more than I wanted to spend.  I was really driving my self crazy and it was starting to stress me out a bit.  It was about this time that Kevin reminded me that I would be making a lot of things for Baby Girl so I didn’t have to make the bedding.  So we bought the perfect set from Pottery Barn.  I won’t share now, because I want to wait til the room is put together…

I will however share the first project I made for our girl and her room.

The inspiration came from Carrie Bradshaw’s “Love” art she had in her apartment after she had it re-decorated… From Sex and the City if you didn’t know who Carrie is.

Obviously different but you get the idea.  So, first I just went through my fabric.

And had to narrow it down to 4.

I had printed off the letters and just cut them out to make a stencil.  First I pinned the letters onto the ironed fabric and cut them out…

But then for the V and E I just traced the letters on the backside of the fabric (reverse the letter too) and this was an easier approach.

So after the letters were cut out I placed them on the canvas I picked up at JoAnn’s for 50% off and crossed my fingers for a good fit.  No, I didn’t measure a thing.  I’m more of an eyeball it kind of girl.

There’s my canvas and the dimensions…

Okay, so next was a bit trial and error.  I had in my mind to Mod Podge the entire thing, but then decided that I should somehow glue the letters a bit so I used my handy Liquid Stitch.  I glued the letters down and applied a thin layer of Mod Podge over the letters. The directions say to let dry about 20 minutes between coats, but I let mine dry for about 24 hours.  (Truth be told I started doing something else and didn’t go back to it til the next day.) The next day I applied another thin coat and that’s pretty much it!

And here’s a close up of each letter so you can see the fabric I chose.

I can’t wait to see it when the room comes together.  Stay tuned.

This is What I’ve Been Up To…

I’ve been a bad blogger the past few weeks, and I have no excuse so I’m not going to try to come up with one.  I’ve been busy (is that an excuse?) and have done a few projects that I want to share.

I’m working on Vanessa’s baby bedding for Baby Gray who will make his arrival in October.  This is his crib bumper, although it’s not quite finished.  You will certainly see the end results either here or on her blog, or both!

The nursery colors are grey and orange…

I made this shirt/swimsuit cover.  I found this cool, sheer material and instantly thought cover up.

(Obviously you won’t see me in a swimsuit unless you are in the sun with me…)

It’s very flowy and off the shoulder.  I’ve worn it and it looks real cute over my black suit.

I made a new wreath for our door.

I just stuck some hydrangeas in one side and attached an “H” to the other…

And finally, I made these pillows.

(The green ones.)  I picked up this fabric at Michaels, on sale for $4.00, and I already had some pillow inserts we weren’t using.  I love a mix of textures, but knowing me, these will make a trip to every piece of furniture until I make a final decision.  (Looking at the one on the right reminds me that Mona likes to lay on the pillows too, hence the squashed appearance.)

So that’s it for now.  I have a few things on my list to do, and I plan blogging a bit more frequently.  No excuses.

So, what have I messed?  What have you all been up to?

Sleeves

I wanted to do a quick shirt transformation, so I had this shirt…

And this fabric…

And after a little cutting and sewing made this.

This made me think of other things I can do with existing clothes in my closet. Stay tuned.

Update: Thanks for all the advice on what to keep from Stitch Fix. I ended up keeping the peach wrap tank…

I Made This (aka I Made A Dress)

Obviously I can’t pull myself away from the “ I made a _____” title.  I tried in the above title… baby steps right?

So I ordered this great fabric from Mood.

You know Mood, it’s where they shop on Project Runway.  I wanted some stripes, couldn’t find what I wanted locally, so I searched online.  I came across Mood, found what I liked (was happy with the price) and a few days later this arrived in the mail!

I had plans with this fabric.  I wanted a striped dress to wear with my Hunter Boots.  I had a look in mind, so I thought “why not just make it?”

And so I did.

Like my shirt, I just used an existing dress to make my pattern.  I always make it a bit bigger for my seam allowance as well as some extra room to work with.

After getting it cut out, I sewed it together.  I always just try it on and make adjustments from there.  I’ll have to show you this process sometime, cause it can be funny…

I decided the sleeves weren’t going to work so off they went.  I was a little bummed cause I wanted some flowy sleeves but I didn’t allow enough fabric for that.  Boo.  But next time I’ll know.  I also decided on a V neck since the last shirt I made was rounded.  Just for something different.   And I wish I would have gotten a pic of this.  To make the V neck I put the dress on and used blue painters tape (which has become a sewing staple for me, remember I used it here?) to mock up the neck.  Then I knew exactly where to make my cuts.  Worked beautifully.

I had to keep putting the dress on, make adjustments on length, etc and I was finished!

I can’t really say how long this took to make.  No more than a few hours.  But this is how I work…

I cut my pattern, sew it together.  Next I try it on and take some mental notes.  Then I leave it for a while and go do something else like laundry, TV, whatever.  I then put the dress back on and sew some of the adjustments.  Take it off, leave it, do something else.  I repeat this step a few more times until I am happy with the result.  Even when I’m finished I keep trying it to make sure I’m happy with it.  I think this keeps me from making mistakes.

Oh and the best news, it rained like crazy here today so I got to wear the new dress and my Hunter Boots!  Good Day!

What title would you have given this post today?  (Although I realize it’s hard to beat “I made this.”)

 

 

 

 

I Made Another Shirt

I promise if I continue to make clothes I will change the title.  I haven’t gotten any more creative than I Made a Bag, I Made a Scarf, and  I Made a Shirt…

So as the title suggests, yep, I made another shirt.  Sewing something I can actually wear has not only been amazing, but addictive.  Now that I’m getting more comfortable with my machine and sewing, I constantly think about my next project.

I found this tutorial and this was my guide.  It’s from Make it-Love it, which has a ton of great ideas and tutorials.  Her directions are much better and more detailed than mine are about to be, so jump over there if you want good step-by-step instructions.

I’ll attempt to give you my run down though…

I bought this great fabric at Jo Ann’s.

It’s from April Johnston’s collection, and it’s just great.

I used an existing shirt, and cut out the shape a bit bigger than the shirt to give me some room for seam allowance and error….

Then I sewed it together.  Next, I cut a band of fabric for the bottom of the shirt.

It looks wide, but you fold it into itself to make the band.  I also cut the band a bit smaller than the bottom of the shirt because you want that to be smaller and a bit tighter. I sewed the sides together and had a tube.  Fold the tube in half and pin.

The next step was the most difficult part for me.  You slide the tube up around the bottom of the shirt, matching up the raw edges.  The problem for me was that the shirt was bigger than the tube so getting it just right, and the fabric smoothed out was difficult.  Pin and sew.

I guess I was concentrating too much, but I didn’t get too many pictures towards the end…

I used some bias tape to sew around the neckline.

And I sewed a nice edge on the arms.

And I created this…

(Kinda crazy hair huh?) Semi curly hair problems….

Anyway, I love it.  The fabric is a stretchy cotton type that feels so good.

What do you all think?

I know my next project is going to be a new makeup bag, and then I may make a skirt.  I also have some ideas on things I can do to some of my existing clothes.  Stay tuned!

 

 

 

Georgia On My Mind

We have our summer vacation booked to Tybee Island, and it can’t get here soon enough.  Kevin and I talk about it every day, and then when I talk to my sis, we also talk about it.  Therefore, I seriously have Georgia On My Mind.

I’ve also mentioned that I am dying to sew something, anything.  I’m so in love with sewing right now.

Let me note that I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest, and I may have seen a similar project there.  Also I used this project as some inspiration.

First I sorted through my fabric, decided on this piece of gray, and printed out a map of Georgia.

I used the map as a guide to draw the map on the fabric.  I just use a pencil.

Then I sewed.

And then I made a heart.  You know, cause I love some Savannah/Tybee. (We were married there if you didn’t know…)

Ironed it, framed it.

I need to do a North Carolina one.  And possibly South Carolina since that is where we currently live…..

And in case you now have it going through your mind like I do, enjoy!

 

 

Driftwood Wreath

You all know I love my driftwood.  Remember my driftwood H? When we took our last trip to Tybee, Kevin and I went for a  walk on the beach/driftwood hunt. I always have a project in mind, this being the wreath.

So I started with my bag of driftwood.

And sorted through it to get some wreath worthy pieces.

I picked up this mdf circle at Michaels, (for around $3.00).

I placed the driftwood around to get an idea of where I wanted each piece to go.  From there I used my glue gun and started attaching driftwood to the circle, and driftwood to driftwood.

The driftwood doesn’t lay flay against the circle (which was a pain to secure).  You can’t see it from the front (yay) but you can from the side (boo).

I also made the bow from some leftover fabric. I wanted a rustic look.

I think I secretly want to decorate a beach house.  No, that’s no secret at all. And I want it to be my beach house.

I made the decision to keep this on the inside of the door.  I knew our hot southern temps in the summer would destroy the hot glue.  Plus, I like a wreath on the inside door…..

What type of wreath do you have on the outside?  I’m thinking of some ideas, since our outside door is still bare.  I even saw some tin monograms that I liked for the door, but I’m unsure.  I could always do the moss wreath again.

Oh, and if you missed it, I posted over at The Pink Growl, for my blog friend Nikki!