It's begun! (Coral Madness)

I've officially taken steps to begin taming the coral madness I've recently acquired. I ordered these pieces of fabric and trim online:

And I started painting this chair I'm planning on recovering with said fabric:

I've also figured out how to mix fabric dye to get a nice coral color that I am planning on dying white curtains I bought at a garage sale.

I also bought a mirror and a ceramic pheasant I'm planning on spray painting. I'm getting excited for this transformation!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Rocker Chair Cover

This is one of my "spruce up the house for company in a week" projects. This rocker in my living room had ugly, and I do mean ugly green corduroy on the cushions.



Here's the ugly:

And here's the pretty: (or at least the not so ugly anymore.)

I used a curtain I got at the thrift store for a dollar. The sewing was pretty easy, I just measured the cushions and winged it a little. The back is just a rectangle sewed in half. For the bottom, I traced the shape of the cushion and added a bit for seam allowance. I cut two of those and then a strip to go around the side and sewed it all together.

I wish there was time to do my whole couch this way. *sigh* Stay tuned for other projects throughout next week.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

What I've Been Working On Lately

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. I've been quite busy at work and with some community obligations, but I have managed to get a few projects done lately. I just completed a swap for Craftster (go check this out if you haven't yet. It's a great site where you can view lots of crafts by medium. Okay, short commercial break over! :) )

 I sewed two applique pillow covers. I haven't done much applique, but these turned out pretty good (minus the crooked sewing lines!).

These were based off of some Pins on one of my partner's boards. I think they turned out pretty good. Here's a closer look at the bunting one:

I also crocheted some fingerless mitts (a mini tutorial coming soon on this) using cotton yarn.

Here's one on:

That's mainly what I've been up to lately. This next couple of weeks, I am planning on a full tutorial post, a couple of mini tutorials, sewing my daughter a Halloween costume and hopefully a continuing series of organizing all my craft supplies in my basement.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Chenille Pumpkins

I had an old white chenille bedspread I decided to make fabric pumpkins with. I dyed a chunk of the bedspread orange and away I went. They are really quick and easy to cut, sew, and stuff. They only take about a half hour start to finish.

What a great trio of pumpkins! I decided to leave the white one inside out because I like how shabby it looked with the raw seam edges.

A little stick and some hot glue, and I have stems!

Don't you just love fall?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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Gypsy Skirt Turned Dress

Awhile back I saw this tutorial from Martha Stewart on Pinterest. I thought it looked pretty easy and decided to give it a try. It took awhile for me to find a skirt that I thought was long enough from the thrift store. Finally, I scored this one:

It's a cute layered gypsy skirt with lace and tulle. (Ignore the fact that I already cut the waistband off. I get eager to start sometimes before I realize I forgot to take a picture.) So, I followed the video instructions above for cutting and sewing. Here's what it looked like when I was done:

The only problem with it is, it's white. I decided to try ombre dip dying the skirt. (Don't worry, that ric rac is not going to be the actual ties.) I used a Rit dye color called Scarlet. I thought that would give me a nice deep red up to a pink shade. This is what I got instead:

Pink, pink, and more pink! It's not bad, just not what I expected. I obviously didn't put enough dye in the bucket. (So much for the dump method of measuring!). It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it is ombre. The effect is pretty subtle.

Here's an example of what it could look like tied with a belt:

It's very gypsy, cowgirl-esque. It would look great with boots! I will be updating this post with an actual pic of me in the dress later. I didn't have anyone to take one of me earlier. Word to the wise, if you attempt this, try to find a super long skirt. The longer the better. This one is a little shorter than I'd like. I might add some extra lace or ruffles at the bottom for more coverage.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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