Near Conniption

I WANT A NEW SEWING MACHINE!! Whine. I'm having tension problems with this knit dress. I have consulted my manual about the proper tension for the stitch I am using, I'm using the right thread and even bought ballpoint needles.... what is wrong with this monster?!  This thing was just serviced like half a dozen garments ago... After 11 years together I feel like a bad seamstress because I've been eyeballing this http://www.amazon.com/SINGER-4423-Heavy-Sewing-Machine/dp/B003VWXZQ0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1337119907&sr=8-7  because let's face it, I can''t afford a Bernina. Sad day. Then my dream of launching this wretched hunk of metal from my highest window can be fulfilled! Thank you, that is all.

How to Iron Your Sofa

First I must say that I slacked last weekend by running off to Arkansas. The people talk funny and most of them seem kinda slow, but they have more than their fair share of gorgeous camping opportunities. After four(ish) hours of driving and miles and miles of this 

Oh and a few (hundred) of these 

we arrived here:

Anyway back to ironing the sofa...again. I was so excited when I got my foam home that I wrestled it into the cover without ironing it. This was a mistake. I realized at this point that it should probably be washed in super hot water to snug it up.... because I ran out of cushion wrap :( So the next best thing is a super hot iron with steam. can I just say that I tested my irons water spray range and it clears a good 9 feet. Back to business.

looking better!

So. More cushion wrap it'll have to be. I need to put the right front arm on and more piping here and there and she's done. Then I get to make a million throw pillows. I've been looking into this

http://www.lilblueboo.com/2011/09/a-citrasolv-transfer-onto-fabric-a-tutorial.html

so I can make stuff like this

with all the cool graphics like these

Most of which were found here.

http://www.graphicsfairy-diy.com/

Camel Back Sofa

I've been kicking myself for buying this sofa....couldn't figure out what fabric to put on it... whine. bitch. moan. Then I saw this:

Go ahead, wipe the drool off your keyboard.

I decided to be one of the cool kids. One trip to Home Depot and $40 later I had my fabric. Canvas drop cloth (think about all that fabric, roughly 13 yards.... for 40 bucks!) So here she is sans fabric. I forgot to get pictures of before I had all that batting on there but.. well you know. I wish I'd gotten a pic of the roll of dacron too, I swear it was easily 4 feet across. Even smooshed up it hardly fit in the back of my car!

Padded out and ready to go!

I bleached the drop cloth for 4-5 hours. It didn't lighten up much, but after being washed it turned out to be fairly soft an nice smelling :) Also very wrinkled. I thought "Why iron all this fabric when I'll be pulling it really tight?" I found another blogger who seconded this theory of non ironing laziness. I was wrong on this and though I can't say I've ever ironed a couch before, it went really well. No really. 

I still need to make the cushion (just one cushion) and put the back piece on. Oh and the front of the arms. Then I'll make a boat load of pillows for it and...

Stenciled sofa pillows inspired a new pintrest board. http://pinterest.com/rabid_glow/sofa-pillow-ideas/

I love the "grain sack" throw pillows, but I can't stand that you can find these things everywhere, even hobby lobby. So I'm kicking around some other things. I love mattress ticking and old architecture and history and texture..... I'm trying to figure out a good mash of these things. Something that represents my interests without being gaudy or heaven forbid, clashing. Please feel free to pin onto that board!

The last time I mention my sister's garter.

She sent me pretty pictures. It's not fair that someone should be gorgeous and talented!  

Legs, Rambling.

Bought my first pair of respectable scissors today. 8" Gingher shears. Perfection. I ran home as quickly as I could, excited to make something. I had a skirt in mind. Something I should be able to draft easy-peasy. Self faced yoke, pockets, invisible zipper. Simple. ......... Until I tried it on and realized the thing is like 6 inches too big. I can't figure out what I did wrong I measured (both myself and my pieces) twice! I followed my seam allowances, I even held it up to myself (like a good little corner cutter) before attaching the waistband to the skirt. WTF? I figure I have 3 options. 1.) fix it 2.) toss it 3.) put on 30 pounds. sigh. I'd show you pictures (it turned out well otherwise) but it won't stay on my dress form, so I'm going to go bitch and moan and scream outside and get over it.

At least the scissors look pretty. 

Despite my apparent loss of sewing skills other things seem to be going well. I found the arm pieces to the wing back.... they were hiding in the footlocker I painted two weeks back. Moving will do that. I swear this has been the most finicky part of the process, getting them evenly spaced and setting them with out them bending has been pain.

The sofa legs are looking good. 

Before

I usually avoid painting wood but this is a (cheap) reproduction, so I'm not feeling guilty. I liked the solid white, but ended up adding another color paint for some fun. I'm hoping it's not too much...

I get to order fabric next week. Woot!

And lastly I found this by the dumpster. Don't ask. Thinking about cleaning it up, painting it, putting pictures behind it (or fabric!) and adding some old glass pulls to hang coats on. \Maybe after I finish some other things, eh?

Trunk-tastic

Here she is, fresh from the closet after years of neglect. Complete with non functional combo lock. That I can't get off. I see a hack saw in my future. 

The Victim

I probably put at least a half dozen coats of Ebony stain on these bastards, but the stain wasn't taking very well. I ended up with almost black legs, with a lot of the wood grain showing.  

Lets face it I'm cheap, so instead of picking up a can of Killz, I bought a .99 cent can of white spray paint. Next, I used Rustoleum's heirloom white. I had left over from dresser, so I only needed one can. Then the fun part. Glaze.

FYI There are NO instructions on this, not even drying time, so read up online!

This stuff was....interesting.. to work with. In the sunlight outside it's hardly visible as a color, it just looks sparkly and transparent.  You can hardly tell it's there.

Without the flash

 It's a different trunk with the flash on. ...Wait, I can see spots I missed now. Awesome. Guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow. Next time I'll see about mixing with a bit of paint or something to increase the opacity a smidgen, and I'd chose a slightly darker non-metallic if I could do it again, because it's a little too bling-y for me.

With the flash.

 Total damage: 

Legs- 14.20

Paint -4.94

Glaze- 5.48

Misc BS (drop cloth, nuts, washers, foam brush)- about 3.50

Wood Stain- on hand

Trunk- remnant of band camp glory days- priceless

Moving...

Oh the joys of moving. I can now say that I am 100% moved in to the new place. I love it, but it needs lotsa work. After work I biked around the neighborhood and then scraped paint off the glass on the front door. . mmm...  And I was productive as usual at work, meaning I found a new fabric for the sofa.   

As long as it's the only busy thing in the room it'll be ok, right?

I'll admit I am exhausted and a bit crazy right now, but I have so many ideas for everything. I just need more time and maybe for my tax return to come in... or my deposit back from the old place. 

This. Is . Happening. SOON. 

I already have the trunk. Watch out Home Depot!! I can't wait to play with some paint glazes. I sorta goofed around with "antiquing" the dresser I re-did (for lack of a better descriptive word) a month back. I like the white, it's just a smidge plain. Also legs... I had originally thought I liked the idea of a hammered bronze (spray paint rocks my socks) but now I'm needing something that will stand out from the hardwoods but not be tacky.

Dresser for reference ....Dare I call it Shabby Chic?

Did I mention that my new place has a million windows? Ok only 11 plus two doors with glass. All of them filled with tacky mini blinds. So project number, oh, I forget.. 4?  Roman Blinds. I posted up a wanted ad on Craigslist for broken blinds.... we will see how that goes... worst case scenario I order them for 8 bucks a piece from walmart... but that defeats the free-cycling diy, not buying from the "man" attitude I like to think I have. When it's convenient. HA. 

And last but not least: 

Actually this is like #217 on my to-do list.

.... BUT it's too cute to not show you guys.