7 Layer Studio

How to triple the cost of a Craigslist Bargain and other such craziness

Okay, are you ready for a funny story?  It's one of those so-not-funny-at-the-time-but-now-that-it-all-turned-out-fine-we-can-laugh kinds of stories.

Once upon a time there was a really beautiful vintage 1967 Drexel solid wood china cabinet available on Craigslist for a GREAT deal = $100.

The problem was that it was pretty far away, only accessible by braving awful traffic through the city.  And since it's a one-piece unit, it wouldn't fit in our minivan...and we don't own a truck.

Since moving to the DC area, I have learned the hard way not to even bother with any Craigslist furniture in or near the city - it's just not worth the stress and hassle.  Rule #2 was not to consider anything that couldn't fit in my minivan and/or I couldn't handle myself.  Especially if it's far away.

Well.  You've already figured out that I broke both of those rules for this piece. 

On a Saturday, we discovered that trucks are very hard to come by.  Our friends' trucks were being loaned out already, and not a rental truck was to be found anywhere.  So Steve, trying to be supportive of my crazy infatuation with this china cabinet, went down and rented a cargo van (not a full-sized moving truck, but a large van) because it was the same price as a truck and the inside dimensions would accomodate the large size of the cabinet.

I drove separately in my van with our kids so we could both be there to load it up.  It took an hour to get there, and I was blessed with the melodious sounds of my kids whining and bickering the entire way while I was trying to navigate through unusually thick traffic on the Beltway due to an accident.  Sidenote:  I can't stand driving on the Beltway, and I can't stand my kids fighting....and they can't stand being dragged around in pursuit of CL deals.  So you know that I REALLY wanted this piece of furniture!

We finally arrive (phew!) and go to load it up.  Except the back doors of the cargo van are about 8 inches less wide than the belly of the van.  You guessed it = IT DIDN'T FIT.  Not even sideways or at an angle.

Deflated but not defeated, we labelled the $80 it cost to rent and pay for the gas of the Uhaul van as our "Stupid Tax" and made arrangements to come back on Monday with a friend's truck.  Because, after all, $180 is still a great deal for such a good piece.

Monday came, the kids were in school, Steve had a day off, and we picked up the cabinet without much trouble other than dealing with traffic and a long drive (for the second time). 

That's when the yellow light turned red as we were going through an intersection in Maryland.  Maryland, the state ranked #1 in loss of freedoms for its residents, the state with Big Brother cameras at intersections to send tickets to split-second runners of short yellow/red lights despite the fact that it would have been dangerous for us to slam on our brakes at the last second with a big piece of furniture in the back of the truck.

The next week, our friends (the truck owners) get a friendly $75 ticket in the mail from Maryland's automated (and very busy) ticket distributor service.  Sigh.  This china cabinet is becoming less and less of a bargain every minute.

Anyway.  I very carefully sanded down the entire piece, and used 6 cans of black satin spray paint (Valspar brand from Lowe's) to paint everything black except for the back, which was in such good shape I didn't have the heart to paint it.  When it was all dry, I realized that the 4 cans of paint that I made a special trip to the store for weren't just producing shiny results when the paint was wet...the paint was mislabelled and was, in fact, glossy and splotchy all over the place even when dry.  It looked AWFUL.  I almost cried.  And I had to take a break from dealing with it for a few days.

Then I went out and spent $5 per can to get the good stuff, the paint that has never failed me - the brand I should have used in the first place = Rustoleum indoor/outdoor satin.  Not to be confused with Home Depot's Painters Touch paint made by Rustoleum!!  Lots of pretty colors in that line, but they changed the paint formula and it can bubble and wrinkle on previously finished furniture, as I can attest to.  But the regular Rustoleum brand worked beautifully = huge sigh of relief.

So in the end I spent about $50 on paint.  Which brings the grand total of my dear china cabinet to over $300, not including the gas in the other vehicles we used. 

But despite all the insanity, I'm still in love with this china cabinet!  Especially after I cut some skinny masonite to fit in the back and wrapped it with some of my favorite home dec fabric (a nubby, linen-look print called Amsterdam by Premier Prints...sold at Fabric.com). 

I'm so excited to have "showroom" space for my favorite dishes with plenty of room for off-season dishware to be stored compactly in the lower cabinets.

And everyone lived happily ever after.  The End.

Buttons & Ruffles Pillow Tutorial

You might be thinking, "Too many buttons....I'm not taking the time to sew all those on!"

But wait!  I have an exciting new method to secure all those shank buttons, so you'll never be afraid to button-ify a pillow again....

To make this pillow, start by cutting 3 black rectangles:  2 @ 15" x 8.5" and 1 @ 15" x 5".  These are the sides and center of the pillow.

For the ruffles, cut 2 strips of contrasting fabric (I used cream) @ 3.5" x 35"

For the accent trim on ruffles, cut 2 strips of fabric @ 1.5" x 35"  NOTE:  If you want the accent strip to be wider, cut 2 strips @ 2" x 35".

You'll need a piece of stiff, fusible interfacing (I like Pellon Decorbond #809) cut @ 4.5" x 14.5" to stabilize the center panel prior to attaching buttons.

Also needed:  Lots of fabric-covered buttons with shanks, and 2 strips of ribbon 15" long each....and a hot glue gun.

1)  Use 1/4" for all seams in this project.  Stitch the accent trim, with right sides facing, along one side of each ruffle strip. 

Press seam toward accent fabric.  With wrong side facing up, turn under 1/4" of the raw, unsewn edge of accent strip. 

Then fold strip in half lengthwise to completely hide the original seam, which is pressed away from ruffle.  Stitch close to original seam to secure the folded edges of accent fabric.  Press well.

2)  Create gathers in ruffle strip by using basting stitch on machine.  Pull the bobbin thread to gather fabric sufficiently to fit along the 15" measurement of the black side pieces.

Place gathered ruffle strip, FACE UP (as opposed to right sides facing) on top of the face up side piece.  Arrange gathers to fit, pin, and stitch in place.  Repeat with other side.  Gently flatten the ruffles a bit with your hot iron to create creases in the ruffles.

3)  Fuse the interfacing on the backside of center piece, leaving 1/4" on all sides free of interfacing.

4)  Place the center piece, face down, on top of one side of the ruffle+side piece.  Pin and stitch together, then press the seam toward center.  Repeat with other ruffle+side piece.

5)  Stitch ribbon in place on both sides of center, sewing both long edges of each ribbon.

6)  Place the fabric covered buttons where you want them to go, leaving at least 1.5" on top and bottom without buttons or you'll have a hard time trying to sew the pillow together later on. 

Use a marker or fabric pencil and carefully put a dot beneath each button where the shank touches the fabric.

Moving one button at a time, carefully poke through the fabric+interfacing at each marked dot with a tiny Xacto knife or other very small, poky tool.  If the hole/slit is too big, you'll struggle later on.  Gently push/coax the shank of the button through the fabric+interfacing.  If the hole is small, the button will stay in place for now.

7)  When all buttons are pushed through, carefully turn fabric over to access all the shanks poking through the backside.

8)  Using a hot glue gun, squirt a small but generous blob of hot glue around each shank, making sure that the glue oozes inside the little loop of the shank to hold it in place and keep the fabric from fraying around the hole.  Let harden thoroughly.

9)  Stitch the raw ends of the ruffle in place in all 4 places.

10)  For the backing, cut 2 rectangles that are the same height as the pillow front (15") but the width is determined by adding about 3" to whatever the half point is on the pillow.  In this case, the pillow front is 15" high x 21.5" wide.  I cut 2 rectangles at 15" x 14" (14 = 11 + 3).

Press under 1/4" of one of the 15" edges on each rectangle.  Press under again to hide the raw edges.  Stitch along that "hem".

Place pillow front face up on table.  Place the 2 rectangles face down, aligning outer raw edges so that there is about a 3" overlap over the middle of the pillow.  Pin in place all around outer edge of pillow.

Stitch 1/4" all the way around, clip corners to reduce bulk.  Turn right side out, press edges.  Insert pillow form and you're done!

Tutorial for Buttons-in-the-Trees Pillow

This pillow is easier than it looks, with my method of attaching the buttons without ANY sewing!  If you're like me, you don't relish the thought of sewing on tons of shank buttons...but now you don't have to.

Start with a fabric that has about a 2" to 3" repeat.  The awesome fabric you see above is called "Ghastly Forest" by Alexander Henry.  They have the best Halloween collection this year!   Since I used the small, pale blue pillow form from IKEA (only $1.99!) my square was cut at 13.5".

Cut a piece of heavy, fusible interfacing that is 1/2" smaller in length and width than your square (Pellon Decorbond #809 is my favorite).  Fuse interfacing to backside of fabric, leaving 1/4" border around all edges of fabric without interfacing (to reduce bulk when sewn together).

Place the fabric covered buttons where you want them to go, leaving at least 2.5" with no buttons all the way around or you'll have a terrible time trying to sew the pillow together later on.  I used 2 different sizes of buttons and alternated them in rows.

Use a marker or fabric pencil and carefully put a dot beneath each button where the shank touches the fabric.

Moving one button at a time, carefully poke through the fabric+interfacing at each marked dot with a tiny Xacto knife or other very small, poky tool.  If the hole/slit is too big, you'll struggle later on.  Gently push/coax the shank of the button through the fabric+interfacing.  If the hole is small, the button will stay in place for now.

When all buttons are pushed through, carefully turn fabric over to access all the shanks poking through the backside.

Using a hot glue gun, squirt a small but generous blob of hot glue around each shank, making sure that the glue oozes inside the little loop of the shank to hold it in place and keep the fabric from fraying around the hole.  Let harden thoroughly.

Cut 2 strips of border fabric which are 1.5" wide.  Stitch to sides, press, and trim.

Add 2 more strips to top and bottom of pillow.  Press and trim.

For the backing, cut 2 rectangles that are the same width as the pillow front but the length is determined by adding about 3" to whatever the half point is on the pillow.  In this case, the pillow front is a 15" square.  I cut 2 rectangles at 15" x 11" (11 = 8 + 3).

Press under 1/4" of one of the 15" edges on each rectangle.  Press under again to hide the raw edges.  Stitch along that "hem".

Place pillow front face up on table.  Place the 2 rectangles face down, aligning outer raw edges so that there is about a 3" overlap over the middle of the pillow.  Pin in place all around outer edge of pillow.

Stitch 1/4" all the way around, clip corners to reduce bulk.  Turn right side out, press edges.

To create flange, "stitch in the ditch" all the way around the pillow where the border meets the main fabric.  Insert pillow form and you now have one very cute pillow!

Disclaimer: this is where I need to write about not having this pillow in a baby crib or within reach of a small child, due to the very remote chance that the buttons could come loose and be a choking hazard.  But you already knew that, right?  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Scrap-Busting Strip-Pieced Pillow Tutorial

I'm not sure what I had more fun doing....making the Crazy Triangle Quilt (you can peek at it here, but I'm still working on the pattern) or making use of all the leftover strips of fabric afterwards!

They're beautiful even just sitting in the trash can...but I didn't actually throw very many of my awesome Halloween fabric scraps away.

I used the tiny scraps to cover buttons for different pillows....

 

and I promise I'll post tutorials for these cuties soon.

 

For this one I sewed long strips together and then cut the strips into triangles, which I pieced together into a whats-its-called-agon.  Not a pentagon, not an octagon, but a hexagon...and yes, I had to look that up to make sure.  :-) 

Again, a future tutorial-to-be.

In case you hadn't guessed, I have had a LOT of fun playing with these strip scraps!

But I'm getting way ahead of myself....

 

Time to start the instructions for the pillow in above photo.

Gather your strip scraps and organize them according to width.  I used strips which were 2" and 1.5" wide.  The width can vary quite a bit, this is just what I had on hand. If you have super long strips, cut them into rectangles varying from 2" to 10".

As shown in photo above, start pairing up the strips which are the same width and run them through your machine, one pair after the other, without stopping to cut the threads in between.  Use a 1/4" seam throughout this project.  Try to pair contrasting fabrics for best results.

Clip the paired strips apart and repeat process of pairing the new groupings together, repeating until you have ended up with one big, giant strip.  Press seams to one side.

Repeat process with other strip widths.

Decide how big you need your pillow to be, and cut all the big long strips into shorter sections that are that measurement + 1/2" (for seam allowances).

(I apologize for a lack of step-by-step photos for this, by the way...I really thought I had taken more pictures along the way but apparently not.)

Arrange the strips however you would like, paying attention to the most dominant fabrics and making sure that they are spaced the way you would like.  Stitch the strips together until you have enough to create the dimension you're aiming for, + 1/2" for seam allowances.  In this case, I made a square.

If you would like a flanged border around the pillow as I have done, sew 2 strips on either side, press toward outside and trim even with pieced square.  Then sew 2 more strips on the other two sides, repeating the pressing and edge trimming.

For the back of the pillow, either use a zipper closure (not shown) or do what I have done with the two pieces of backing fabric:

Cut 2 rectangles that are the same width as the pillow front but the length is determined by adding about 3" to whatever the half point is on the pillow.  In this case, the pillow front is a 15" square.  I cut 2 rectangles at 15" x 11" (11 = 8 + 3).

Press under 1/4" of one of the 15" edges on each rectangle.  Press under again to hide the raw edges.  Stitch along that "hem".

Place pillow front face up on table.  Place the 2 rectangles face down, aligning outer raw edges so that there is about a 3" overlap over the middle of the pillow.  Pin in place all around outer edge of pillow.

Stitch 1/4" all the way around, clip corners to reduce bulk.  Turn right side out, press edges.  If no flange is wanted, insert pillow form now. 

 

 

If you're sewing a flanged edge (like mine), "stitch in the ditch" all the way around the dark border fabric.  Insert pillow form.  And now you're done!

Spiky Pompom Namecard Tutorial

As promised, here are the instructions for this quick and easy plate centerpiece/name card holder!

Start with 4 smallish rectangles of tissue paper.  These are about 9" x 12".  Use all the same color, or alternate colors in the stack.

Stack the tissue layers, then fold in half lengthwise.  Using large scissors, cut narrow slits into the unfolded side, leaving about an inch of uncut tissue on the folded side.

Holding the folded tissue so that the fringe can hang down freely, carefully roll up the pompom along the uncut, folded edge.  Tape the end so it doesn't unroll, shake it a bit and then put the base of the pompom inside an egg cup or small vase. 

To make the name card, cut out 2 flower shapes with a die-cut tool and glue or tape them back-to-back with the petals offset.  Write the name on a circle shape and attach to flower.  Insert a toothpick up between the 2 flower shapes and then insert into pompom.  And that's it!  Much easier than pie.

Pinkety Pink Ruffle Rainbow Cake and a Tea Party Too

Guess who's turning 4?

I'll give you a hint:  She likes pink.

A lot.

Why, here she is now!  Showing the world how excited she is to add another finger to show how old she's going to be.

Four is such a great age for parties like this...when she walked into the dining room the morning after I pulled all this together, she SQUEALED with delight, jumped up and down like a kangaroo and clapped her hands as fast and furiously as she could manage.

 

And then she ran over and gave me a great big hug.  Now if all that isn't the best payback a mom could ever have for working hard on a child's party, I don't know what is.

We're still working on our naturally posed camera face, as you can see.

Here's a shot of the Ruffle Rainbow cake before candles and cutting.  Yes, that's a lot of frosting and a lot of work!  It took 3 batches of frosting and 2 batches of cake to make it, but I have to admit that it was very fun.  I got the idea for the cake from my friend Stacey's website, Perfectly Pink.  She has a picture of a similar cake that I just fell in love with, and I knew I HAD to try it for Hazel's birthday.

....yes, that's Hazel squishing her piece of cake all over the place.  She didn't like the frosting.  Not that I can blame her - I can't stand frosting (unless it's chocolate or cream cheese, and even then only in small amounts).

Some of the other girls were a little more happy to eat their slices.

The large tissue paper flower pompoms were made according to the instructions found here, but I came up with the cute little spiky pompoms in the egg cups myself.  I'll do a tutorial on them soon, they make the perfect plate centerpiece and would be great as a name card holder too.

These are the bigger ones I made from the Martha Stewart site.

Ahhh, that was a fun party.  Pretty exhausting, especially considering I pulled it together in a couple of days after looking at the calendar and realizing that I had to do it now or wait several weeks because of a bunch of scheduling conflicts, but fun.  And yes, I crashed after it was all done - there's nothing nicer than snuggling into the couch next to Hazel so she can watch a movie and I can catch up on lost sleep.  I love naps, don't you?  Especially when I'm the one taking it.

Now it's time to focus on Hyrums party...their birthdays are only a day apart so September is always crazy hectic....

I'm also getting ready to do a big post on all the Halloween quilts and pillows I've been working on, so check back in a bit for all that fun stuff as well! 

 

 

 

My Plants Runneth Over

I have a new favorite plant since moving to Virginia.  Can you guess which one it is?

Okay, NOW can you guess?  Why yes, it IS the mass of brilliant green spilling prolifically out of my planter!  Called the Sweet Potato Vine, it is, in a word, spectacular.  The plant comes in a striking deep purple color too, but since I already had spiky purple in the pot I went with the acid green.

Throw some red geraniums and purple petunias in the mix, and boom.  I love walking up to my front door with these beauties greeting  me with such abundance. 

Except right now the poor things are most thoroughly waterlogged...we've had heavy rain since Monday, and no end of the rain and thunderstorms until Saturday.  Sigh.  I actually like storms, but not for an entire week, especially when that week coincides with the first week that my 2 older kids are back in school. 

I have a whole line-up of furniture refinishing projects ready to work on now that the weather is (was) becoming less humid and spray paint actually has a fighting chance to dry well.  Our garage has been insanely crowded all summer, and I'm anxiously awaiting the chance to finish all my furniture projects so we can get our garage space back.  Just in time to get it all messy again as we dive into ripping out the rest of our basement and finish my studio.  You haven't heard about that whole adventure?  It started with this post here and the last you saw of it was here. 

Here's a picture to engage your visual sense of the divine.  Or not.  That was what my studio looked like during demolition - isn't it pretty? 

Long story short, a previous owner had installed the sheetrock without properly framing the walls with studs, so there was nothing to attach the electric outlet boxes to.  So they just screwed the outlets into the wooden furring strips, sans plastic housings. You can see one of the cute little fire hazards peeking through the rungs of the ladder.

Which means we have to demolish our entire basement to fix it.  My studio is largely finished, but the rest of the basement needs "The Treatment".  We've got to start now because we'll likely have to move in a year (military wife) and it's got to be done before we rent or sell the place.  Don't talk to me about moving.  Not a good subject.  :-)

Anyway, hopefully by the end of September I'll have all sorts of exciting progress to post about, at least in the furniture refinishing category. 

Here's a quick peek just to get you started.

So I've also got to get cracking on new patterns and a bunch of other stuff that I'm in the middle of.  There is SO much behind-the-scenes work to be dealt with, it's really hard not to throw my hands up in the air and go sleep for 15 hours instead of chipping away at everything. 

And this darn economy isn't helping either.  Maybe in another 2 years I'll actually be making enough money to cover expenses.  It's a good thing I love what I do, because right now I'd be much better off (financially) working at McDonald's.  You think I'm joking.  Let's just say that I keep thinking I'm turning a corner, only to find another gigantic hill ahead of me.  Momentum is pretty hard to maintain after so many years of uphill climbs, but at this point I have too much invested both emotionally and otherwise to call it quits.  Believe me, I have considered many times whether or not I should continue trying to make my way in this highly competetive industry.  It's very exciting and emotionally rewarding, but it's also a LOT of work and makes it very hard to balance all of my roles and responsibilities as a wife and mother.  But despite the cons, I keep feeling like I need to press on.  I am determined not to fail, despite all the setbacks...as long as my gut keeps telling me I'm supposed to forge ahead, that is.  Yes, guts can talk.  Too bad my guts can't be my secretary, or accountant, or art agent, or pattern maker...

Well.  Speaking of guts, I sure spilled mine more than I had planned to.  Sorry 'bout that, sometimes it just happens.  Who reads photo-less text on a crafty blog anyway?  But hey - at least my SPV (sweet potato vine) can still brighten my world!  Even when it's raining.