Still Sewing...

Here are a few of the recent projects. It all became a little easier when the dress form arrived. I won't say, however, these would be defined as sewn 'well.' As expected, with every project I become better at some skill. Although these three items are for me, I like making people things as long as they're willing to wear them. Thanks to my mom (a long-time sewer) for keeping me in check with the technical aspects (yes, mom, the threads are trimmed and the seams are pressed open).

Little Girls' Shirts!

I decided to make my niece a shirt, but should have chosen a pattern more carefully. I also should have realized I'm not yet skilled enough to alter said pattern...I agonized over figuring out how to make this shirt. So, this is the product of my idea and agony:

My niece's friend then wanted one that was "goth"...so this is my take. Thankfully, this didn't take as long as the first one.

The Sewing Begins...

Because I must have aged 65 years in the last 6 months, I started a sewing class this Winter at Creativities in Cincinnati. I love it, and have learned a lot just in 4 classes. I started with pillows (thanks to my mom for helping) and have moved to clothes (which is probably what I will try to master). I have this idea of eventually making dresses, but I should probably finish my classes before I get too ambitious. Here are the beginnings of my adventures with the sewing machine:

Pillows with matching fabric on canvases.

My first dress. Although it is by no means perfect, the pockets aren't uneven as they appear in this picture. Also, the pattern said "1-hour sewing" and it took me about 4 days. I have a lot to learn.

Wall Art

Thanks to Pinterest for giving me the idea for my niece's Christmas present. I believe the one I originally saw was melted crayon; I'm not that talented, though, so I used paint. Here is a picture of my niece opening it:

So Sassy!

Final Kitchen Pictures

I haven't posted in awhile, but figured I needed to post the final kitchen pictures, with floor and everything. Here is the complete before/after shot:

Before.

After (Excuse the eye sore that is the fridge.

In all, probably about $515 by the time we did the flooring. We love it!

Dining Stenciling.

As I mentioned before, the condo I moved into with my boyfriend was a mess (no offense, Bill). This area in the picture, for example, consisted of random boxes, bikes, a dining table (I'll give him that), an air mattress with a hole in it, golf clubs, and a Yankees poster on the wall. Needless to say, I didn't find that conducive for a female's dwelling. So, here are some pictures of what resulted after a thorough cleaning:

The stencil used. My first Martha Stewart purchase (uh-oh).

In the process. The trickiest part was finding a spot to set my drink.

I'm forever grateful to my mom and brother for the table they made me years ago. It's a coffee table put on higher legs with antique chairs.

Another view.

Overall, this probably cost about $40. I used brown paint we had around the place; these are frames from Goodwill I emptied and painted; the one, I simply hung from a ribbon to add height; the vases on the shelves are also from a thrift store, as is the big turquoise one; my mom got me the great lighted branches for Christmas, and I just added some real sticks from outside (I made Bill get them on his run, hopefully they don't have bugs in them).

Daylight view.

Coloring the Bathroom

As we know, once you complete one project, others seem to pop up everywhere. As a result of my boredom, I decided to paint and redecorate our bathroom (I know, I'm lame). Because I'm cheap, I mixed together four different paint colors we had from past projects. I know all real painters would advise against doing this (and I might now, too), but there's a thrill that comes with seeing if you can make it work. For the stripes, I used two different sample colors mixed together from the paint store ( I couldn't find the exact color I wanted). So, with the paint and the materials needed for the wall hangings, this cost about $30. However, I had to have these cabinet knobs at Anthropologie, so those were $40. That being said, and I should have mentioned in the kitchen post, the Natural Light needed to complete these projects is not included in the budgets. If drinks were included, we would exceed all budgets by a long shot. This may not have been ideal for the measuring and execution of stripes on the wall, but I think it turned out ok.

Before.

After. Wall sconce from Goodwill I spray painted.

Before: Sterile white.

After: fabric over canvases; scrapbook paper over switchplate.

Before. I had already taken off some of the drawers before I remembered to take the picture, but you get the idea. Our cat had to be part of the action.

After: I painted the doors an off white color, added some brown in spots, and sanded to give it an antique look.