slipcover progress

whoa. whoa. whoa.   this is all i can think of at the moment.  when i decided to slipcover owen's rocking chair for his room, i knew i was up for a challenge, but whoa.  i took my chair and 7 yards of duck cloth fabric over to a friend's house, who has slipcovered several chairs now.  she helped me with the inside of the chair and the arms, which is supposedly the hardest part of slipcovering.  i hope she's right.  my friend and i spent over 6 hours making the back, insides, and arms!  after 6+ hours of work, i felt kind of bad that it was taking so long, so i decided i would take the chair home with me and finish it there.  i know slipcovers are not perfect, and i am okay with that.  but holy numb nuts.  this is hard work, and for such an okay outcome???  i can't wait to see the final product though (but honestly, i think i will be more happy just to be done with it).  my friend was SO awesome in helping me with this project.  there is no way i could have done any of this without her help.  she has shown me the basics, which i will use to finish up the chair.

so i ask this one question, which may not be a fair question because i am not done with my chair.

how do people make their slipcovers look so good?

case in point

Pink and Polka Dot

Biddibi BoddibI Beautiful

Ana White

Houzz

and now that your eyes have seen such a wonderful sight, i will now show you my least appealing photos of my chair.  ha!

*my room is freshly painted (woo-hoo!), but i haven't put anything back up on the walls.  :(

i can't wait to see the final product.  this chair will not have ruffles or pleats since that is a little too feminine for a boys room.  my ideal chair would look like the one in the last photo.  i can't wait to get this baby done!

if you have slipcovered before, do you know how to get rid of those gathers at the arm?????  i pin it straight, but it comes out of my machine bunched up.  yikes.


and lastly, how 'bout i let you drool over the dinner i cooked last night. 

Lucky Jackson art

I found this art through Julie, who blogs at Button, button, and as you may know, I love some good art.  I also have a thing for embroidery work these days, as I have jumped on the embroidery hoop bandwagon recently.  The Canadian artist is known as Lucky Jackson, and she is ah-mazing and very talented. You can find her work in her Etsy shop or on her website.  You must check her out.

All the photos came from Flickr.

*If you are interested in winning a slot to Whipstitch's 4 week sewing class (for beginners and intermediates), you can visit Plum and June, and enter there!

Winners!

I'm a day late getting this out to you.  It's Memorial Weekend here in the States, so sorry about that!  What a GREAT giveaway week with Sew, Mama, Sew! Here are the winners for the the laptop sleeve and fat quarter bundle plus a few of my favorite pet peeve responses.  The number one response involved food, chewing, and, in general, mouthy noises.   A lot of them were hilarious!  If you are stateside, Happy Memorial Day!  I wish I could say I was sitting at the beach or riding a boat in a lake, but I am cleaning today.  :)

Winners were chosen at random and have been emailed.  "Trillium" won the laptop sleeve, and "Gill" won the fat quarter bundle.

Thank you to everyone who participated!!!

Here are a few funnies you might enjoy.

"I hate when people take pictures of their pets on the quilts of crafts they just made. Ewe! It skeeves me out. I just picture their fat cat just mozied out of the litter box with some hangers-on and it's now lounging on that lovely fabric. (gags)"

"I don't like watching people brushing their teeth - especially when they've used too much toothpaste and they are foaming at the mouth."

"Ugh! I cannot stand it when people make food noises while they are eating. Like Mmm.. oo... ah..
It makes me super uncomfortable."

"I would say what annoys me the most is when people let their dogs poop in my yard, and don't clean it up. Especially when it is right in front of my mail box . . . ick."

"it makes me crazy when people sing to themselves all the time. Especially if they're little made up songs, like about what they're doing or something. ARG. Those are just annoying, because it's like making the same joke over and over and expecting it to be funny all the time, but the serious singing is annoying too because I'm not sure if you're supposed to compliment the singer, listen politely, pretend it's not happening and just talk around it"

"I guess I do find people who talk on the phone in the bathroom pretty annoying. I always feel bad for the person on the other end of the line who has to listen to them pee while they talk! Gross!"


Happy Monday yo!

Fabric Friday {ten14 Organic Textiles}

ten14 organic textiles has been on my Etsy favorite lists for a long while now.  The collection is small but appreciable.  I am not sure why I haven't shared them with you yet, but  I am pretty sure I have included a few of their prints in other posts for Fabric Fridays.   If you like tribal, colorful, geometric prints, you will love ten14.  

ten14 is found on Etsy as well as the website.

All fabric is organic and printed in the US.

There's still time left to enter two giveaways.  Laptop sleeve here and Birch's Next Stop 100% organic bundle from Cedar House Fabrics here.  Ends tonight at 8 PM EST.

Have a great weekend!  My niece is graduating high school, so we will be attending that.  I can't believe she's 18 already.  I remember when she was an infant spitting crap up everywhere.  Oh my word.  I.am.getting.old.too.fast.

On to a happier thought . . . oh, wait.

My son consistently climbs out of his crib now.  In fact, I am sure he is taking his afternoon nap on the floor as I am typing this.  Or cooking up some eggs.  Who knows.

What are you doing this weekend? 

Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway

 This giveaway is now closed.

 I have teamed up with the wonderful Lela, from Cedar House Fabrics, and present you a wonderful giveaway for Sew, Mama, Sew!  Cedar House Fabrics carries 100% organic fabrics including my favorites Monaluna, Birch, and Cloud 9.   CHF is definitely my go-to shop for organics.  Customer service is beyond excellent!  You can also order any custom cut of fabric instead of the standard cuts!!!

PRIZE:

• One fat quarter bundle of Next Stop from Birch.  100% GOTS certified Organic Cotton
• Open to all
• Ends May 25th, 8PM EST, winner announced on this post and emailed.  Make sure I have your email address!

PLEASE ONLY LEAVE ONE COMMENT TOTAL.  If you forget something, just delete your old comment and make a new one.  :)

TO ENTER

• What kind of marketing tool do you think is the most successful for small businesses?  Facebook, Twitter, giveaways, personal relationships with the consumers, or something else?
  
• If you have an account, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE  "like" Cedar House Fabrics on Facebook and/or Etsy.  Don't be a turd and not do it because it's one extra step.  Be nice, and show your appreciation.   This is an amazing bundle.

You can find Cedar House Fabrics at her main store, Etsy, and Facebook.

 
Best of luck my friends!!!