From Winter to Spring

With the Seattle sunshine showing itself a little more often these days (knock on wood), it looks like it's about time to put away all the winter clothes...(wow, I have a lot of black)

and pull out the bright colors of spring.

I don't know why it always seems to surprise me when I pull out my spring/summer clothes and think, "This is all I have?", or, "Oh, you again?" The reunion wasn't all that exciting. I really do need some new spring and summer clothes.

The idealist in me thinks, I'll just make all my new clothes! And the realist in me says, Grab your Macy's coupons and get a move on or you'll never have anything to wear. 

Speaking of needing to get a move on, hu hum, I'm still working on getting the breezy skirts and tops sewn for spring and summer with my fun new fabrics.

Here are a few designs from Anthropologie that I like...

We'll see what I come up with. And for my sake, I hope it's sooner than later!

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Inspiration to sew by: Anthropologie Music II

Some of you know how I love Anthropologie. I could wander around their stores all day...daydreaming of the possibilities. *Sigh.* The place just does that to me.

Some days while I'm sewing, I find I need a little extra something to keep me going. For those days, I turn to a source of sewing inspiration. The soothing, quirky, inspiring, eclectic sounds of Anthropolgie...and as if by magic, I'm transported to a little quaint sewing room tucked away within the secret back rooms of Anthropologie (if there really is such a place).

Back in September, I shared an Anthropologie playlist I found online. I have since found several more. A special thanks to those who compiled lists for those of us smitten with Anthropologie.

I simply find the songs on youtube and create a playlist.

Get ready, I've got TONS of songs. Lists and lists. Sorry if some are repeats.

***Revised***

In order to spare my blog (and you!) the ridiculously long post this music list created, I have started a page just for Anthro music.

Feel free to browse the list here: Anthropologie Music List

I'll update it as I run across any additions.

Enjoy!

{Photo credit: MyFDBlog}

Floral Pillows for a pop of color

Sometimes I think I'm too bland.

I'm the vanilla milkshake. The plain white rice. The buttered toast of the fashion and decorating world.

I'm drawn to simple, subtle tones and designs. You'd never catch me wearing animal print. Even if it looked good on me. Sequins might be as flashy as I go.

But every once in a while I surprise myself. And I go a little bolder than usual. Like with these floral garden pillows.

And guess what? They had a first life. They were high quality kitchen towels from one of my favorite places, Anthropologie. I wasn't convinced it was their ultimate destiny. So I turned them into lovely puffy pillows before they ever set foot in the kitchen.

I love the blue, pink, gray and lavender hues in this pillow.

And I love the greens reds and pinks in this one.

For some reason I think of lettuce every time I see it.

Usually "bulging" isn't a characteristic that's very becoming, but in the case of these pillows, I have to disagree. Overstuffing their 14x14 cases with 16x16 pillow forms made them scrumptiously plump, which is much better than a wimpy pillow, in my opinion.

Throw caution to the wind!

Put jam on your toast. Bring a little color into your life. You'll be glad you did.

Linked to:

SewMuchAdo

BlueCricketDesign

CreationsbyKara

AGlimpseInside

FingerprintsOntheFridge

Perfect placemats for round tables

I love our little round glass table. It feels like eating in a quaint cafe and it's perfect for our small space.

For months we've been using rectangle shaped placemats on our round table, because it's all we had.

And while it works just fine, I knew it could be so much better.

And I was right.

I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before.

Semi-circle placemats, also called half moon placemats (which sounds cooler, especially to us Twilight fans) fit perfectly on round tables.

I made a pattern from recycled newspaper by measuring the circumference of the table and shrinking the size down to what I wanted.

For the material, I decided to re-purpose the rest of the Anthropologie tablecloth. You know, the one I used to make that snazzy, colorful apron? Is it weird that my apron will match my placemats?

Anywho, for a little flexible padding I also cut a matching piece of cotton batting for the middle.

I love how they turned out.

Our new half moon placemats will be beautifying our little round table at every meal.

Linked to:

SewMuchAdo SomewhatSimple CreationsbyKara BlueCricketDesign AGlimpseInside LifeAsLori PaisleyPassions Tearosehome

Anthropologie refashion: Tablecloth to apron

Back in December during my Anthropologie shopping spree, I ran across this brightly ruffled 72" round tablecloth in the sale section. It screamed for me to buy it and transform it into something else (since after all, it was just a giant piece of fabric from my favorite store)...so I happily took it home with me.

Here it is in all its 72" glory

And here it is now, in it's lovely new life as a cheery, ruffly apron:

A girl can't have too many aprons you know.

So as not to leave you empty handed, here's a peek at how I put this apron together:

As with my other tablecloth to apron repurposing project, I used a simple apron I had on hand to use as a pattern guide - folded it in half, along with the fabric
And snipped around the outside edges, allowing room for seams
I also made sure I had a nice straight edge on the top of my apron (btw - I LOVE my self-healing mat and acrylic ruler...wouldn't want to sew without it)
Next, I folded over the edges, in preparation to hem. This is where my iron came in handy.

I always wondered what all the fuss was about when people talked about using an iron while sewing, until I tried it. I love my iron! Iron as you fold over and it will stay beautifully, making pinning a hem so much easier.

And then I got the curves ready for hemming...
And made the corners nice and clean

And here is the hemmed apron - all sides and ruffle.

Then the not so fun part...lots of seam ripping to get to that nice big piece of ruffled fabric for the waist band and neck tie
I was glad I ripped the seams like I did though, so I could use as much of the fabric as possible.

For the neck tie, I cut, folded over and straight stitched a long straight strip from the ruffle

For the neckline, I folded over the hemmed edge and stitched, with enough room for the neck tie to be pulled through

I love the natural gathered effect this design gives to the neckline

The waist band was simply folding over the raw edges of another straight strip from the ruffle, and sewing it down on the waist line

With enough room for a long piece of grosgrain ribbon to fit through, for the waist tie

Since I was sewing by the seat of my pants, I didn't think through the waist band completely. I sewed the waist band down without hemming the outer edges. So instead of ripping it all apart, I used a little Fray Check on the outer edges of the waist band. And used a little on the edges of the ribbon. Not the way I would normally finish an edge, but it worked. Next time better planning.

Linked to:

QuiltStory
HopeStudios
TodaysCreativeBlog
SewCanDo
TheGirlCreative
TheCreativeItch
Tearosehome
SewMuchAdo
TheShabbyChicCottage
CreationsbyKara
PaisleyPassions

Anthropologie apron refashion: from waist to full apron

I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season.

I can't believe the new year is just around the corner!

Yesterday my mom, sister and I went to the downtown Seattle Anthropologie. Their sale items are placed right as you walk in the door...how did they know it wouldn't take long for me to find something I couldn't live without??

I've been eying Anthropologie's ruffled aprons for-ever.

So lovely and feminine.

However, I'm am a grease magnet when I cook. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a greasy spot or two on the front of my shirt that seems to have flown out of nowhere. And yes, it's because I was too lazy to open a drawer and put on an apron. Pathetic.

I decided that although this apron is absolutely beautiful just the way it is, it wouldn't be able to protect the few grease-less shirts I still have left.

So I decided to turn this waist apron to a full apron, by adding a top, and hoping at the same time to maintain it's delicate style.

Again, here is the before:

And here it is after my apron refashion:

I really like how it turned out. It kind of feels like it was always meant to be this way.

I found some flowered cotton material in my stash that worked for the top, and used natural muslin for the neck strap.

Here are a few tips on how I refashioned a waist apron to a full apron:

The piece of flowered fabric I had was only about 7" wide and about 23" long

In order to have enough material to extend the top width, I had to cut the 23" long piece in half long-ways and then in half vertically to add two panels to the front.

Here I have each piece pinned right sides together to the main front piece. Most people would already have it wide enough to start with. Measure across your chest to see how wide you want the front piece.

After sewing the side panels to the main front panel:

I hemmed all sides and top, then ironed down seams to lay flat.

I attached the top to the waist of the apron by sewing it wrong sides together and stitching along the bottom hem line of the waist (with cream colored thread to match the apron waist).

When finished, I flipped up the front and top stitched across the front of the waist to secure it. (sorry no photo)

For the neck piece, I cut about a 4" wide x 22" long piece of natural muslin, folded it in half and straight stitched.

Ironed the seams down

Turned it right side out and top stitched about 1/4" in to secure.

I should have left about 1/2" on each edge to turn under, but I forgot and didn't want to take the top stitching and original stitching out, so I opted for a zig zag stitch on the ends (since they wouldn't be showing anyway).

I stitched the neck strap ends to the back side of the top by top stitching on the front of the apron, in a rectangle shape to secure all four sides (switching back to light blue thread)

I'm so excited to wear it! But I guess that means I have to cook... :)

Linking to:

TrulyLovely
SomewhatSimple
TeaRoseHome
TheShabbyChicCottage
BlueCricketDesign
SewMuchAdo
HopeStudios
PaisleyPassions
AGirlInParadise