My Kitchen: Before and (not quite yet) After

When we bought our house last August, I knew the kitchen had great potential.  But, I had to see past the floor, the wallpaper, the cabinet color and the countertops.  I loved the layout of the kitchen, loved the placement of the appliances, loved the counter space and the number of cabinets.  If those major things are okay, then almost everything else can be changed.

Here's some pics of the kitchen prior to our move-in.

Prior to moving in, we removed the carpet and put new tile down.  Yes, we had green carpet in our kitchen, and this carpet was underneath the green.....

YIKES!!!

So, we lived with the wallpaper for a while and enjoyed the new floor.  We also bought new hardware in a brushed nickel finish.

So, this is what our kitchen looked like up until last week.

We rented a wallpaper steamer from Home Depot and started peeling of the wallpaper.  This is our third house to own, so we've had quite a bit of experience stripping wallpaper.  Of all the methods we've tried, this was by far the easiest.  Well worth the $30 rental charge, in my opinion!

When I came home from work one night, my husband had finished the kitchen and it was amazing!!!

Still lots to do in the kitchen, but it's come so far!!!  It is adjacent to our family room which has also come quite far- see the dramatic before and after here.

In the next year I'd like to

• Replace the brown door to the laundry room
• Make a curtain for above the kitchen sink (something with a pop of color- probably green!)
• Paint the cabinets a creamy white
• Update the countertops
• Replace the light fixture with something more modern 

It would make my day if you would let me know which project I should tackle next.  Should I invest in repainting the cabinets or update the light?  Should I splurge on countertops or replace the brown door?

Fold Over Clutch with Cross-Body Strap

A friend at work saw the fold over clutch I made and loved it so much she wanted one, too!  She also asked for the same bag with a cross-body strap.

I used the same fold over clutch pattern and increased the strap length and anchored it on both sides.  An easy alteration to make the bag to her specifications. 

This is just one example of how easy it is to take a strong pattern and make simple alterations to customize it to your taste.  Once you learn the basics of sewing and bag making, the possibilities are endless.

Easy and Organized Fabric Storage

Ever since I saw this post, I knew that organizing my fabric on mini bolts was the way to go.  So, when we moved into our new home last August and I got my sewing room, I started making my own mini bolts.

The original source mentioned purchasing these boards on Amazon, but at the time I was really trying not to purchase anything else for the home and use only materials on hand.  So, since we had a surplus of cardboard boxes, I cut the cardboard into 8 x 10 pieces and wrapped them with old wrapping paper.  I wrapped them just like a present, folding the corners in and all.

 This is such a fantastic solution and makes your fabric look so pretty (not to mention accessible and organized and neat!).

 And the most surprising part of it all?  My sweet Granny (seamstress extraordinaire) told me she does the same with her fabric!  She raves about how easy it is to find the prints she loves!

Foyer Remodel

I really liked the size and floor in the foyer of our new home, but that's about all I liked.  The wall color was sterile and the doorbell and light fixture were really dated.  But, I knew those things could be changed.

Before

This large buffet was from my husband's grandmothers home.  I wanted something more bright, so I painted it a greenish-blue color to match my new pillows in the adjoining living room.  I just love how it now pops against the red tile floor.

These picture frames have been with me for years.  When we were first married and living in an apartment in Louisville, I collected many frames from yard sales and dollar stores.  I spray painted them all a chocolate brown color and put black and white photos in them.  It makes for great entry way artwork, it's cheap and easy to change.  Speaking of change, I need to update these photos- just realized there are no pictures of my daughter because I obviously haven't done them since she was born two years ago.

My husband put a fresh coat of paint on the walls last night, and my father updated the doorbell and light fixture last October.  

A much more warm and welcoming foyer!

How I Organize My Patterns and Sewing Ideas

When I was growing up, patterns were most commonly bought in at stores.  Nowadays, many patterns are available online and through PDF files.  While I love being able to store these patterns on my computer (and a back up hard drive for extra security), I also like seeing the printed version of these patterns in a book.

Once I had accumulated a small stash of e-patterns, I developed this organization system that helps me keep all my patterns neat and easily accessible.

I use a pretty 1" binder with plastic page protectors to store my patterns.  Each page protector holds one pattern and the pattern pieces.  Keeping all the printed information for each pattern in one plastic sleeve makes it easy to grab one pattern and flip through the binder quickly to see all the patterns I have.

I print the pattern instructions on plain copy paper (regular printer paper).  I print the actual pattern pieces on white cardstock.  I have found that doing this gives a lot of stability to the pattern pieces, and allows me to pin to them to the fabric easily when cutting or tracing.

I put the pattern instructions in the front, and then the cardstock pattern pieces in the back of the page protector.  Sometimes the pattern pieces do stick out the top of the plastic, but I'm okay with that.

I store the binder on my bookcase in my sewing room, which has plenty of clearance at the top for those tall pattern pieces.  This organization system makes my patterns almost seem like my very own book or portfolio of what I can make or what I want to attempt to sew soon!

How do you organize your patterns?

Zippered Clutch and a BIG Confession!

I meet many people who ask me who taught me to sew, how old I was when I learned, etc.  The truth is, I've grown up sewing with my mother and grandmothers  They are all extraordianary women who have a natural talent for working with fabric. Unfortunately, I live a state away from all these women, so I can only ask sewing advice by phone most of the time.

 
So, when I confess something to you, you're likely to not believe that I could come from such a strong family history of sew-ers.  I lacked a basic sewing skill and avoided patterns that required this skill for years.  In fact, you may just quit reading this blog all together when I tell you my big secret.....

I've never sewn a zipper.  

Until now.

Mastering a zipper was on my list of "Sewing Resolutions" for 2011.  (This was not an actual list; just one I made up in my head.  :).  In fact, a friend asked me earlier this year if I'd make her something with a zipper, and I had to turn her down because I was so terrified of them.

I ordered a few more patterns from Ali Foster, and one was the Lulu Clutch.  I'd been eyeing this pattern for a while, but of course, was scared of the zipper.  I got some confidence by reading her pattern description and bought a zipper today.  In less than one hour, I had conquered my fears and successfully sewn a zipper!

If you've never sewn a zipper, I highly recommend this pattern.  It walks you through the process step by step and make it almost impossible to mess up!

 
This clutch will be available in my Etsy Shop soon.  The fabric is from the Brother-Sister line at Hobby Lobby.

Shirred Beach Towel Dress

Other Summer Sewing Tutorials:

Girl's Dress from Man's Dress Shirt

Adult Shirred Beach Towel Dress

Summer Skirt from Vintage Sheet

Last summer, I saw this idea of converting a beach towel into a dress on Dana's blog.   I knew this was a perfect project for me when I found beach towels on clearance at Target at the end of last summer.  I used one of those towels to make a dress for my friend Stephanie's birthday, but failed to get a picture of it.  :(

The towels stayed on a shelf in my sewing room until tonight.  I made a mini-version of this dress for a little three-year-old girl's birthday today.  The towel is solid pink, so I used lime green ribbon for the straps and lime green thread for the shirring and the hem.

Shirring is so easy with elastic thread.  Dana explains most of this in the original tutorial, so I won't go in depth here, but my one piece of advice would be to not get discouraged when sewing.  Yes, you must sew a lot of rows.  (I sewed 15 rows for the little girl dress and 30 rows for the adult dress.)  Use your presser foot as a guide to keep your rows straight.  Once you're done, sew the back seam and hem if needed, and then watch the magic of elastic thread!  I was so excited when I first did this with my steam iron.... it is amazing to watch the steam actually shrink the thread and make the shirring beautiful! 

For the hem, I used three rows of lime green thread for an added touch of detail.

 

You'll just have to imagine how adorable this dress will look on our three-year-old friend until I get some photos of her wearing it.  I also have hopes to make my daughter one of these soon (and maybe one for mommy, too!). 

Easy Pillow Covers

Since I made new curtains for my dining room, I've been wanting to update the pillows in the adjoining living room.  I knew there had to be a way to make simple pillow covers, but just hadn't taken the time to figure it out.

 
Last week, MoneySavingMom posted about this tutorial on her blog and I was hooked.  These pillow covers were not only easy, but they were fast, and used my existing pillows as pillow forms.  No kidding- it took me less than one hour to re-do all these pillows (I made a total of six covers from the leftover fabric of my curtains).

I love that there are no raw edges, no hand sewing and no stuffing involved in these pillows.  It's just a simple pocket for your existing pillows!

Plastic Canvas Earring Holder

I'm not sure where I first saw the idea of an earring holder, but this idea has been in my mind for while.  My husband's great grandmother passed away in October 2009, and we inherited a house full of treasures.  I snagged these picture frames and knew they would be perfect for this project.

 

 I really liked how these frames were deep, because I had planned on hanging them on the wall, but changed my mind at the last minute.  Nonetheless, I still liked the square shape and depth of the frames.

So, I spray painted them white which cheap Wal-Mart spray paint.

I gave them a couple of coats and let them dry.

I picked up a large sheet of clear plastic canvas at Jo-Ann's.  It was about $1.  I cut two pieces to the size of my frame openings.

I put hot glue on the ledge of the frames.  The space was very narrow but somehow it worked.

 

Then I stuck the plastic canvas on top of the hot glue.

While it was drying, I went to my jewelry and found all my earrings I normally wear (and some that I don't normally wear but should start wearing!).  I collected both the hook kind and the post kind.

Once the hot glue was dry, I started decorating these frames....

 Like I said earlier, I had originally planned to hang them on the wall, but this ledge on our bedroom hutch was just too perfect for these new beauties!

As you can see, the hook type earrings just hang in the holes nicely, while the posts are secured with the backs.

I even added a few bobby pins in one empty space!

I just love it!  I repurposed old frames, and with a $2 investment ($1 for spray paint and $1 for plastic canvas) I have a whole new jewelry display!!!