Furniture Makeover (Desk) Tutorial

Furniture makeovers are much easier than you think, but there will definitely be sweat, hopefully no blood and surely no tears.

Step 1: sand your piece.

I like to use an electric sander, because it takes much less effort than regular sand paper.
***make sure all hardware is off before sanding***


Step 2: prime your piece.

I like krylon spray paint primer. It is awesome! And not expensive :) make sure the primer dries completely before moving on**



Step 3: paint your piece.

I like Valspar and Krylon spray paints. They are of great quality and less than $4 per can. This desk and the chair took 4 cans or Valspar.



Step 4: protect your piece.

Once paint is COMPLETELY dry and looks even, coat it with a satin finish clear coat. Again, I like Krylon. This will protect you from color bleed and your piece from scratching the color.

See, easy! Let's see what you painted.

Toiletry Roll Tutorial

This project is definitely a beginner project and will only take about 5 minutes! How great is that?!?

You will need
--typical sewing tools
--fray check
--1/2 yard of ribbon
--1 wash cloth, fabric placemat, or hand towel
--matching thread

Instructions:

First, lay out your placemat or other cloth, fold the bottom up for the depth of your pocket and determine how wide you want your pockets and mark them with pins or just eyeball it.

Second, sew along each side from top of pocket to the bottom. Make sure to back stitch a few times for reinforcement.

Third, fold your ribbon in half and see the fold onto. The edge of your placemat or other cloth.

Fourth, fray check the ends of your ribbon.

Enjoy! Roll up the goods and tie in a pretty bow. I made this one for my boyfriend so I am sure there will be no bows, just knots. Either way though this is much better than a bag with the toothbrush at the bottom.

If you have any questions please let me know. I would love to see your completed toiletry roll :)

Bow Tie Tutorial

Bow ties are much easier to make than people make them out to be. However, tying them is well...not exactly a piece of cake. That's okay though, because it is up to the man to take care of that.

To make a bow tie you will need:
--typical sewing tools
--matching thread
--iron
--1/3 yard fusible interfacing
--1/3 fabric

Instructions:
First, you will need to find a bow tie or a pattern of a bow tie. It is easiest to find a cheap bow tie at Goodwill or Salvation Army so you know it will fit.

Next, trace your pattern,or your pre-made tie with an additional 1/2 inch, onto your fabric twice.

Now, fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric using the iron.

Then, cut out the two pieces of the bow tie.

Next, break out the machine! I know you are excited, but go slow!! Sew around the edges with a 3/8 inch seam with the right sides of fabric together. Be sure to leave about a 5 inch opening along a straight side at the back of the neck so that you can turn it right side out later.

Now, you are ready to turn it right side out. You may want a chopstick or the end of a pen or pencil to help. Be patient and take your time.

Next, make sure the gap you left unsewn folds in and matches up, then sew around the entire bow tie with a 1/4 inch seam. This will hold the gap in place as well as give your now tie a more polished look.

Lastly, iron that bad boy and lightly starch of needed and surprise a lucky man with a beautiful gift he could actually use! :)

If you have any questions, ease let me know. I would also love to see your bow tie once completed!

Laptop Case Tutorial

Okay, so this is super simple! It is the same as the iPad case, too.

All you need is:
2 pieces--enough fabric to cover your laptop (or other electronic gadget) plus 3/4 inch all around...I just laid out the fabric and sat my laptop on it and measured and marked 3/4 inch all around it and cut. More than likely a fat quarter will be more than enough for the outside fabric and you will have plenty left over. If you are doing a netbook or smaller gadget, then you may only need one fat quarter for the outside fabric.

2--1/2 square inch smaller fabric than outside fabric for inside fabric

2--5x5 inch square matching outer fabric (for flap)

6--pieces of Pellon fusible batting.. 2 pieces need to be the same size of outer fabric and 2 pieces need to be the same size as the inner fabric and 2 pieces the same size as the flap

You may also want some sort of closure like Velcro or snaps. I didn't use any on the laptop since it is snug but for the iPad I used Velcro.

You will also need the typical sewing materials such as sewing machine, matching thread, rotary cutter, scissors, and anything else you usually use.

INSTRUCTIONS: (sorry there aren't any pictures... But trust me, this is SIMPLE)

Timing: It takes me about an hour to do this one, but I am not super experienced. You may be able to do it faster

Use 1/4 inch seams except when sewing the flap to the outer piece.


First, iron the Pellon all of the matching sized fabrics (you should have six pieces)

Next, sew the 2 pieces of outer fabric with right sides facing each other. Sew the sides and bottom, but NOT THE TOP!

Then, sew the 2 pieces of the flap together with right sides facing. Sew the sides and the top. You don't have to sew the bottom, because it will be concealed. ***if you are using Velcro, you need to top stitch one side of the Velcro (either the hook or the latch part) to the inner flap piece BEFORE you sew the 2 pieces of flap together. ***

Then, pin the flap to the outer fabric. You should pin it in the place that you want the flap to be once finished. The unsewn bottom of the flap should line up with the unsewn top of the outer fabric. Make sure that both the flap and outer fabric are turned right side out and the corners are all pushed out and pretty.

Once the flap is pinned where you want it (on the outside of the outer fabric so that is looks upside down or as it would look if the flap was all the way opened once you are completed with the project) sew and back stitch all the way across the unsewn edges of flap and outer fabric. So this should be about 4 inches of sewing.

Now, sew the inner fabric on both sides and across bottom, but leave and opening on the bottom of about 5 inches or more so that you can turn it all right side out later.

Next, push the outer fabric right side out into the inner fabric that you sewed in the last step. Make sure that the flap is in between the inner and outer fabric and not sticking out. The Pellon should be on the outside now. Pellon, inner fabric color, flap, outer fabric color, Pellon.

Then, sew along the unsewn top of all fabrics. You may want to sew it a couple of times for added durability.

Once sewn, then turn case right side out through the gap you left at bottom of inner fabric.

Now, topstitch across the gap.

Next, Fix all the corners and make sure it is how you want it.

You are done!

If you have any questions, please ask. Also, I would love to know if you make this case!

Applique Tutorial

iPad Case!

So I decided that I am going to start posting my projects that I complete. I hope to eventually do some tutorials and post them as well. Anyway, this is the iPad case I made last night. It took me about 45 minutes and it was relatively cheap! The fabric is some of my stash that I found at salvation army and the fusible batting cost about $1 so all in all this case cost about $2!! I have made a couple other for friends and family, but they were more expensive due to fabric choices and additional batting. However, they were still reasonable.

I also made a few extra rosettes, because I couldn't decide which one I wanted to use. I think I am going to turn them all into hair pins.

Oh yeah, I also made a headband out of the scraps! I love it!! It has the batting on it and elastic around the back.

Tonight, I hope to make a case for my MacBook Pro and a couple cases for kindles and iPads.