New Show Props "or" There's Always Room For Improvement

New Mini Bag Display

So...

I like to change my show display every so often, mix things up,

 try to look fresh, go with the season....

With that in mind, I've been busy re-doing/ inventing new show props.

Keep in mind, I'm in a 10 x 10 area with a canopy, table space is limited,

I need to take advantage of up space.

The new mini bag display above started out as a sleeveless, lace coat thing

that I made about eight years ago.

I intended to wear it to The Ren Fest but just didn't like it.

I pulled it out of the "gone wrong" trunk, ironed it and then pondered.

I pinned the bags to it, but didn't like the see-through aspect of the lace.

It needed some contrast, I dug through my closet and after trying several

things, came up with a long, black sweater coat.

I pinned a vintage veiled, black velvet hat to the hanger

and added a vintage sweater pin thingy.



Close Up.



Next was the large bag/purse display.

I've tried several things and didn't like any.

I had an idea that involved large dowel rods.

Favorite daughter (inside joke) did the Home Depot

run for me and came back with two 1" diameter x 48" long dowel rods.

I had a lace curtain panel, some black fabric, the dowel rods,

spray paint, drawer knobs, ribbon and imagination.

I spray painted the dowel rods gold and added the drawer knobs to the ends.

Then slipped on the lace panel,

added ribbon to hang it from....

Then I pinned on the bags/purses.



New Bag Display.



I added a ribbon to the center of the bottom so

I can roll it up and tie it off for easy transport.

I also made a garment bag for transporting the aprons, that trash bag I was using....

A little tacky to say the least!

Several other things got a re-do/coat of paint.

Hopefully, once everything is set up we'll look better than ever.

Although...

I don't know if the weather is going to cooperate.

Show is tomorrow and there's rain in the forecast.

Wish me luck!

Till next time,

Bonjour

P.S.

That "gone wrong" jelly?

I used a jar of the orange

to flavor a pot of beans, pretty good!

Just saying...



Vintage Chair Refashion



Look at that beautiful sky.

 SO...

This is a chair that I've had for so long I can't

even remember where or when I got her!

I'm sure I only paid $5.00 max,

because,

that's my limit on chairs, really.

(I am so cheap).

It's been green, white, red.....

Lately it's been residing on the workstation side of the deck

waiting for a redo.

As long as I had the paint out  for the end table redo, why not tackle her too?

The last painting she had was red over green, the red needed a few more coats

and I just wasn't feeling it so she was pushed to the side.

Time to put her front and center.

Before

(Ignore all that stuff in the background).

Since the base was mostly red, and the paint I had out was

compatible, and the sponge was already loaded....

Monet inspired

The fabric for the seat is a dress I purchased at

a new flea market in Waxahachie for $2.50.

A 90's, gathered creation with lots of fabric.

Oh my!

Out with the old!

In with the new.



Finished

 She now resides in my office/craft/sewing area,

replacing this chair that I found in the dumpster

at our old apartment, actually, I found two of them.



Donate or keep?

 Don't know if I want to keep these chairs or not.

I still have a lot of the dress fabric left,

and this baby needs some clothes.....

Naked ARRANBEE baby.


And I did just purchase a vintage doll clothes pattern on Etsy!

Maybe a new wardrobe for the sweetie pie?

Stay tuned!

Till next time, happy everything.

Bonjour

DIY Skirt To Purse To Skit Refashion

SO, SEW

The skirt!

Another thrift store score!
At only $2.00 I really couldn't pass this up, never mind that it
was a size 4, and well....
I'm not.
 I figured I could do something with the fabric.

It had all these pleats at the waist, so, I just popped one out.
I wore it this way a few times till inspiration hit.

~INSPITATION HITTING~

I took out all the pleats and was rewarded with a giant piece
of fabric-ness for my crafting pleasure.

  The excess fabric on one side was cut away, and I shaped what was left into an a-line.
On the one side I had the zipper, and the length was perfect, so all I had to do was
 sew up a seam and....

Vola cute skirt.

Wait, I'm not done!

What did I make with the excess fabric-ness you ask?

Why, a bag of course!

The green stripe band at the top used to be curtains

and the lace I've had for awhile.

I wanted a lace pocket but the lace wasn't wide/long enough.

Drat

I cut two pieces of lace, laid one atop the other and staggered them

to get the length I wanted and sewed a pink ribbon

across to hold the two pieces together.

Next I pressed under ¼”

on either side of the pocket's raw edge

and then sewed it to the bag.

I gave the bag gussets on the bottom to provide some width/depth,

but didn't line it.

Maybe I should rethink and add a lining?

What do you think?

~BTW~

The photos were taken in two different parts of my house, so,

 the fabric colors look totally different

between the skirt and bag.

I hope you' all have a lovely weekend,

we'll be at the Farmer's Market on Saturday, selling our wares.

Till next time,

Bonjour

Busy Little Bee, DIY Aprons

SO.....

Found these lovelies at my local thrifty shop and just had to have them!

One 23" table cloth, six 9 ½”  napkins and six 6" coasters.

All for $1.00, all in good shape. WOW!

I was thinking of pinning them all together to sell but I started thinking!

The little ones look like pockets, or doll clothes, or clothing embellishment....

So I started with a pocket.

I had this dusty rose color, toile fabric in my stash and decided to make an apron.

At one point, dusty rose color, toile fabric was used to make my bathroom curtains.

 I'm telling you, I definitely recycle fabric.

 This apron is flat across the waist with no gathers.

Finished size is 22 x 22 with the ties being long enough to wrap

around and tie in the front.

I made a pocket out of the toile fabric, then sewed the coaster onto that.

I sewed the pocket onto the front of the apron in a

diamond shape and left it open on the outer side.

This is a reversible apron so I used a doily to embellish the other sides' pocket.

Added this cute, pink, pearlescent button from my button stash,
some lace and pink ribbon.

Wish I had someone here to take a picture of me wearing it,
the hanger photos don't do it justice!

This apron is gathered at the waist, also reversible.





I hope to sell these at the market tomorrow.

 

Wish me luck!

 

Till next time,

Bonjour

                                                                         

The Planets Have Aligned In My World!

 I admit it.....

I love to sew, doesn't matter what I'm sewing, I just need to do it!

Seems all things align and the world is right when I sew.

So, today was a sew day so to speak..

This is how the story goes....

A few years back I made a quilt for Nathan's bed,

a very nice quilt if I do say so myself.

Traditional piecing for the top and crazy piecing for the drop.

(I really don't quilt, I piece and then

tie the whole thing together with embroidery floss).

Anyway....

Our dog Red likes to lay on Nathan's bed , not allowed,

but while the masters are away.....

Apparently those embroidery floss tassels tantalized her.

A nip here a scratch there, well you can guess,

rips and tears beyond repair.

I took it apart and salvaged what I could, the crazy squares!

What could I do with these crazy squares?

It hit me today....Bedside rugs!

(We're living on concrete floors here)!!!



My Dad made the chest of drawers when I was a baby.

The legs came from a chair that the previous homeowners left here.

Crazy blocks are pieced onto a foundation fabric,

plenty enough thickness in those squares for a rug.

I had enough squares to make two, 27" x 37" rugs.

The backing is made from

a dis-assembled couch throw that didn't quite work out.



I'm back in the groove...

 Sun is shining, temps are in the 70's, life is good!

Hope You' all had a creative and fruitfull weekend.

Till next time,

Bonjour

Time, Time, Got No Time.....

Well...

Nathan, my grandson is going to his Dad's

for a couple of weeks, so guess what? 

I have the next few weekends to myself.

I get to have some me time!!!

YAHOO!!!!

Blogging, sewing, whatever.

No Grandma I'm hungry,

no Grandma are you finished on the computer,

no Grandma are you still blogging,

no Grandma play a game with me,

no Grandma let's watch a movie.

No Grandma nothing,

I love him to death but sometimes...

 Grandma needs a break!

So....

Ankle length skirt.

A few weeks ago I found this skirt at the SPCA thrift shop,

not my cup of tea,

 but it had possibilities, and for $3.00 it was a steal.

Pure Irish linen in a soft, subtle green.

What to do, what to do?

It hit me at work on Friday

so the minute I got home I started my redo.

I took off about 8" to make it a little above the knee,

 then dug through my fabric stash for a suitable accent fabric.

Yep,

 found a light fabric with green flowers that was left over

from a pillow case project.

Perfect!

I cut 2 rectangles 6" deep by 2 1/2" longer than the skirt hemline.

(1 for the front and 1 for the back)

Hemmed the bottom long edges and gathered the top edges.

After pinning the ruffles in place

I stitched the ruffle side seams,

then sewed the ruffle to the skirt.

Added a little yellow grosgrain ribbon and,

Finished skirt.

VIOLA.

Cute skirt for Terry at very little cost.

Tote

I even had enough fabric left over to create this tote.

There's something to be said for ME time don't you think?

Til next time,

Bonjour

Sofa Completed And I'm Still Here

Recovered Sofa

I guess I'm a heathen, cause I'm still here!

I was a little concerned today,

I knew I would be LEFT BEHIND

but,

what about my loved ones?

Would they be gone?

Everyone I know is still on Planet Earth,

so, 

I guess the nut doesn't fall far from the tree!

Really!!!

On to the sofa.

I purchased a total of 13 yards of fabric for this project,

1 bolt of each print. ($22.50 plus tax)
I like to purchase more than I need just in case I screw something up!

Happens, believe me...

I did all the cushions and pillows in the sham method to eliminate zippers, 

and still had enough fabric to make throw pillows
and cushions for the park bench.

In a previous life the seat cushions for the park bench

were the back cushions on a second hand love seat .



Park Bench

Even had enough fabric left to cover one of the chairs on the front porch! 

The pillows on the park bench and the front porch chair

were 50 cents each at the thrifty shop.

Free front porch Chair

What to do about the other chair on the front porch?

The cushion for this chair was purchased from Wally World

about five years ago....

Really bad shape but the top half was savable.

Snip, snip....

Another fifty cent pillow combined with the savable top half and,

VIOLA!



Other free chair

The covers for this chair were pillow shams given to me by my mother- in- law.

(Yeah, I know, I need to paint the front porch ....again).

So here we have it,
the deck is in useable condition,
(AKA entertainment worthy)
complete with seating for twelve,
dining area for six, bath for one, and dominoes for two.
Nathan always kicks my a.. at dominoes!!!

Lower half of deck

You're welcome to come over for some B-B-Que and dominoes,

just get here before July!!!
 
Till next time,
Bonjour

Neglect

I know....

I've been neglecting my blog!

That doesn't mean I've been lolling about doing nothing though.

I do have a few projects in the works!

Really, I do!

 Like this wrought iron sofa.

A guy I used to work with needed some trash hauled away and this sofa

and a matching chair were in the trash pile!

SCORE!!!

(Why we were hauling trash is a whole other blog post)!

Anyway,

Steve cut boards for the seats and I got busy with the paint.

I covered some bed pillows for the back cushions

and just used an old quilt for the seat cushions.

Well...

A few weeks ago I was at my local thrifty shop

and spotted these cushions in their trash.

Hum...

They were mine for the asking,

 and now I have comfy seat cushions for the sofa.

All I need to do is cover them.

One has a broken zipper but, I think I will cover them in the pillow sham style.

A little more fabric is required but the need for zippers is eliminated.

The back pillows will also receive a redo.

I'll post the results as soon as I finish.

 Till next time,

Bonjour.

Repurposing An Old BBQ Grill

So..

This photo was sent to me via E-mail from my stepdaughter Amber.
She pens the blog http://www.librarianismchronicles.blogspot.com/

filled with useful links, projects and info related to teaching lower grade students.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have thought of this and
I think it's truly a unique way to repurpose an old bbq grill.

She planted coconut thyme and spicy oregano in it, and since

both plants are creepers the space should fill in quite nicely.

Unfortunately her dogs have a tendency to pee on her plants

 so, this was her solution to the problem.

I say well done!!

What do you think?

If you have a repurposing idea, sewing project or recipe that you would

like featured here, just email me a picture and info 

to

 terryseeks@gmail.com

Till next time,

Bonjour

Repurposing A Screen Door

GEM

GLUEING & CLAMPING



Well.....

This gem was given to me by my mother-in-law to do with as I pleased.

Obviously the left photo was taken last spring as evidenced by the lush green grass.

It needed a little help in the sturdiness department
so out came the clamps and wood glue.

And there on the work table she sat and sat and sat,
for almost a whole year!!!

My idea was to make her into a screen divider for
behind my sewing machine.

Enough already, finish it for pete's sake.

So.... 



A few months ago I purchased some paint

in hopes of moving this project along.
Had these awesome hinges, maybe I can work them into the project?



AWESOME HINGES





PAINTED AWESOME HINGES

Purchased  four of these shelf brackets at Canton First Monday last fall,

thinking I could use them as the "feet".

THINGIES

Had five of these thingies in my "stuff" stash,

don't even know what they are or where they came from.

Doesn't matter, they're cool!

ROSETTES

The rosettes were purchased at "The Depot" especially for this project.

I was at "Wally World" a few months ago looking at fabric
and purchased this piece
which is really strange because "I don't do blue"
and even had a blue sheet that matched, even stranger.
I guess this project was in the back of my mind percolating
without me even knowing it.

Everything just kinda fell into place in it's own time.




STRANGE BLUE FABRIC PURCHASE

 



"ALIEN" CLOSE UP



THE LOWER HALF IS THE BLUE SHEET
CHECK OUT THE "FEET"







And if you're thinking I have her upside down, you're right!

The lower half will be behind my sewing cabinet,

why hide these way cool spindles?



The main screen is burgundy, the trims are medium green,

the spindles are light green, and oddly enough,

the solid fabric is light blue and

 the floral fabric is burgundy, white, light blue and black.

My grandson Nathan helped me with this project.

He chose how the rosettes were placed and his thoughts are....

~~~~~~~

The two upper roesttes are eyes, the thingies are eyebrows,

the center vertical wood strip is a nose,

the center horizonal rectangle is a mouth and the spindles are teeth.

"Some strange alien thing".

Those were his words!

I see it!

What do you think,
trash or treasure?

Till next time.
Bonjour