Monday, May 30, 2011

I had a knit pillowcase...

I haven't been able to use this pillowcase since I was 19 when I moved out from my folks house. I down sized my bed so this particular pattern for my bed was no longer usable. Since then, my tastes for home decor have changed quite a bit, but I noticed today that the pattern was very pretty and would make a good summer fabric!

I turned this pillow case into a summer tunic!

 I cut out the shape of the neckline of another tank i liked.
 Then i used the brown tank to get an idea of where the arm holes should be, too.

 It was big! so i had to resize.
I wanted to make some embellishments, so i gathered tightly some white cloth i had from my previous shirt DIY.
I added some darts by my arms, after sewing the sides in to fit me. I wanted the shirt to be like a tunic, so sewed down the sides to my natural waist, and then tapered down to my hips so it was looser.
After the shirt fit me, I added some definition to the shape by adding elastic under my bust, in the center.
I also made the gathered fabric into some flowers, which I can affix with a safety pin. 



What can you think of to make out of a pillowcase?

Have a happy Memorial Day!

Leanna

Sunday, May 29, 2011

ruffles add interest, on an otherwise uninteresting top :)

I have been really drawn to the refashion idea for awhile now, and as the garage sale season is up and coming, i can't help get excited at all the new ideas that can come from an otherwise boring article of clothing.



Here is what i did with a *clean* white undershirt Jeremy had laying around.






If you haven't already done so, go get your clothes out and start sorting through some things you were tempted to throw away... see what you can come up with! And then, send me the pics!! ;D

I look forward to seeing what you have refashioned!

Leanna

Thursday, May 19, 2011

we dont have to have plain walls...

I spend a lot of time on DIY blogs, getting inspiration for what I want my living space to be. We just moved into a new space we really like, the only problem is that we are renters! so, we are not allowed to paint the walls. I wanted to find some pretty cool ways to go around this problem, and I am still researching... but should you find yourself in the same predicament, might I suggest a couple of ideas:

For some specific instructions go to this cool blog, they have tons more ideas too.

For the idea above, i took paper that I got from my wedding scrap booking album, they were leftovers that my mom did not use. I also stamped some of the plainer looking paper with stamps from our wedding (red cherry blossom *sigh*)... our wedding colors were red and white,  so it was perfect for our home which boasts a lot of red and tree figures :)


I love this site, because they have the how to on making your own starch decals (and tons of examples)! including the recipe :)

So, I know there are cool ideas out there, please feel free to inspire me by leaving a post below, It's much appreciated :)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Deco the furniture ;)

I promised back in my repurposed furniture post that I would send updated pics of my finished product once everything was put together. It was a lot of work to do the sanding, but it was worth it, as the decorum of the room is dark wood, and matches our bedding.

I didn't have contact paper for this project, so when I was making the tree stenciling on the mirror, I  used clear packing tape in strips at the places I wanted the shape of the tree.

Next, I took a brown eye/wax pencil to get the outline of the branches, how I wanted them to look.

I then used an exacto knife to get precisely on the those marks. Afterwards, I discarded the tape that was inside the tree/branches shape I had drawn.

Finally, I spray painted the inside brown. I discarded the rest of the tape after the paint dried.

Simple, right!?

Here it is!


Do you have any furniture that you are wanting to change up? Give me some ideas!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

DIY- Wall hangings, and scrap upholstery material

We just moved into our new home, in College Park, so cute, and in my opinion the best neighborhood in Columbia. We are Central to town, and still close to work. There are trees everywhere! It's like a forest by us.

One of the things that I have been excited about doing, is decorating. As I normally spend a few hours a day looking at blogs with amazing house ideas, and DIY projects, I get inspired to try all the new things I learn, or at least do my version of it ( I can't help it, I try to be resourceful by using what I already have). One of the fun things I have gotten to use my upholstery scraps (thanks Adam) for is to make some easy wall hangings. They are really simple, and if  you are like me, you can make all sorts of coordinating parts so that you can have a collage of wall hangings, or at least display coordinating colors.

All you need is :

-random cardboard, ( shoe box lids, jewelry boxes, old book boxes for single books, pretty much any box that has a fairly shallow depth to it)
-scraps of fabric, that you think will match or want to match ;)
-hot glue gun
-nails, or tacs since they aren't that heavy

I don't have the pics of putting it together, but I believe in YOU and your crafty ness, and plus, they are simple, so just emulate what you do when your wrapping a open face gift :)

As you can tell at the bottom, I have a lot more deco work to do:) I would love to see your finished collages, so post away!