I have done some simple reupholstering projects...such as ottomans and chair seats...nothing too hard.  And I think anyone can tackle these with some fabric and a staple gun.

Then I saw a chair out by the curb for trash pickup and started to wonder if I could possibly redo an entire chair.  I stealthily dragged the chair across the yard and driveway and wrangled it to my back porch.  Wasn't it a beauty?
I began the task of taking the chair apart.  It is a wonder I didn't require a tetanus shot...

A good crafting blogger would write a tutorial from this point on.  I'm not a good crafting blogger.  I still don't think I know enough to tell anyone else how to do this.  Plus I'm sure I did most of it wrong (such as retying a couple springs with kitchen twine).  If it weren't for the help of the two ladies at Bargain Barn Fabrics in Montvale, VA, this chair would have never gotten past this point.  I was down there three times asking questions and buying more supplies.  A smart woman would have just let them redo the chair.  I'm not a smart woman.

After I stripped the chair of its ugliness, I repainted it a fresh aqua blue.  I retied some springs, covered those in jute webbing, stapled the burlap back, and then covered my seat in dacron.  It looks better already!


 This chair project required covering the seat, making a cushion with cord around the edges, using tufting in the back, and attaching the back fabric using flexible metal tack strips.  The cushion was easy to do, but it frustrated me that the medallion design was not evenly spaced across the fabric so I couldn't line up the top and bottom pieces perfectly.  The tufting wasn't hard, but I still didn't manage to get all my buttons tight enough.  The flexible metal tack strip that went along the top of the curved back was a little like wrestling Jaws.  But it is on there!

I love how it turned out, but I can't find a home for it.  It didn't go with the living room (too blue), so I moved it to my bedroom.  I still think it looks a little out of place, but I'll live with it for a while before I find it the right spot.

....or learning to let go

In January, in a spurt of crazy, I signed up to participate in Jessica Brogan's Inspirational Card Deck Swap.  To participate, all I had to do was take a deck of cards and alter them in some creative way and include an inspirational quote on each one.  I would mail my completed deck to Jessica and she would mix them all up and I would receive a deck of cards created by 52 different artists (and 52 different wonderful souls would receive my cards as part of their decks).  I thought I could do this.  How hard could decorating small cards be?  Especially when given almost three months to do it in.

It was hard.  I procrastinated because I couldn't figure out what to do with my cards.  On the day they were due to be postmarked, I sat down to begin.  And it was a disaster.  I covered all my cards in paper, adhering it to the cards using an aerosol glue.  Since it was cold outside (and dark) I did this on my kitchen table.  Which is extremely close to my gas furnace.  After I sprayed everything down, I read the warnings on the can that told me in no uncertain terms that I would blow myself up if used near any sort of flame, including small pilot lights.  Luckily, I'm still here but I switched to a permanent craft glue stick just to be safe.

Then I started to paint.  I thought every card had to be its own little painting.  So as I created my little not-quite-masterpieces, all my paper that I had risked my life to glue down started to peel off.  Completely.  so now I had bare playing cards and curly sheets of paper covered in paint.

At this point I decided to quit.  My paintings weren't good enough to give to others.  My paper was falling off.  I was at the deadline.  So I messaged Jessica trying to drop out.  Gluing paper to playing cards was obviously beyond my skill set and I was too embarrassed to send these to anyone but the garbage men. 

But she wouldn't let me.  She gave me advice on how to glue my paper down (double sided tape) and offered to help me through the process.  I finally found out about her tutorial video and I watched that.  And I learned that I needed to let go.  I needed to let go of aiming for perfection and then getting upset when I didn't reach it.  I needed to let go of worrying what others would think of my cards.  So I let go.  And every card I created after that turned out beautifully.  I gave up on trying to create mini paintings and instead covered every single card in yellow paint.  I then used torn paper and stamps to create my inspirational cards.  And I love them all.

Here is my process...

These are my first few cards.  I had envisioned a sky and sea life themed set.  This didn't get that far after every single card fell apart and this is where I tried to quit.









I then switched to color pencil.  If there wasn't any wet paint to ruin my glue, I thought everything would stay together.  It did stay together.  But want to know what takes a very, very, very long time?  Coloring close to 50 individual pictures with pencil.  I gave up after five. 






This is my Janet Hill inspired set.  Visit her works at www.janethillstudio.com.  All of her paintings have a sense of vintage whimsy.  So I did dresses on dress forms.  This was pretty easy but I ran out of dress ideas.  So I quit after five here as well.







Here is my last ditch effort.  At this point I didn't care.  I still wanted them to be pretty, but I gave up on trying to form perfect little pictures.  And this is also when it all clicked and came together....


























I will be mailing my cards off after all.  And I can't wait to see what I receive! 

And a huge thank you to Jessica who helped me through this process by being supportive and reminding us all to just let go....

Burda Style 06/2011 Skirt with front pleats #117A

Welcome to my first pattern review!  I've noticed that most pattern reviews have for real pictures, and not poorly lit cell phone pictures of clothing hanging on a door.  So I had to wait until I could con someone into taking my picture (thank you Kelly!). 

I had gorgeous gray silky fabric covered in black lace.  I bought a tiny bit to make a clutch for my sister's wedding back in January and put the leftovers away.  But I kept thinking about it....I wasn't happy with just a clutch.  A broken clutch (hint: super glue will NOT hold fabric to a metal frame...).  I first thought of a lace panel front pencil skirt, but my curves aren't very pencil-y.  So then I started thinking pleats and ran across a pleated skirt sew along that Gertie did for this Burda pattern. 

You can check out the skirt and the sew along here.

According to Gertie, this was a super simple skirt to put together and the pleats could easily become a contrast fabric.  I immediately downloaded the pattern and rushed out to buy some solid black fabric.  I ended up with a silk dupioni from JoAnn's.

I think it turned out pretty well!  I'll get into the details shortly, but the skirt is extremely comfortable and I love it.















Please ignore my super white legs, but feel free to admire my hair.  I actually did something to it for my photo shoot in my mom's sunroom.  I don't even fix my hair for work.  Or my boyfriend.  But I did it for you, dear readers.

Ok, now for the review!

Pattern Description
This is a skirt with two pleats in the front and two in the back.  There is a side zipper and the waistband is grosgrain ribbon.

Pattern Envelope
I downloaded it from Burda Style so I don't have an envelope.  But the pattern picture shows an extremely thin model in a see through skirt.  I didn't opt for the sheer white fabric.  No one wants to see that.





Pattern Sizing
Ha!  Apparently I am "Extremely Plus Sized and Therefore Not Suitable for Normal Burda Patterns".  I had to grade the pattern up by 3 sizes.  Three!  This is the first time I've ever enlarged a pattern so I did make a muslin.  Fortunately, this pattern is almost all straight lines, so it was extremely easy to do.

Did it look like the pattern envelope once you were done sewing it?
I think so.  Except for the see through part.  Hope it doesn't rain wherever she is.  I did hem mine a little lower, but the pattern comes in short and drag the floor long.  I went in the middle.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
I have no idea.  I never touched them.  I used Gertie's old sew along instructions and it went together like a breeze.  I would assume that her instructions followed along with the pattern instructions.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I loved how easy it was to make my size and how smoothly it went together.  It is labeled as a "novice" pattern and it really is. 

Would you use it again or recommend it to others?
Yes and yes!  I already have the fabric for skirt number two using this pattern.  I got a white fabric covered in lobsters for summer.  I plan to wear it out to eat at Red Lobster while singing the B-52's "Rock Lobster".  Good plan, huh?

Conclusion
Love the pattern, but I might need to rethink some of my future fabric choices.  Nah, no I don't.  I've already bought the lobsters!

Setting:  My house which is covered in pieces of fabric, a half sewn pillow is on the couch by an almost finished skirt, clothing that I have mended for a friend is piled up in a chair, and I have a halfway recovered chair sitting in the middle of the living room.  My kitchen chairs are covered in Thomas the Tank Engine fabric for a custom order, and my coffee table is hidden under paper pattern pieces.  In other words, if a bomb went off in JoAnn's Fabric, it would look like my house.

Characters:  Me, who although clean, is still in pjs.  I'm wearing purple cropped pj pants with fuschia zebra striped athletic socks topped off with a cardigan sweater with a hole in the sleeve.  Not one bit of make up is on my face and my hair is piled on top of my head.  I'm covered in pieces of fabric and thread because I have been upstairs sewing.  All I need are some dead cats stuffed in corners to qualify for "crazy woman on Hoarders".

Bailey...who will go down in history as the worst guard dog EVER.

Phoebe...who only sort of participated because she was in the house.  Somewhere.

A Roanoke County Police Officer. 

Plot:  I'm upstairs sewing a blouse together (which looks fabulous by the way) completely oblivious to the world around me.  I hear a knock on the door and proceed to ignore it.  I always ignore people who knock on my door.  The few times I have broken this rule I've answered the door to find religious zealots, sketchy people selling cleaners, and kids selling whatever.  So I don't answer the door.  It's just too much trouble.  Plus, people who know me come to the back door.  The knocking becomes louder and more insistent.  I still don't answer.  Maybe they will go away.  I own a Bible, so shoo!  It gets quiet so I go back to sewing the neckline on my blouse.  Next thing I know my visitor is putting all of their force into ramming my door knocker against the door.  Fine.  I'll answer it. 

I open the door and there stands a police officer.  Oops.

"We got a 9-1-1 distress call from this address.  The dispatcher tried to call back but there was no answer."

"Huh?  9-1-1?  I didn't call 9-1-1."  I refuse to answer the door more than a crack because I am in pjs.  It doesn't occur to me that this would appear suspicious...I'm just trying to cover up my slovenlyness (no, that isn't a word...but it fits so I am using it).

"We got a call from this address."

"It wasn't from me!"  I begin to wonder where Bailey is at this point.  She is usually trying to eat anyone at the front door.  She is nowhere to be found now.  I panic slightly...where is she?  Did she call 9-1-1?  Is she in distress???  "Look, here is my phone.  It is actually dead because I've forgotten to charge it for three days.  Do you see my dog anywhere?  Do you want to come in?"

"Um, ok."  I'm sure he is slightly afraid of me at this point.  "Um, well maybe it wasn't you.  It may have been a cell phone and your address was just pinpointed as the closest."

"Right.  That makes sense.  Because it wasn't me and there are no dead bodies here!  Ha ha!" 

Luckily at this point the office just backs away slowly, saying he's glad I'm ok, and goes to sit in his car for a while.  I guess cops don't get poor attempts at humor....

Moral of the story:  Keep your house clean and be dressed just in case the police show up looking for dead bodies.  And?  Answer your door if it is the police.  I'm sure I was about 60 seconds from being broken into looking for the imaginary person in distress.  And get my dog some hearing aides....

I tutor kiddos part time after school (because I don't quite get enough of them during the day...).  Not really.  I do get enough of them during the day.  But love my after school kids because when you work with them one on one you have the opportunity to form a great relationship.  I have tutored one little girl (who is now a young lady) throughout her high school career.  I've gone to her house every Thursday for the past four school years.  I've seen pictures of every prom dress, every homecoming dress, heard about boyfriends, and I've watched her grow up.  Now with graduation on the horizon and four college acceptances, she doesn't need tutoring anymore and my last Thursday with her is this week. 

I tried to come up with a suitable graduation gift for her and couldn't think of anything.  When stuck for a gift idea, I rack my brain for days until I've run out of time and I end up just overspending on a bunch of crap from Target.  So those of you that have gotten a bunch of random gifts from Target shoved into a bag, it's because I really wanted to do something nice and unique but got stuck.  It's the thought that counts, right???

So I decided to make something.  I bought this book just after Christmas and have almost worn the pages out looking through it.  Now I finally had a reason to make a bird!

Why a bird you ask?  What on earth is a high school student going to do with a stuffed bird???  One of the projects is a bird in a nest.  And I thought of my student as a bird getting ready to leave the nest.  Since I don't have the money for a really nice gift and instead of buying random unconnected items at Target, I make things out of random unconnected items in my home.  Of course maybe one of the reasons I never have the money is because I keep buying supplies for projects I don't always get to, hence having all of the supplies to make a bird. 

The bird was relatively easy, but it is difficult working with pieces so small (especially with my fat fingers).  The bird from the book sits in a wire nest covered in thread.  But I didn't have any wire thick enough so I made a paste and used the last of my kitchen twine to form a nest around a measuring cup.  That was a small mess.  I think I had homemade paste up to my elbows trying to make a 1-cup size nest!  Another deviation from the project in the book was that I used beads for the eyes instead of embroidery.  The idea of trying to make something even remotely eye shaped using a needle and thread on that tiny head made me cringe.  So I took the easy way out and used beads. 




I hope she appreciates it 20 years from now (because right now I'm just expecting her to look at with a quizzical look on her face).  Anyway, I love my bird!

I would like to preface this with the fact that I don't have kids.  My sisters don't have kids.  Although I hang around with the kids of friends, it is only for small moments of time.  And by kids I mean babies and toddlers.

Therefore, when it comes time to buy gifts for kids, I'm at a loss.  Apparently, I am too poor to buy anything fun and not made in China, so I always resort to something handsewn.  But by handsewn, I don't mean pink bunny costumes like in "A Christmas Story"...I try to come up with things I think the child will actually like.

For my godson's first birthday, I made him a beautiful rag quilt:

It was three layers of flannel, so it was so soft and cuddly...I really wanted to keep it for myself.

For Christmas, I made all of the little men in my life (including my godson) PJ Monsters.  The pattern is by Sew Fearless: 

These have been such a hit that I have a waiting list!

Today was my godson's second birthday party and I decided to make him a stick horse using a pattern by Abby Glassenberg (Abby Glassenberg Design).

Oh how I loved this stick horse.  I couldn't wait to give it to him today.

But I didn't think the horse through....instead of it becoming a fun toy to ride around the house on...it immediately became a weapon of mass destruction.  When a hyped up on cake two year old hugs a stick horse upside down, the stick flails about looking to make a pinata out of any human within a two foot radius.  Or tv.  Or window.

I hope when I see my best friend tomorrow, she is without a black eye.  She has also promised to make all of this up to me when I have kids.

I can't wait.

I'm calling this my last Bella article...but technically January was my last article.  I had already submitted this one before my column was booted for advertising.  The magazine has decided to move in a different direction (and that direction is allowing advertisers to write editorials which are in reality just long advertisements for services).  This is a short column, because before my space got completely taken over by ads, it was shortened to 300 words.

I feel as if this one needs to be printed somewhere, even if it is just a blog (and I am not advertising anything....).