I’d say 80% off qualifies as a deal, wouldn’t you agree? Stay tuned. Periodically I’ll post information about home dec fabric sales I run across that are just too good to keep to myself. I receive no compensation for conveying this information.

I’m off to visit the great northwest for the first time. I’ve heard a lot about the city of Portland, Oregon ever since my youngest moved there last summer. Seems they have a lot of things I like there. Like this. Powell’s Books for Home and Garden. An entire store devoted to books about home and garden! A subsidiary of Powell’s City of Books, a giant bookstore that takes up an entire city block with something like ONE MILLION books in stock! Apparently they like things BIG in Portland too because it’s also home to Fabric Depot, the largest fabric store in the USA! With over 20,000 fabrics to choose from I should be busy for a day or two! I can’t wait to see these Rachel Ashwell fabrics in person. I do have a brand new granddaughter arriving in about nine weeks…..and they ship!

Unlike my neck of the woods, Portland has more than one fabric store. Imagine that! And apparently they’re in disagreement about which store is larger since Mill End Store claims there’s “No bigger display of fabrics in America!” I consider it my duty as a true fabriholic to weigh in on the matter.

I’ll have no time to lounge by the pool (as if!) since I’ll just have to check this out.

“Operating since 1974 the Portland Saturday Market is the largest continually operating outdoor arts and crafts market in the nation. I definitely love me some arts and crafts! And then there’s this, “Portland … is America’s new food Eden, a confluence of every fertile trend in contemporary gastronomy.” – TIME Magazine, Nov. 17, 2010  There appears to be a gazillion food carts!

The attraction I’m looking forward to seeing most is this one. Enjoying the heck out of all Portland has to offer, this world traveler will be my tour guide and hostess. Can’t wait to see you, Randi! {While I had thousands of photos to pick from to introduce you to my daughter, I chose this one since she appears in disguise. She would kill me if I posted anything dignified!}

I can change background colors with the stroke of a key!

You’d think I could actually draw or something although I’ll bet you thought those two fabrics above contained flowers. In my mind they’re bees.

Ideally, I would like there to be two of me. One to design the fabric, the other to stitch it up!

But for now, I’m just as thrilled as can be to be able to do a little of both.

Photo via Colefax and Fowler

Now, I practically OD’d on chintz in the 80′s. I had Laura Ashley coming out of my ears along with Waverly’s polished cottons and Rachel Ashwell’s shabby chic. I didn’t do the whole house in it, but it lived in several of the rooms. A tasteful presence, we’ll call it. It was a very welcome change from ….. God help us ….”country” decor with bears and bunnies and wallpaper borders. But when we built our dream home in 1995, I swore no more chintz. Ever. But ever is a long, long time and this picture is forcing me to eat my words. Even though I have absolutely no place to put it, I will find a chair similar to the above and I will slipcover it in chintz.

]]> http://nouveaustitch.com/2012/03/31/prints-charming/feed/ 3 Nouveau Stitch http://nouveaustitch.com/2012/03/30/maybe-baby/ http://nouveaustitch.com/2012/03/30/maybe-baby/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:16:52 +0000 Ellen http://nouveaustitch.com/?p=4313 ]]> Since I’ve been working hard learning Adobe Illustrator, I designed my first invitation using the software. The bad thing about it is there are SO many options! You can draw just about anything in any possible color combination and then recolor it with the touch of a button. That makes deciding when a piece is done nearly impossible! I probably re-worked this one 15 times.

We hosted the shower at our home. I cooked for three-and-a-half days! It was worth it though. Everything turned out great. If you’re on Pinterest you’ll probably recognize some of the recipes I used. I think the lasagna in egg roll wrappers was the favorite! Or maybe the roasted sweet potato rounds with bacon blue cheese. Then again, the bloomin’ onion pull-apart bread, the feta salsa and mini taco bites were devoured in no time. And the crudités in little wine glasses with dip in the bottom were genius! I’ll never do a traditional veggie tray again.

Have you ever heard of Smörgåstårta? I ran across this recipe and had to make it! It isn’t a cake, it’s a sandwich! I started with a three-pound round of farm bread from the famous Zingerman’s Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Accustomed to slicing their breads for customers, I got a very strange look from the clerk when I asked that it be sliced horizontally. I added a layer of smoked whitefish salad from their deli, some smoked salmon, mustard sauce and lots of vegetables. The outside is “frosted” with a savory cream cheese mixture and garnished with {my son’s favorite}, shrimp. It turned out to be quite the conversation piece! Next time I would make it much smaller since the loaf I used was a good 15″ and massive to cut into portions.

Of course, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off and didn’t get many party pictures. The gifts were adorable and we can hardly believe in ten short weeks our little Jane~Juliet~Julia~Cora~Lily~Hannah~Norah~Madeline~Lucy~Emme~or Anna will be arriving {my suggestions, and apparently one of them is placing consistently in the #1 spot on the alleged “list” but they aren’t talking}.    Since I just had to pick up her first set of mouse ears last week while making our annual spring pilgrimage to WDW, I had the magical people there make us this…..

Using my own magical skills, I came up with my best guess.

Of course, her “real” name will just be for official records since we all know it’s a grandmother’s prerogative (nay, OBLIGATION) to rename the child to suit her mood.

My life definitely has me preoccupied, but in good lifelong crafter/sewist fashion, creating is my therapy. The master bedroom is nearly finished and you may remember, this was my jumping off point.

It’s Buffalo Check in Seabreeze, from Calico Corners. Very reasonably priced and in two check sizes — 4.5″ and 2.25″. I’ve been so busy, I had Calico Corners make the panels {but please don’t tell DH who bought me the industrial blindhemmer so I could make my own}. I used both sizes; the smaller check for the panels and constructed soft cornices with the larger checks. Here’s my rendering minus the piping across the top and on the bottom edges. This drawing reads a little blue on my monitor but imagine it just like the swatch above.  My bedroom required three of these — two at 42″ wide and one at 161 1/2″ wide which was a challenge to work with. I had to enlist the help of DH to wrangle that behemoth! My table is 8′ long so you can get the idea how big is was below.

I still have to make a Roman shade for the French door, but I wanted to get this blog posted so you could see the results of all my hard work! I’ve already shown you snippets ~ the corner table, the framed doilies. Here’s my best attempt at photographing the room without a wide-angle lens on a cloudy day.

I’m still deciding if I want to use the Buffalo check on the Roman shade on the door. I drew it in here so you could see. What do you think? Too many checks? Should I go in an entirely new direction?

I saw this fabric and just had to have it. It will probably end up as pillows on the Ektorp chairs. Not sure yet but I think it’s gorgeous! {Lucie by Charlotte Moss available here.}

So there you have it. Check and mate!

Lots of things I used to fuss over have lost their importance.

For when you know someone who is fighting a battle for their life, it’s not easy to get too worked up about what color of paint to buy.

Or whether to go with pinch-pleats or Romans.

So, if you know someone facing a challenge, I’ve assembled some encouraging words that just may brighten their day.

You can find them on my Pinterest board here.

And if you have some words of encouragement you can add to my board, please do.

Everybody can use a miracle every now and then.

{All images via Pinterest.}

I have everything finished but the window treatments so I won’t do a complete reveal yet. But I’ll give you a peek at my latest project. See the bare wall above the bed? Not an easy space to fill.

I envisioned a grouping of eight frames, arranged in two horizontal rows. I have no idea why I got stuck on eight but I did and I searched collection after collection to find something appropriate for the bedroom. Never did find eight of anything that could be hung vertically.

Photo: Better Homes & Gardens

For some reason, the idea of plain brown paper and painter’s tape didn’t do it for me. …..kidding! This is a great way to lay out the art on the wall. But still doesn’t solve the “what to hang” quandary. I looked at collections of art but rejected anything too girly since I do have to share the room with someone who isn’t particularly fond of handbags and or stilettos as objects to be admired. I also rejected a “plate wall,” any kind of “type” wall or florals. In the meantime, I bought eight stock 10″ x 13″ white frames and painted them a cream color to coordinate with the wall trim and the finish on the bed. I must have spent a total of 47 days looking for ideas on Pinterest. Then finally while browsing my local home dec store, I saw it! And of course didn’t take a picture of it because I didn’t want them to know I was stealing their idea. Doilies!

Photo via Wikipedia

I have a bunch of doilies my grandmother made! They had extreme sentimental value to me since, when I was a child, I remember her always working on her latest creation. The small crochet hook entranced me as it whipped that thin string into something to be admired. And for the last forty years, the only remnants of that work that I know of, were stuffed in a paper bag in my guest-room closet. Shameful! Out they came, all aged and yellow.

A quick soaking and they were snowy white again.

Yuck! What is all that yellow stuff anyway?

Allow to air dry, quickly iron and mount into frames and you get this! An extraordinary wall of sentimental art. I painted the matte board the same as the wall color to make it appear as if they’re floating.

Whoa, grandma! I have a renewed appreciation for all your hard work! There must be a bazillion stitches in each one!

Stay tuned for the rest of the room. These are the two fabrics that will complete my wall of windows along with some roman shades. I wish I could adjust the color on your monitor but, trust me, this seabreeze shade is identical to Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue (the wall color).

Mary-Janes.

and ruched single straps.

Hand-made with love.

Only eighteen more weeks to create the perfect couture ensembles!

And just the right height for a cup of coffee.

A creamy white finish.

Offset by my new favorite wall color of all time, Farrow and Ball’s light blue.

Thumbing through catalogs, searching Pinterest and zillions of design websites takes time. I’m impatient. I opted for the easy way out. You probably couldn’t guess where it turned up.

Unless you’ve been to IKEA lately.

Yup. I said IKEA. Who knew? $179 and some Annie Sloan chalk paint {no sanding necessary} and the gray Isala Side Table transforms a reading corner. Did you spot the EKTORP Jenny Lund slipcovered chairs? I had an extra set of pillow shams that fit the bottom cushions almost perfectly. The frame {below} was a find at an antique store. It has had various reincarnations over the years but stringing picture frame wire across the back and attaching clips to hold mementos may well be my favorite.

I still have draperies to design and complete. Another project for another weekend.

Start with Ana White’s clear and concise magazine file instructions here. She does all the math for you and everything!! Then, find a willing accomplice who doesn’t mind setting up shop outside {so the newly cleaned inside stays that way}.

Ask nicely and chances are you’ll end up with something that looks like this. All from wood scraps!

With a little glue, spackle and primer, they started taking shape. WAIT!!! Is that BEADBOARD on the front?!? Perfect!!! But what about those two with flat surfaces? What to do….what to do…???

Oh, I know. I’ll take a page from Martha’s book. I just happened to have the materials on hand.For the chalkboard paint, I mixed the grout with a sample pot I had on hand to come up with a soft grey color. The formula is 1 cup paint to 2 TBSP unsanded grout. Simple! And it really works! Instant chalkboard paint in the color of your choice!

For the amazing shade of aqua/blue-green, I tried the brand-new CeCe Caldwell’s Chalk & Clay paint so graciously provided to me to sample.

My friends at the ever-funky Bungalow 47 recently replaced Annie Sloan paint with this new line and, I have to say, it’s fantastic to work with! Check out this piece they did for the store!

Aren’t the colors great?! I have my eye on several projects and can’t wait to try some more colors.

Back to the magazine holders. The palm sander worked some magic  and no, it didn’t change the paint color…. bad lighting.

I’m so happy with how they turned out. My magazines are still handy, just not overtaking the coffee table.

I’m linking:

Something that takes you back to a simpler time. Back to when you spent hours on end TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HECK YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THE 12′ LONG WORM you created with your very first piece of crafting equipment. Today there would be a support group for little six year-old girls who received this for Christmas. Talk about frustrating! I imagined weaving my very own braided rug {Barbie size}. Instead I ended up with a limp excuse and was declared an embarrassment to my crafty Native American ancestors. {I made the ancestor thing up. All my “people” bought their rugs with coupons from whichever tepee had the cheapest prices.}

Anyway. You can get yourself a reminder of the trauma you experienced as a child if you were like me and just had to have the latest stereotypical gender-specific domestic chore “toy.” Check out eBay.

The spinning wheel wasn’t the only disappointing toy targeted to unsuspecting pre-tweens. Enter Tressy. To this day, I can’t figure out why, when I push my belly button, my hair doesn’t grow into a 24″ ponytail.

After three months, I think I have Adobe Illustrator almost figured out. I am indebted to my Yoda, Laura Coyle.

And pleased to say these are my new, spring-focused fabrics! I’ve learned to sketch {in a very limited, chicken-scratchy way} on my drawing tablet and then colorize and convert the sketches to images suitable for fabric printing. I like larger-scale prints. I’m thinking maybe for totebags? Speaking of, whenever I got a little frustrated with my progress with Illustrator, I’d take a break and go sew a totebag. I’ve made a gazillion totebags. Which I’ve been giving away almost as quickly as they’re made. And I always seem to forget to take a picture….here’s one I found from Christmas morning {the kitty-terrorizing granddog was guarding}.

Oh, and I’ve been designing logos for imaginary businesses….

And virtually living in my pjs in my virtual, online world. Perfect since it’s mid-winter here in Michigan, not that I’m complaining. My cousin posted on Facebook last week that he and twelve others played golf over the weekend. In mid-January. But to make you snow-birds feel better about maintaining two residences, we did finally get our second winter blast two days ago.

On another note, I’ve been forced to create a “To Do” list for the DH or risk the sofa permanently affixing itself to his backside. Project Number One? Wood magazine files. Stay tuned.

I realized if you doubled up rick-rack you could have some of that really cool, W-I-D-E rick-rack. Food for thought. And how about this?

I literally unearthed (well, via Etsy) one of the first patterns I ever sewed! Mine was a couple of sizes smaller than this one. Those were the days. Anyway, the outfit was AWESOME! I remember it like it was yesterday. I didn’t go the knee-sock route, but that center view was practically me in 1969. The pattern will live out its golden years framed and hung in my studio. I may remove the tissue lesson chart on “How to make a Perfect Fitting Pantdress {pantdress} just for grins. Thanks to Sad Patterns for reuniting me with my 14 year-old self.

Need to make some looks-pretty-fancy-but-actually-pretty-easy dessert for the holidays? These were simple but don’t they look impressive? Always a big hit! Maybe because I use shot glasses people think there’s alcohol in them? Who knows but they disappear and nobody needs a designated driver.

Below left is dark chocolate, raspberry cheesecake (made with purchased Philadelphia Cheesecake Filing), the center is coconut cream pie filling topped with toasted coconut and a pie crust triangle, and on the right key lime pie with chunks of graham cracker crust on the top and bottom.  They were exquisite!

And then there’s this. The cherpumple. An apple pie, a cherry pie and a pumpkin pie all baked inside a cake with approximately 1″ of frosting surrounding it all. I posted the picture on my Facebook page and someone asked if I could bring it to Thanksgiving dinner. Someone also asked how you could just have just a small slice. Excellent question. And no, I will not be making one. Ever.

Photo via Neatorama

This magazine cover is from 2007. I absolutely LOVE the fabric on the window treatments. I’ve coveted it for years but it is pricey {Brunschwig & Fils} and I tried to put it out of my mind. It didn’t work and I finally got up the nerve to order a memo. You know how you build something up for so long in your mind it likely will never measure up? When I got the memo I gasped! I think it’s one of the ugliest fabrics I’ve ever set eyes on and that’s saying a lot. Goes to show that photo stylists work miracles.

My 12 year-old great-niece has completed her first two sewing classes. This was project number one. I think she did a fantastic job! Wish I could say the same for the photo I took!

Have you seen this? Seriously the best new tool out there when it comes to painting! LOVE it! Wooster Shortcut, available at a home improvement store near you.

The brush was used to cut in the master bedroom walls in the most gorgeous color. It’s Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue No. 22. The color is perfect for a room that is bathed in sunlight {or in our case, periodically a ray or two is caught between the clouds}. If you’ve been looking for the perfect bedroom blue, this has to be it. It can look green, but trust me, it’s blue and it’s luscious!

That’s all my blogging time for today. Back to the books. I’m learning Adobe Illustrator and I’m head over heels in love if it’s even possible to love software. Check this out! My first project! Night all!

The awesome Jane tote.

The pattern is available here as an immediate download for a mere $6! (Heck, I’d pay like $60 for not having to do the math to create a nice tote like this!) I’ve written about Alicia Paulson’s patterns before. I like ‘em. I like ‘em a lot. This one is easy to follow, the math works and it serves as a great jumping off point to let your creativity go wild, not to mention will aid in quickly reducing your fabric stash.

Since I have no doubt you’ll all run over and buy this wonderful pattern based solely on my recommendation {or the fact that it’s adorable  and, PS I have no affiliation with Alicia or her shop; Posie, Rosy Little Things} I decided to put together a few tips for you.

First, I highly recommend home dec weight fabrics, outdoor fabrics and oilcloth or laminated cotton. Heck use all of them! The mixier and matchier the better. The pattern suggests quilting cotton but I love the durability and structure heavier fabric gives to the bag {plus I have a ton of the afore mentioned fabrics that I couldn’t possibly use up in two lifetimes}. ……ahem.

Second, use top-stitching thread for the top-stitching on the tote. There’s a lot of it and it looks so much more professional with the heavier thread. Here’s the difference:

Yuck...puny top-stitching!

Be sure to reduce your sewing machine tension and use a longer stitch length when sewing with heavier thread.

Third. Use thread nippers to be sure you clip your thread ends as close as possible. There’s nothing more irritating than one of those thread-eyelash thingies flapping around!

Next, this pattern calls for a folded hem on the top of the outer pockets. It says to fold and press 1” then fold and press another 1”.  This is called a double 1” hem. DON”T DO IT THAT WAY! Making a hem in this manner always takes up more fabric than it should due to the way it’s folded. Instead, do it the way the pros do.

And last, even though there are two generous outer pockets, I like an interior zipper-pocket in my totes. Since there weren’t instructions included with the pattern, I decided to do a quick tutorial on adding one.

{Add the pocket to the tote lining before you assemble the lining.}

Here we go:

Step 1

I don’t want to hear any moaning and groaning about sewing in a zipper! The way we do it here is as easy as it gets! If you haven’t sewn a zipper before, there’s a first time for everything. Just remember to pin securely and straight and sew slowly.

Step 2

Step 3  

Leaving a small space between the fabric and the zipper means a zipper foot usually isn’t necessary.

Now get the pocket front bottom piece (8″ x 7″ rectangle). Press the hem on the 7″ side of the rectangle.

Step 5

Pin the pocket bottom to the zipper and stitch the same as you did the top.

Step 6

Step 7.

Time to stitch the pocket front to the pocket back (9 1/2″ x 7″ rectangle).

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

Step 12

Step 13

Step 14

Step 15

Now assemble the rest of your tote and load it up!

I won’t be dyeing my hair blue anytime soon.

And I won’t be wearing funky perfume.

No socks rolled down to the ankles or house dresses.

But, I will be cranking up the sewing machine and whipping up frilly little dresses OR cute boy stuff (gosh, are there cute things to sew for boys?). A new rocking chair may be involved. Oh, and there will be cookies. Lots of cookies.

I have until June to get busy. And to figure out a way to travel daily from Michigan to Washington D.C. We’re thinking with the bad economy maybe someone might be having a sale on private jets.

Only 192 days to go!

You'll no longer need to gently remind hubby it's time to hit the treadmill. Just set this butter dish in front of him and silently gaze back and forth between the dish and him. He'll get the message.

My turkey coma awaits!

Sadly, you’ll probably find a couple you may have actually owned back in the day, and possibly, like me tried to forget about. Here are a couple I have personal experience with.

Why yes, that is a thirty year old man in a bee costume. Modified from a child’s size XS to an adult XL, I was so proud. Of course toddler son didn’t find the humor and to this day blames the costume for his chronic Apiphobia. He’s suing.

And here’s another gem.

The only thing I can think of to add to this photo is that there may or may not have been copious amounts of alcoholic beverages consumed to get over the sheer horror.

I looked far and wide and didn’t see my all time favorite on Sad Patterns, the Granny Gown! Obviously only the coolest among us remember that classic ensemble. I mean what well-adjusted, developmentally normal ten year old girl didn’t want to dress like her grandmother? We wore these out in public and totally rocked the Granny! Since fads generally come back every few years I’m still waiting.

In the meantime, I snapped some quick picks at Anthropologie the other day. Don’t these fancy towels give you tons of ideas?

Pick up a package of dish towels at Home Goods or Target, or start with towels that have seen better days, and start layering.

Add embroidery, doilies, rick-rack.

Applique motifs from fabric onto the towel and embellish.

Makes new look old and vice versa!

Fancy and fun!

I still don’t know my dpi from my jpg but I do know that from now on when I can’t find the perfect fabric for a project, I’ll look no further than my own computer screen. And Spoonflower.

I would love to be able to tell you to do this and this and add a little of that and **pouf** you’re a fabric designer but you really need to put your time in. I actually used three different programs to come up with some of these images.

Nothing terribly complicated but a lot of trial and error. And head scratching. And slumped shoulders for hours on end at the computer. PJ’s still on at 3:15 PM.

Back in my graphic arts classes, we used Exacto knives and did manual paste-ups. We keylined and heard about “mainframes” and “terminals” but never dreamed of owning anything that would make our work so much easier.

If you had told me then I would one day be able to design my own fabric I would have asked you what you were smoking. I won’t even pretend that what I design will ever be considered true art. And it’s highly unlikely that Mr. Scalamandre will be knocking at my door anytime in the near future. But the colors work for me. It’s just my style and the price is right. Best of all, I can claim my project truly as my own when I’ve designed the fabric. In my book, it doesn’t get much better than that! And I’d especially like to thank my friend, Cat, for being my sounding-board. As you can tell from her blog, her taste is exquisite and her feedback priceless!

*ETA … these samples are designed for home dec fabric  which is 54″ wide, showing two yard lengths.

Gregory Wing Chair in The Flowers of Jamakhana, color Tea Rose/Stone Blue BR-800052-M12& La Seyne Check, color Stone Blue BR-89318-228& Boris Woven Texture, color Forsythia BR-89707-344, Drapery Panel: Bellary Cotton Print, color Berry/Slate Blue BR-700016-166

Look at that amazing color! I just spent some time at the new B&F section of the Kravet showroom at my local design center. I may or may not have coveted. A lot. When I was at Blogfest 2011 earlier this year, we toured the Kravet facilities in NYC and I was particularly thrilled to get the chance to see their collection of Brunschwig & Fils samples not long after they had acquired the B & F line.

I’m dying to get an up-close look at the new tape borders. Love how it looks on the sides of the pillows. I took a few shots of some exquisite florals at the showroom. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t turn out.

ORCHIDELIRIUM COTTON PRINT - WHITE

I found some of the fabrics I missed on their website. I can’t get over the vibrancy of their colors!

PARFUM D ETE COTTON PRINT - MINT

And for all you chevron lovers, how about this. A sideways version.

CHEVRON BAR SILK WARP PRINT - WAVE

My diversion paid off. The Tigers are heading to Texas to compete for the American League pennant! I anticipate a lot of online fabric shopping to get me through the next few games.

So after hard drive “issues” I got a new computer, {I can officially be called a Macophile or Machead or whatever} and brought up my blog on my gigantic new screen. Ugh!! Why didn’t you guys tell me my blog background was such a gross green? It’s amazing how different the color is over here from my PC. Anyhoo, while I find a suitable color replacement, I’ll leave you with a couple of things.

First up, fabric inspiration!

See how loosey-goosey this design is? I love that it’s almost cartoonish nature. It’s from John Stefanidis and apparently it’s so expensive that if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it. At least that’s what I’ll assume since when I requested a swatch I was told there was a minimum 10 yard order with “payment in advance by cheque or bank transfer.” No mention made of cost per yard. Ahem. So, this won’t work in the master bedroom redo but it caused the wheels to start turning. Maybe loosey-goosey me could actually design usable fabric if I didn’t take the whole process so seriously. I’ll keep you posted.

Annie Sloan {Provence mixed with Old White = Cricket}

I got some chalk paint. Not chalk-board paint. CHALK PAINT. And I’m going to be using it to PAINT OVER  perfectly good STAINED WOOD FURNITURE. I’m not saying what and I’m not saying when {because I don’t want the Hubs tipped off} but painting the piece will mean I don’t have to spend a grand on a replacement piece just because I no longer like the finish. Possibly the best part of getting the paint was that I only had to ride my bike two and a half miles to get it! One of two stores in Michigan to carry Annie Sloan’s paint is just a mere bike ride away from my home! Isn’t this new shop adorable? And it’s in my town! Check out their Facebook page and you’ll see why I’m so excited! People in my town that speak my language!

Need a luggage tag? I whipped these up using swatches from fabric sample books. Easy. Sew a rectangle slightly larger than a business card with two coordinating fabrics. Turn and topstitch.  I forgot to take a picture of the other side, but I stitched clear vinyl slightly larger than a business card leaving one end open to insert a card. I just thought they looked pretty all spun in a circle like this.

Let’s see. What else can I find in my pictures folder that I haven’t shared? How about some gathered twill tape I picked up this spring at M & J Trims?

I’ll bet you’re wondering what I’ll use it for, right? Me too. For now it’s got a special place in the “inspiration pile” that’s nearly covering the entire surface of my enormous worktable. At some point I will clear off that worktable so I can actually work. But in the meantime, why work when you can play with one of these?

It’s a Sizzix Big Shot and it cuts fabric! Again, it has a place of honor atop the pile on the worktable but I definitely have plans for this puppy and a stack of sacrificial felt just waiting to make the cut {snort}.

Finally, I wrote another Houzz post. This month’s topic, Put a Bird On It, in honor of my daughter’s recent move to Portland, Oregon and to celebrate bird-related decor, because you know we all need a few more birds in our decor.

Now it’s back to rebuilding my half-dead PC and learning all there is to know about Mac. Or maybe I’ll just take a bike ride.

The five days I couldn’t blog had me finding things to blog about left and right. Some cute new gadgets, a sewing tip I remembered I had forgotten, a couple of fun sewing projects and a garden harvest that rivaled none in years past. In some ways, though, it was kind of nice to just do and not document! But today I will share with you a project and a philosophy, all wrapped up in one.

I swear this picture was crystal clear before I posted it! It says, “If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need.”

Isn’t that the truth ….  although a computer that doesn’t randomly shut itself off wouldn’t hurt.

Last night was a particularly fitful night. Lay down, fall asleep instantly for FIVE minutes, then stay awake until 3 AM. But, unlike most other nights, I had an epiphany! I finally found my new master bedroom inspiration! It was eluding me, in The Hampton’s no less, all this time while resting in my DVD library. Ignore Carrie’s obviously uncomfortable position. I know it looks like a shot from a porno, but trust me, it’s just Carrie waking up in the lovely guest room of her Hampton’s married hosts…..alone. You may remember the “peppermill” episode, AKA Bay of Married Pigs, Season 1, episode 3. Anyway. when she awoke, she was in my bed! My months of searching are finally over!

Headboards these days all seem to be upholstered which is all well and good if you aren’t a germophobe like me. I mean how do you keep those things clean? I just can’t get past the “ewwww” factor. Metal and/or iron wasn’t working for me either. When I saw the cane inset on the wood frame I knew this was the one. So right then and there (1:30 AM) I jumped out of bed and began the search. I Googled “cane headboard” and found this lovely.

The Eloquence Blanka in antique white. With a price tag of $2,040 for a king headboard only, I knew there had to be a better option. My tastes change too often to invest that kind of money in a headboard. After combing eBay, which seemed to have all kinds of used possibilities, again the ewwww factor prevented me from going that route. Then I saw a listing for Ballard Design that looked promising. I wish I had taken a screen shot, but when I clicked on Ballard’s site, I got the “We’re redesigning our website so come back later.” message. Huh? Really, Ballard? Don’t you know you cut into prime 2 AM shopping time with your poorly timed rework? I promptly forgot about Ballard but did see this one on Amazon. Close but I wasn’t into the bamboo posts or shiny brown finish. Considerably less money and also available at Wal-Mart.

Of course not being able to locate the perfect bed kept me up trying to figure out how quickly I could learn woodworking and caning. I mean how hard could it be to carve wood and turn posts? I finally fell asleep thinking of a clandestine affair with Norm Abram. Or Ted.

This morning saner thoughts prevailed and I re-Googled with a rested mind and a full three and a half hours of sleep! Guess what popped up? Ballard and this time they weren’t just taunting me. Oh no. They had the goods. With three color choices. And not just a headboard but a footboard and side rails too.

His name is Louis. Isn’t he gorgeous, but imagine him after a long Michigan winter. Pale. As in weathered white (which I promptly plan to glaze over to a caramely color). And less than half the price of the Eloquence. Of course, as it usually goes for me, the bed is on backorder until the end of October. Which gives me ample time to:

Select a wall color and repaint the room.

Put my current bedroom pieces on Craig’s List and get them the heck out of here {although the furniture is a quite beautiful Pennsylvania House grouping that I’m no longer in love with after twenty some years}.

Area rug or runners? Doesn’t an area rug under a bed seem like such a waste?

Figure out how to handle the TV situation. I know, I know. Television in the bedroom is a no-no. I’m addicted. I guess a flat-screen is in my bedroom future, which leads me to the burning question, wall mount or table top?

And finally, figure out how I’m going to replicate Carrie’s quilt because now that I’ve seen it, I must own it. Have you ever made a king-sized quilt? Not fun. Not at all. Of course nobody has anything like it that I’ve been able to find. Thinking I can pick up a quilted coverlet at HomeGoods in cream and applique the aqua leaves over the top. That would so be cheating but just might work. More to come as soon as I find said quilted coverlet at HomeGoods.

Thanks Carrie! We make a great team. See you tonight.

Interesting, isn’t it? In my Guest Picks submission for Houzz.com this month I had fun with fabrics.

I can literally feel the wheels turning as I decide where this beautiful peony fabric by Victoria Larson Textiles should live in my home.

So many fine fabrics. So few windows in need of re-treating monthly.

I’d love it if you headed over to Houzz to check out the rest of my picks. There are also lots of other fabrics pictured on the site. Like over 3,000 other fabrics! Go on, check it out! Enter the word “fabric” in the search box and see all kinds of amazing options for your next room redo, with links!

They’re bright and colorful mums that remind you summer’s just a few weeks from ending and soon the dark and cloudy days of autumn will be upon you, then behind that, cursed winter and you’ll be wishing you had bought that place in the South of France (as if) and maybe you should have thought a little more carefully about who you dated in high school and, so what, you just turned 56 (the new 36) because fall smells good and there’s apples!

{Deep breath.}

Okay, perhaps I do tend to dread the changing of the seasons. Anyway, you can purchase this reminder that fall is just around the corner all day long for $145 {plus shipping} right here. What’s that you say? $145 {plus shipping} for cut felt flowers on a turquoise cotton ground cloth? Not all of us are livin’ the dream. I see. Hmmm. What to do, what to do?

Well, if your craft studio is anything like mine, the felt on this $145 {plus shipping} pillow looks eerily similar to the felt you have in your felt stash drawer. Am I right? Even if it isn’t you can buy like 15.7x the amount you would need to make this pillow for $145 {plus shipping}.

Come along with me as I recreate this mum-laden pillow using what I happened to have on hand.

That beautiful stack of wool felt on the left is from Pearl Soho. I should probably tell you right now that I’m totally gaga over Pearl Soho. I particularly enjoy going to their store when I visit NYC where I drool over everything they stock, then promptly wait until I get home to order one of each. Plus a tote to carry it all in in case anyone in my town sees me with it and thinks I must be way too cool to be from dorky mid-Michigan and probably lived a past, far more glamorous life in NYC.

Wait. What were we talking about again? Right. The mum pillow. Got it.

Okay, I’m assuming you know how to put together a basic pillow. There are a million and one online tutorials but I’ll give you a few tips from my professional pillow-sewing bag of tricks. First, cut the pillow the exact size of your pillow form. Yep, this is the first law of professional pillow-sewing. DO NOT ADD ON FOR SEAM ALLOWANCES. I made a 12″ x 16″ pillow form thus cut my felt 12″ x 16″.

Second, professional pillow sewists use 1/2″ seam allowances. That is the LAW sewing people. Do not let me catch you even thinking of using 1/4″ seams or, God forbid, 5/8″. If you cut it to the size of your form and use 1/2″ seams your pillows will be the envy of all the poor misguided non-professional pillow sewists who probably also karate chop their pillows…..

Be sure to leave an opening to turn, and clip those corners!

So here’s your pillow, cut from JoAnn Fabrics cheapie poly-acrylic felt that I stocked up on when I either: A) had a coupon. or B) it was half-off. I knew it would come in hand one day. Notice that the cover is nice and tight, not all loosey-goosey?

Now, cut your colorful felt into 1″, 3/4″ and 1/2″ strips. You’ll need a lot of strips but cut them as you go. Use up what felt you have since there are no hard and fast rules for this pillow. You are allowed {by law} to choose the colors and sizes of your felt strips.

Next, snip the strips to within about 1/4 of the width of the size of the strip itself.

Clip along the un-snipped edge every inch or so to help the strip take the curves.

Go through your felt scraps and cut a bunch of circles which will serve as the base for the mums. The color doesn’t matter since you’ll be covering them with your strips. You’ll need a bunch of different sizes for this — for the larger flowers, use about a 2″ round circle, for the medium about a 1″ circle, and the smallest about a 1/2″ circle. I forgot to take a picture of the circles but I trust you’ve all seen a felt circle before.

Okay. Now assemble your circles and snipped strips and go to town! Use the glue gun to secure the mum as you work, gluing along the outside of the circle and working inward. At this point I will assume you’ve never used a glue gun before and warn you to KEEP YOUR FINGERS THE HELL AWAY FROM THE HOT GLUE! {You probably haven’t noticed that I’m only typing with nine normal fingers and one horribly blistered and bandaged finger because I didn’t follow the above warning.}

This is a really gloppy picture but you get the idea. Wrap the strips and glue until the mum looks something like a flower. Then start gluing them on your pillow thusly.

Seriously cute, no?

LInking up with:

Now if I just had a zinnia pattern……tapping fingers on table…….hmmmm.  Google Images to the rescue! I entered “zinnia line art” and here’s what I got:

See that pink fabric over there on the top right? Perfect! A discontinued pattern available through JoAnn Fabrics. No further information was available about the fabric.

I edited the pattern in Picnik, reducing the size and converting it to black and white.

Then cropped it to a smaller size.

Printed out a copy and took it to my makeshift light table.

Traced the pattern using a Frixion pen.

And now I’m stitching away to the tune of the Detroit Tigers as they are attempting to sweep the KC Royals.

Great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon as I anticipate the calm before the storm. Ten glorious days of all three (count ‘em THREE) kids returning to the nest. I’ll be knee-deep in cooking, laundry, crossword puzzle-offs, baseball and mom heaven as I treasure this time. If I had my way, I’d just build on a couple of wings.

So, for $60, I figured if it saved me a couple of hours of time and left my fingertips intact, it will have paid for itself. My first attempt went well. I followed the rather sparse directions. I cut the bias strips and sewed them together to see how it would work with a seam thrown into the mix.

Wound it on the spindle. Unwound it and rewound it once I realized I had wound it on backwards. It does pay to actually read the directions and look at the picture.

I loaded the spindle into the spindle holder and threaded it through the 1″ (finished) single-fold bias tip. The strips were cut at 2″. Plugged it in and waited.

It heated quite quickly and then I saw this…Go time!

I flipped the on switch. Nothing happened but I could hear something trying to happen. I shut it off and turned it back on. Still nothing but I figured maybe it wasn’t making good contact so I pressed down on the iron plate cover. It worked like a charm!

How cool is that? Soon I had a nice big pile of quilting cotton bias tape and no problem with the seams. Nice. I also ordered a 1 1/4″ quilt binding tip so I figured I’d better give it a try as well. These are the two tips side-by-side. Since the quilt binding is just folded in half, it fed through the tip sideways. Below you can see the difference between the two tips.

Again I had to apply some pressure to the iron plate cover for the machine to make contact and feed the binding through the iron plate, but it was amazing! A perfectly pressed pile of quilt binding! Awesome! Even more awesome if I was actually a quilter!

So forget about burning your fingers while trying to press binding and bias tape perfectly. You’ll always have your glue gun. This little bugger actually works as advertised and I’m really pleased. I’ll be playing around with it a little more to try feeding through fabric cut on the straight of grain and with a heavier fabric.

It appears I’ve made yet another excellent purchase for the sewing studio. But then again, I am a little biased.    {Sewing humor people :-/}

Pick up a needle and thread.

Hand-sewing keeps away the urge to overeat ~ et voila, diet therapy!

It may also reduce computer butt, however all that stitching and sitting brings about a new conditon….stitching butt. So I guess we can rule out exercise therapy.

Psychotherapy? Who needs it when you can stitch away your cares ~ although I’ll be the first to admit I don’t really have any cares ~ unless you count OCSD {obsessive compulsive stitching disorder}. You can avoid shock therapy by not picking your finger with the needle {ouch!}.

Spend time with your boys while stitching — sports therapy!

And retail therapy is so overrated anyway.

Crave aroma therapy? Stitch out on the screened porch when the honeysuckle is in full bloom!

Music therapy while you stitch, provided free of charge by Pandora and the iPad.

I wouldn’t pass up massage therapy after a tough day of stitching.

Instructions for all these lovely stitches  are on this site of amazing and easy-to-follow tutorials by the very generous Sarah. It’s easily the best resource I’ve run across for hand embroidery stitches.

I recommend you begin your therapy immediately.

No stone left unturned.

Flawless attention to detail.

Seven year-old little girls sewing and having fun! Go check out the amazing post by Christine of Pure Joy Events! Hands down, the coolest kid party EVER! I’m totally amazed and encouraged that she came up with such a fun idea that didn’t involve a cartoon character, make-up and hair extensions and/or a celebrity appearance.

Thank you, Christine, for sharing and for allowing me to feature you!

Brava, Christine!

Kingsley Queen bed by Hickory Chair

And how about this from Ballard?

I’d have that thing full of shoes and handbags quicker than you could sell a Hermès Birkin Bag at a Hampton’s tag sale!

Stop by, won’t you? And bring chocolate.

I like to think of myself as a trend-spotter when it comes to what’s new and exciting in the world of sewing. Yep. Come by here on any given day and I’ll be knee-deep in unpaid research {most likely cruising JoAnn’s, scanning Amazon for new sewing titles or blog surfing}. What’s that you say? If it’s at JoAnn’s it can’t be new and exciting? Books that have already been published are so yesterday and once something new hits the blog circuit, well then there’s eleventy billion of them in every living room?

I would have to agree so I’ve recently decided to add Twitter to my research routine and ho boy. Talk about staying on top of breaking sewing news! I LOVE surfing Twitt…wait, can you surf Twitter? Maybe twurf? Yep, I twurf Twitter and twy to twinpoint twends and twot twopics!

I’ve also added Pinterest to the mix. {Email me at NouveauStitch at Gmail.com for an invite.} No special language to learn for Pinterest other than the word “pin.” If you’re a sewist you’re probably thinking it’s a shiny pointy thing but a “pin” on Pinterest is virtual. When you see a picture you like, you pin it (click on it) to add it to your virtual bulletin board. You can have dozens of virtual bulletin boards, all divided by topic, room, color, trend du jour, you name it.

Now that I’m officially armed with all that is social media (as of this particular nano-second), what do I see popping up everywhere? What hot new sewing craze is taking the world by storm? ….Wait for it….Hand Embroidery!!! HAND EMBROIDERY??? Wha? Weren’t they embroidering decades ago like in the 1970′s? More like the 1070′s or maybe even the -0070′s. Embroidery has been around forEVER. But what makes it new and fun? People like BariJ and her hot new blog We Love French Knots. She has videos, people! There are no longer any excuses. You can sew a French knot. She [almost] holds your hands. Seriously.

And just look at this. LOOK AT IT! Now does this scream great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother’s embroidery sampler to you? I think NOT! I believe it epitomizes the typical beachy, organic, vintage, European, eclectic, white spray paint, turquoise, Put-a-Bird-On-It home that is so today. Run on over to Alicia Paulson’s site, Rosy LIttle Things and buy the PDF for this sampler. It’s $6 for Heaven’s sake. Do you know how cool this is for $6? Seriously! I’d pay $6 just for the instructions to make the “R” alone, forget about the other 25 letters!”

This is just the tip of the iceberg, folks! Check out Pinterest and you’ll see this

and this

Purlbee.com

And this, OMG!

Anna Maria Horner!

And she has thread, people!

All that is cool and hot and awesome in the new world of embroidery. A nice relaxing non-tech, low-investment obsessio…..uh, way to de-stress. You don’t have to do a whole sampler to partake in embroidery nirvana.

Do what I did. Make a To-Do list.

Follow me!

Twitter ID: Ewigginton

Pinterest ID: Ellen Wigginton

I’l leave you with a picture evidencing my productive day yesterday. I neded a baby gift, pronto! I scaned the interwebs for baby paterns I could download and kept coming acros “Tie Dye Diva” with the cutest baby and kidlet paterns. It’s ben a few years since I’ve sewn any garments so aparently I’m the last to know about Jen’s awesome line. Adorable and easy to follow (the patterns, not the kids,…wait, the kid pattern models are adorable too)!

So I downloaded three (hey, I got double leters…uh, nevermind) paterns (must find another word for patern) and within the hour I was cuting away. I had this gorgeous Amy Butler fabric in my stash and got al thre items out of just over a yard of fabric. {By the way, if Amy ever decides to get into home dec fabric design with 54″ wide goods on a roll, I’m in trouble!}

Here’s the finished product. Sory I don’t have a real baby to model for me, but at least I didn’t have to deal with a diva who wouldn’t “work it” or  insisted on “beauty shots” only.

Top and hat totally reversible. Ruffle-butt diaper cover, tres chic!

Off to track down a new keyboard.

Wait.

Totally annoyed that all of a sudden the keyboard seems to be working.

I think it’s going through the “terrible twos.” 

But one can only use so many make-up bags and tablecloths. Time to play.

Find a complimentary fabric in your stash.

Add something fun around the edges.

Stitch it up, add a handle and stuff it!

Et voila! The sit-upon! Protecting rear-ends from grass stain, newsprint, ant hills and dirty bleacher-butt since practically forever.

But never with this much style!

You can read more about my project in Inspired Ideas online magazine, the Happy Birthday issue (subscription required, back-issues can be viewed at no charge).

Any ideas?

]]> http://nouveaustitch.com/2011/06/21/can-you-crack-the-case/feed/ 8 Nouveau Stitch maddieg http://nouveaustitch.com/2011/06/20/houzz-in-the-house/ http://nouveaustitch.com/2011/06/20/houzz-in-the-house/#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:01:32 +0000 Ellen http://nouveaustitch.wordpress.com/?p=3583 ]]> Did you happen to notice that new badge on my sidebar? The one that says, “Addicted to Houzz?”

Go ahead and click on it and see what happens. I double-dog dare you. But don’t forget to come back!

{Preparing to lose readers for hours …. perhaps days.}

Okay, glad you’re back! Now that you’ve had the chance to review THOUSANDS of photos of fancy (and regular) homes, stunning kitchens and other rooms, innovative and smart home products, and pretty much the entire galaxy of home-related-decorated-envy-invoking images, please tell me you’ll go back and look for my Ideabooks!

That’s right! I’ve been selected to be a guest blogger/contributor and will be making monthly appearances with a selection of home-related goodies you can’t live without. This month I contributed an Ideabook filled with Made in America products. How very Fourth-of-July-ish of me, I know. I learned a lot in the process and hope you’ll take a few minutes to discover some companies that are proud of their American heritage.

Cutco

Longaberger Baskets

The Homer Laughlin China Co. (Fiesta Ware)

Harden Furniture

Sub-Zero/Wolf Appliances

All-Clad

Nordic Ware

Jacob Bromwell

Maglite

The Fuller Brush Company

The Vermont Bowl Company

Anchor Hocking Company

Manchester Wood

Condar Company

Scrusher

Lasco Fans

Century Furniture

Weber Grills

As I explained in my Ideabook introduction, it was tricky to distinguish companies that produce 100% American-made product with American raw materials, from American-owned manufacturers, from American-assembled with off-shore products. From the research I did, it can be a sticky-wicket to call yourself a Made-in-America company unless everything, and I mean everything, your company touches on a daily basis originates in the US. It may just be easier to not address the issue so as not to be challenged. Not sure.

A big thanks to Houzz for including me as a guest blogger! I’m excited to share my monthly finds with such an acclaimed and inspiring web resource.

Image via Pinterest

So have you seen it yet? Lilly Pulitzer for Le Jofa.

Almost makes me want to move to Palm Beach.

I said almost. We’re on day two of mid-90 degree weather here in Michigan and I’m ready to move to Anchorage.

……anyway.

If my living room, or screened porch for that matter, had such a colorful vibe I’d start every morning with a song in my heart! {Alright, for those of you who know me, stop snickering!} But it’s fun, right?

The walls in this Kravet showroom vignette at the Decoration & Design building in NYC are covered in fabric! See that border at the top? That the selvage edge of the fabric turned on its side! Oh, the possibilities!

I know! Who does that? Lilly does, that’s who. And I loved these framed fabrics!

But most of all, loved learning that each Lilly print has the word LILLY hidden among the flowers and pattern. To prevent forgeries. Well not to prevent, but to be able to identify them. Look carefully and you can see LILLY outlined in black on each pattern in the photo below.

And Lilly trims. Yum.

Frilly, silly, extraordinarily, Lilly.

Photograph by Ngoc Minh Ngo, Garden Design by Lisa Bynon

Guess I should have known, when it took over six weeks just to get the bid, it wouldn’t be good news. The cost: $3,000, including labor and materials. As my husband said, “Those would be some terribly expensive tomatoes!” Yep. I just wanted a small tomato, cucumber and maybe a little kale and lettuce garden, uneaten by deer and bunnies.

Image via BonApetit.com

So, at $3,000 for the fence, we’re back at square one. But I have news! While blog surfing today I ran across a blogger who had the same idea, on a much, much larger scale. The great news? They are actually starting construction so we can all follow along here with the progress.

Sara has a wonderful blog that is full of fabulous! Wait till you see her kitchen and the boys’ bunk room and the school room! If the rest of her place is any indication, this will be a victory garden second to none!

I’ll never wake up and look at it and say, “What was I thinking in 2011?”

They’re timeless, no?

{Who am I kidding. I’ll be bored with them before I even source the fabrics.}

But they’re heavenly and I love them today. Silk buffalo check undercurtains. Really.

**Le Sigh**

Interior Design by Mary Douglas Drysdale

Photography by Peter Vitale and Max Kim-Bee for Veranda magazine, May-June 2011

Marwood Estate, Washington D.C.

While I’m sure what meager words I do manage to put together about my Blogfest 2011 experience will only scratch the surface, perhaps these pictures will give you a glimpse into what has rendered me utterly and completely mesmerized by the adventure. From the Kravet/Lee Jofa/Brunschwig & Fils studios tour, I snapped a few photos of the inner workings of this fourth-generation fabric company. To be honest, it was pretty overwhelming!

I mean really. The chance to see newly or not yet released fabrics before they’re pressed into sample books or hung in design showrooms was unbelievable! Being able to see the progression of a pattern from its initial rendering to final printing was fascinating.

Pure inspiration from some of the masters of design laid before us to inspect and absorb.

I now know there are faces behind those beautiful fabrics. People who live for the creative process and spend their days experimenting with new color combinations and tweaking until the final product is absolutely perfect for the next wave of new releases. Talk about endless possibilities!

People who are insanely talented.

Infinitely patient.

And who obviously love what they do.

Designer Barbara Barry and Scott Kravet, VP, Product Development, Kravet Fabrics, Inc.

The opportunity to learn from editors-in-chief and staff of the major shelter magazines, the parties and exposure to cutting-edge design which you’ve undoubtedly read about on other attendee blogs, was all more than any of us had imagined. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Kravet Fabrics, Inc., Hearst Publications, Traditional Home, Sub-Zero and Wolf, Margaret Russell, The New York Design Center, 1stdibs,  and the many other sponsors for the chance to be among the select few who shared in this amazing experience.

Image Credit: Destination 360

If I could pick a combination of things that bring me darn close to Nirvana, I’d pick NYC, many people who speak design blog language, an opportunity to learn new things, and being completely immersed in fabric and design, all during the month of May. In other words, Blogfest 2011.

Blogfest attendees will be given behind-the-scene tours of VERANDA and House Beautiful magazines, plied with champagne by Town & Country magazine, served tea with Barbara Barry courtesy of New York Spaces magazine, taste wine at the Sub-Zero and Wolf flagship showroom, attend several cocktail parties and lunches, have breakfast with Margaret Russell (EIC) Architectural Digest magazine, tour the New York Design Center, preview fabric collections and,  for me at least, the pièce de résistance, A DESIGN STUDIO TOUR OF KRAVET, LEE JOFA, and BRUNSCHWIG & FILS! All of this along with the chance to meet new friends has me just a tad excited!

Countdown To Blogfest!

And if all that isn’t enough, I’ll still have a couple of days to visit my usual haunts. Not necessarily being a foodie and happy to avoid the crushing shopping crowds, these are some of my favorite spots:   M&J Trim (uh….ribbon..tons and tons of ribbon), Fishs Eddy (best vintage-style dinnerware), Chelsea Market (Amy’s Bread, et. al.), Tender Buttons (you guessed it, buttons!),  Tinsel Trading Company (shiny objects), Rice to Riches (rice pudding you’d consider committing grand larceny for), Bryant Park (people watching and early morning outdoor yoga), Purl Soho (just go there, trust me), Rosa Mexicano (guacamole), Chop’t (Cobb salad),  Columbus Bakery (seriously the best oatmeal ever) and Broadway (see anything!). Sauntering through the Garment District is always a treat. Read here for the web’s best site for  “Everything about NYC’s fabric stores, trim emporiums, notions shops and more for people who love to sew and create” by Meg McDonald.

I’m truly honored to be one of the select few bloggers fortunate enough to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. And to hold it in any other location would have been design irreverence. Stand back, NYC! Prepare to have your ikats inspected, your draperies documented, your vignettes vetted and your passementerie photographed!

Fast forward a couple of years and my little Janome somehow got left in the dust. It’s been sitting there at the ready all this time, but for some reason fancy left the building. Recently the guilt of a perfectly good machine sitting there unused got the best of me. I had a project in mind so I decided to wake her up and put her to work. Except when I went over to her, she may as well have looked like this since I forgot practically everything I ever knew about that little embroidery machine.

The super, duper XLT 21000000 400 thread commercial embroidery machine.

It’s been days and I’ve not gotten past the staring stage. Then it occurred to me. I’ve kept up with the Kindle,  plugged into the iPod AND the iPad, am overjoyed with the Droid, hep to HTML, and cool with The Cloud. Love the laptop, wrangle with wireless, tinker with Twitter, face Facebook head-on and connect with Linked-In.  I’ve grasped on to Google Reader, can be clever with CSS, tune-in with HD, download a DVD, enthusiastically e-File and share with Pinterest, Tumblr and WordPress. I scan, email, telecommute and crop with the best of ‘em and Skype, Wiki, Wii and WHOIS when pressed. All usually before noon.

My brain hurts! Could it be that at fifty-five my brain has finally reached its’ 3-10% Mental Usage Susceptibility Hardship (MUSH) capacity?

It’s entirely possible and I’ll tell you why. It’s my grandmother’s phone number, my middle school locker combination and the correct spelling of the word supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus. Why are these critical bits of what makes up my noteworthy past capable of causing cranial crash? Ask my kids what my grandmother’s phone number is and they can both tell you. My grandmother passed away in 1974 and my kids weren’t born until 1981 and 1986. I’ve repeated the number to them so many times {only to show an example that it is possible to remember a number without benefit of a tattoo} that they now have it memorized!

And the locker combination? My gym teacher threatened us under penalty of unspeakable torture that if we lost that combo, well, we may or may not have to finish the dodge ball segment using medicine balls. And I can directly correlate the correct spelling of supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus with the intense competition involved in my winning the role of the stalwart Jane Banks, from the fifth-grade class interpretation of the classic film,  Mary Poppins. I consider this a pivotal point in my theatrical career.

So, now that I’ve seen the future of my brain’s potential and it isn’t pretty, I intend to discard heretofore considered “important” tidbits in favor of shiny new tidbits. Clearing out the cobwebs if you will. Like my own telephone number. Why do I need to know my own number? I’m not calling myself. Geez. For that matter, why do I need to memorize anybody’s phone number? Isn’t that what speed-dial is for? And Zip + four. Puhleeze. Apparently somebody on Amazon.com’s mainframe thingy already knows it so why should I? Truth be told I never knew the plus four part anyway and from now on, I don’t even care.

Birthdays? Why do I need to memorize birthdays when Facebook gives me a gentle daily reminder right there on my Profile Page? A major benefit to “friending” anyone you ever laid eyes on so you’ll never forget ANYONE’S birthday. EVER. To the point of stalking according to your kid. You’ll send birthday wishes for your son/daughter’s former third-grade classmate’s milestone thirtieth! Who doesn’t appreciate a someecard tender reminder of their special day?

The names of relatives seem to take up a whole bunch of  prime real estate in the old noggin. I can never remember whose mother married what cousin’s twice-removed former sister anyway so why not just print out and refer to a personalized copy of Family Tree Maker at the next reunion? It doesn’t have to be your family’s tree and you get bonus points when you thoughtfully highlight the “bad sheep” as a friendly reminder.

I’ve decided all the math has to go. Nobody uses math anymore, especially not me. I don’t have to count heads when we take family vacations because I usually travel alone. I don’t count sheep because I never sleep and, even if I did, who wants to spend sleeping time doing math? Heck, the multiplication tables alone are responsible for using approximately .0014% of your left brain which totally correlates with the amount of its’ vertical side wall. {My son is impressed. He now knows which parent to thank for his “brilliant mathematician and/or flawless ModPodge applicator” gene!}

But I digress. I digress all the time. I digress so much that the last time I didn’t digress, I actually progressed to the point of being a day early for my doctor appointment. That was fun. “We’ll work you in” really means “Let’s see what kind of an idiot you really are” in medical terms. They put you in the waiting room and let you check-in every 43 minutes to see if you’re still stupid enough to wait another 43 minutes. This continues most of the day or until you sign a notarized agreement that you’ll do something with the reminder card besides using it for a book marker.

So anyway, back to our original topic. You know. Uh….it was…..it was about….I had it here somewhere {paper shuffling and serious scrolling going on}. Right! It was about reduced brain capacity and the inability to absorb new information {and/or teach new tricks to an old dog}. Good news!

It Can Be Done: Scientists Teach Old Dogs New Tricks

You’ll be pleased to know, I know I was, that “Dogs… are good models for the study of human aging. While they “are obviously not people, they have similar brain structures, develop similar brain pathologies, have similar nutritive requirements, and live in similar environments,” according to Dr. William Milgram, in a report published in the January 2005 issue of Neurobiology of Aging. Thank you Dr. Milgram. I owe you one!

What does this mean for you and me? When we can’t possibly grasp one more complex concept, hand it over to the family pet.

Our granddog, Ham, stunned by the news that he's "obviously not people" but still ready to explain that the theory of metabonomics, a new and rapid-developing technology, will be a powerful means to the research of complexed theory system and modernization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

]]> http://nouveaustitch.com/2011/04/25/memory-full-shut-down-some-open-applications-and-try-again/feed/ 6 Nouveau Stitch OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA ZSK_embroidery_machine Brain-Power-Mind-Map images c16a6ab03f5bcb5929da0a00a5deb4ed bible_family_tree pod ham http://nouveaustitch.com/2011/04/22/can-a-tip-ever-compensate-for-a-heart-attack/ http://nouveaustitch.com/2011/04/22/can-a-tip-ever-compensate-for-a-heart-attack/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:42:34 +0000 Ellen http://nouveaustitch.wordpress.com/?p=3469 ]]> This has nothing to do with anything, other than the fact that it cracked me up and will also give me something to think about the next time I’m bored in a hotel room.

Funny, but there doesn’t seem to be “torso” on the mini-bar price list.

Next time a customer demands a “low floor,” I bet they’ll listen!

You can see more pictures and the corresponding article here.

Well, I’m not, but I’m having one built and I’m taking a cue from landscape designer Lisa Bynon’s amazing backyard, featured in the May 2011 issue of House Beautiful. Her spacious vegetable garden and outdoor dining area are enclosed by the most fantastic deer fence I’ve ever seen. It’s genius really.

Photograph by Ngoc Minh Ngo, garden design by Lisa Bynon.

The angled-cut cedar used to construct the simple diamond fencing ensures not only a long-lasting and durable structure, but an aesthetically pleasing one as well. Strong wire reinforces the openings to keep out smaller creatures.

Sorry Bambi and Thumper, but your days of the all-you-can-eat backyard buffet are quickly coming to an end.

Molly Shannon as Sally O'Mally on SNL, strutting her "I'm fifty" stuff!

Today I’m honestly examining Restoration Hardware. Most people seem to “ooh” and “ahh” and “lurve” RH. Not necessarily me. While walking through their store last weekend, I was struck with the thought that in order to want to include over 95% of the merchandise that appears in their store in my home, I’d probably have to be in either a state of depression or sadistic.

Colorless room design and bland washed grays speak to me. Of torture devices. Case in point. The dentist’s chair.

Really, RH? I mean, even with a nice slipcover this thing would be tough to explain to the neighbors.

Onto Exhibit B. The Salvaged Wood Vinter’s Hutch. The stress of what to put into all those drawers, not to mention how to remember what was put into all those drawers, would have me reaching for the Xanax. Nobody has enough used batteries, expired coupons, rubber bands, broken sunglasses, or golf pencils to stock that much space.

Okay, so how did RH come up with so much “vintage” stuff anyway? When I entered the word “vintage” into their catalog search engine, it came back with 503 matches! Vintage implies “old and/or used” to me. It’s hard to believe they actually found enough “vintage” linen to stock thousands of sets of sheets to sell to customers who want to sleep on linens that may have been sweated upon by others in a past life.  When I {rarely} go to the flea market/antique stinky-place, I never find linen sheeting I’d want to sleep on. First, it sounds itchy. Second, who would want to sleep on something that may have …. ahem… just use your imagination.

We had one of these once. I believe it may have looked slightly different, as in a college sports team’s logo was emblazoned on all sides and it may or may not have been used in my son’s dorm room to hide contraband. But at the low, low “special” price of $795 plus shipping, why not get two and use them for end tables? I’ll tell you why not. Because no two are exactly alike, that’s why. Can you imagine how that would affect my sense of order compulsion? I’d have them torn apart and reassembled so as to rid them of their individuality. I mean, who needs the pressure {besides Martha Stewart} of forging nail heads and re tanning leather just to get matching end tables to match?

Don’t even get me started on this one. Maybe it’s my rapidly approaching middle age, but this does not say “just enjoying coffee with friends” to me folks. Have people over for coffee and they’re wondering the whole time who’s going to be preserved inside this coffee table. No thanks. I kid you not, it comes in an extra-large size and is lined with BLACK cotton canvas. I guess they couldn’t find enough ruched vintage cream satin if you get my drift. And the “drawer pulls” look more like carrying handles to me.

So I went to the mall to be invigorated by all the springy color and promise of sunny days ahead and left with a feeling of doom and despair. Maybe Restoration Hardware appeals to the Woody Allen types, but since I have to be locked up in the house for six long winter months when sunshine making an appearance is rendered a bank holiday, I sure as heck don’t want the inside of my house to be gray and dingy. On the other hand, I could live with one of their upholstered beds providing they don’t use anything “vintage “to construct it, and it comes in colors other than oatmeal, flax or sand.

How is it that you know exactly when I purchase new sheets? Is it the new-sheet smell packaged with every set? Or the added sizing to keep things nice and tidy until the wrapper comes off and all hell breaks loose and they overtake the laundry room never to be folded neatly again? Maybe you’re allergic to high-thread counts and you just can’t take one more filament? Were you frightened by an Egyptian during your formative years? You hate when summer comes and the sheets hang on the clothesline only to return to your safe haven when autumn rears its’ ugly head?

Whatever your motivation, it’s a  load of sheet when this happens to my brand new Vera Wang crispy white bazillion thread-counts….

Makes me want to kick the sheet outta something.

These Pottery Barn finds {on sale for $22.99}.

I had some of this on hand from previous projects. Let me rephrase that, there was a can of spray adhesive in my studio. I don’t know the brand and I’m too lazy to go down and look. This will work fine providing it’s repositionable.

Last but not least, a leftover from the valances.

For months I’ve been on the hunt for two pieces of “art” to hang on either side of the cabinet in the breakfast room. After checking all my usual haunts {Home Goods} and finding nothing particularly inspiring, I began eyeing some coordinated fabric samples thinking maybe I could cull a pair and frame them. Have you ever tried to buy fabric samples? I didn’t say steal, I said buy. Not an easy thing to do. I had all but given up on that idea when Pottery Barn had that flashing beacon in their window, otherwise known as a SALE sign. Those napkins practically reached out and slapped me! Not believing my good fortune in finding TWELVE potential pieces of art since they were all different, but coordinating, patterns I snapped them up.

Here’s my palette…see why I had to buy both sets?

After a whole lot of time got wasted going back and forth deciding on which two of the twelve would get to be on permanent display, the persimmon colorway made the cut.

Then I got to work. I protected my work surface and sprayed the adhesive on the mat. This stuff is a mess to work with and be especially careful to watch for drips. If you do happen to get a drip, blot it otherwise the drip will stain the silk and you’ll have to scrap one perfectly good 25″ x 25″ piece of silk and remake the stupid mat.

Lay the super-sticky mat on top of the silk and remove all the air bubbles. Did you catch the ALL part? Because if you don’t you’ll be taking the frame apart and putting it back together to get ALL the air bubbles out at least five times. Trust me on this. Trim the mat so you have at least an inch of excess silk on all sides. Flip it over.

Now cut a big “X” in the center, all the way up to the corners.

Flip the mat over to the back and spray the adhesive on the back side. Pull the silk to the back and secure. Check the front at least 42 times to make sure you got out ALL the air bubbles.

Now, iron the heck out of the napkins….if you don’t you’ll see every wrinkle and it’ll drive you crazy until you take the whole thing apart AGAIN to get the wrinkles completely out this time….

Coincidentally, the napkins fit perfectly so no trimming was necessary. A sign these napkins were meant to live in these frames!

If you see a wrinkle or a speck of dust or an air bubble, please don’t tell me.

Oh, and since I was feeling particularly pleased with my artsy-craftsy self, I whipped up this complementary pillow

You can find the tutorial for the flowers here.

No napkins were harmed in the process.

Looking for more tutorials? Check these out!

At only $29.99 think of the possibilities with this little pine lovely! When I saw it paint wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. Nope. I thought about all the fabric I have hanging out in my closet. In particular the Cat’s Cradle I had left over from this project.

I have been wanting to incorporate a little more of the persimmon color into the room, and knew just the place to do it! The Rast! But first, a black lacquer finish, courtesy of my staff who just happened to be painting a black automotive finish the day I showed up with my spray cans. No way I could ever duplicate a professional finish with a spray can!

Next, I cut and adhered the fabric to the drawer fronts with spray adhesive.

Then, marked the holes.

All ready to assemble the drawers.

I found the perfect knobs at Hobby Lobby for $1.50 each. These Anthropologie pulls were my first choice, but at $8 each they stayed at the store.

That’s the reflection of the baseboard in the mirror finish!

Smoother than a baby’s behind….

Total cost of the project: Under $40, plus tax.

The same price I paid for the little lamp from Home Goods.

You can see a whole bunch of Ikea Rast pictures and links here.  But the one that got my wheels turning was this Dorothy Draper chest look-alike. Amazing!

Be sure not to miss all the great projects at Between Naps on the Porch this week. So much inspiration!

Can I just add that this is the first time my multi-talented husband took on the installation of flooring? Since his brother is our builder we pretty much leave the heavy lifting up to him, but he was booked solid for weeks so we went with a Genesis Advanced Locking System floor in walnut (Tarkett) so we wouldn’t have to get out the big guns (the scary nail gun thingy). I would like to accept partial credit for this installation since I did choose the flooring material AND picked it up at The Big Orange Store! This picture can’t capture the depth of color. It turned out great but let’s just say I don’t think DH will be giving his brother any competition in the immediate future.

Next up, the closet. You can see the color a little better in here. It’s really a dreamy green/blue but reads quite blue on my monitor.

I love the contrast of strong colors together in a room and this bubblegum pink fabric for the draperies really shakes up what could have been a very predictable little room.  Draperies mounted at the ceiling add height to the room, and since the ceilings are 9′ I was working with a lot of fabric (108″) and opted for unlined, shirred panels to keep it lighter. They’re mounted off to the sides of the windows so this northern exposure room gets every bit of light our three wooded acres allow.

This cute little faux window seat came with a horrendous green nylon covering. Sorry, Martha. You messed up on this piece big time. It was U.G.L.Y.! I had to recover it quickly. The white piping is my favorite part!

So Hobby Lobby had these huge white frames on sale for $15 each. I found the pink paper in the art supplies department and cut the “matting” to fit the frame opening, then added some of that New Yorker magazine cover art you find on stands just outside Central Park – already mounted with white matting.

Since this room belongs to my world-traveler daughter, I haven’t fluffed it up too much. I plan to leave the accessorizing to her when she returns in July from her current six-month gig with a major cruise line. She’s sailing not only the Caribbean but through the Panama Canal and on to Alaska in a few weeks! As she put it, how do you pack for both the Caribbean and Alaska in the same suitcase? I’ll bet she’ll have some fun mementos to add once she returns home. In the meantime, I’ve pulled together some odds and ends to fill the bookshelves.

So there you have it. The tiny bedroom redo. All pink and green/blue and ready for spring!

I still can’t get over the erased wrinkles on the slipcover!!

Looking for more pillow inspiration? Check these out!

Before I show you my project, I am doing a quick post about the most awesome thing I’ve discovered on the interwebs lately! I feel like Magellan! Okay, you know about Picnik, right? The photo editing software that you can access directly from Picasa? The most wonderful thing next to Photoshop at a fraction of the price! Guess what I’ve recently discovered on Picnik? Go ahead, what do you think they could possibly add to photo editing software that could get this 55-year-old all giddy?!? Picnik Premium can now remove WRINKLES from pictures!!! Don’t believe me? Check this out!! First, the unedited version. Those IKEA slipcovers always are full of wrinkles and who has time to get out the steamer? {Click on the photos to get up close and personal.}

Certainly not lazy me! I got out the Picnik!

Can you believe it? And there are more editing functions that just may mean I need to send the developer a big bunch of flowers.

Did you catch that last one, “Insta-Thin?” Uh huh. It really works and you can get a good five pound’s off with just one click.  You don’t even need the Premium version to use it! If you haven’t tried Picnik you need to! {Not a paid endorsement, just a big fan of the software.} Somebody quick tell Oprah!!

Okay, now back to my project. The tiny bedroom redo. I’ll be posting more pictures later tonight. Promise.

Lots to share but one small problem.

We’ve had NO SUNSHINE the entire weekend so my pictures look horrible.

Antiguan Sky - Benjamin Moore

I’m counting on Mr. Sun’s return tomorrow.

For the tiny bedroom reveal!

Okay. Show of hands. How many of you were chuckling to yourself when you saw my previous post about fabric price shopping? I believe most of you probably thought “Yeah, right.” when I posted the deal I found. Since I devoted an entire post to Online Fabric Store dot net and what I thought was a great deal, I feel it’s only fair to let you all know what a disappointment this has turned out to be.

Michelle: that’s what they are telling me

Apparently when I called and asked for the status of my order, or AUGUST, when the fabric may or may not have turned up. So much for the great deal at Online Fabric Store dot net.

My biggest pet peeve as a customer is when I (the customer) get to do the work of the “Customer Service” department. Things do happen, fabric does get back-ordered, but good customer service means the customer is notified immediately of a problem before having to make that call to find out what’s happening with an order that’s gone missing.

The Fabric Files is not only a resource for online fabric shopping sites, but for online fabric shopping experiences as well. Needless to say, I’ll be updating The Fabric Files accordingly.

Based on the number of hits The Fabric Files receives on a daily basis, you folks are making excellent use of this new resource! Nothing thrills me more than sharing the great finds I run across while shopping for fabric and I wanted to pass on the results of my current search.

As I mentioned before, I don’t have a brick and mortar home dec fabric store nearby, and the closest design center for me is about 90 minutes away. I don’t go often, but it’s a great resource and I can usually spend the entire day there in fabric showrooms. When I’m in Chicago, there’s nothing better than visiting the Merchandise Mart for the simple joy of touching, feeling and tasting…(kidding) fabrics! But when I don’t have the time to get away to the design center, I will sometimes check out the closest fabric chain store. The selection isn’t the greatest, but sometimes I can spy something I can use and save myself a day lost to the hunt.

Over the weekend I did just that and happened to find a fabric that will work perfectly for me in my breakfast room. I was really, really excited because I had been looking for a couple of months and couldn’t come up with the perfect solution. I’m slipcovering dining chairs (the blue slip I posted previously was my prototype) and I think this fabric is the perfect colorway, weight and texture for the project.

Robert Allen Bristol Stripe (Palm Beach)

The price at JoAnn’s was $23.99 per yard (40% off all home dec fabrics, listing a “regular” price of $39.99). Note they use the term “regular” rather than MSRP, retail or suggested retail which means that’s the price they’ve chosen to sell the fabric for should there not be a 40% off sale (and you don’t have a 40% off coupon).

Rather than ordering on the spot, I tapped into The Fabric Files and selected a few vendors to compare prices. I did not take into account the cost of shipping. First up, FabricCarolina. com. They show a retail price of $36.00 per yard, and their price for the fabric: $21.98. Next, InteriorMall.com. Their price is $27.00 per yard. Not a significant difference from the above two prices, but at $5.00 more per yard than Fabric Carolina, my project would have cost $50 more! That’s not peanuts!

Last up, OnlineFabricStore.net. In the past I’ve been very pleased with their pricing for beautiful ticking stripes. The quality has always been perfect and their pricing reasonable. When I checked their pricing on the identical, first-quality Robert Allen fabric I took a double, and then triple, take. $12.80 per yard! I KNOW! Whoa. Now that’s some definite change in my pocket! Comparing the vendors, here’s a summary for my purchase:

JoAnnFabrics.com $23.99/yd x 10 yards = $239.99

FabricCarolina.com $21.98/yd x 10 yards = $219.80

Interior Mall.com $27.00/yd x 10 yards = $270.00

OnlineFabricStore.net $12.80/yd x 10 yards = $128.00

From the highest to the lowest price, the savings for my project by simply doing a price comparison: $142.00! See note and link above.

Now, I’m not usually this successful when I do a fabric price comparison. When the prices are closer, I always base my decision on the customer service experience I’ve had, or if I haven’t had experience with any of the contenders, I’ll make a decision based on how user-friendly their website is for fabric shopping or other, perhaps arbitrary, criteria. That’s where I really need your help! In order to make The Fabric Files the best it can be, we need YOUR input! Please email me with any experience you’ve had with vendors and we’ll add it to their bio. And I remind you, if you don’t see a vendor listed, we’ll add them. Because I do not have any sponsorships or relationships with these vendors, I can be completely impartial and will give free listings to all. So, send me the scoop!

Have a fantastic week! I’ll pop in soon with some pink rod-pocket panels I’m hoping to hang this week!

A shape-flattering little number that accentuates the positives.

The hardest part about making this slipcover is deciding what fabric you’ll use.

And getting the sun to stay out long enough so you can snap a couple of pictures.

Something not too small…

It has to be JUST RIGHT and fit like it’s always been there. Being cursed with the ability to envision exactly the look I’m going for and not deterred until I find it, I felt like a bloodhound. Sniffing out the style of chair, but never with the perfect fabric at a realistic price for someone who could be classified as a serial redecorator. And not being thrilled with ordering a brand new piece of furniture and then adding the expense of COM, it was clear after months and months of dead-end searches that I was going to have to come up with the solution on my own. Here’s the look I was going for…in a different colorway.

Layla Grace Fair Oaks Chair $1,400+++

So the quest to find a chair to slipcover began. After reading all the gross stories about bedbug infested furniture, it was clear I needed to go in another direction than the local Goodwill. Forget that what I was looking for would never have shown up anyway. Antique stores? Uh uh. The SMELL. Ewww. Our friend Craig? Here’s the best of the lot….

Ummmm, no. So I tried Overstock. Nada. Of course I checked Home Goods weekly but nothing……until last Friday! Then I finally found THE CHAIR!! Isn’t she lovely {with the exception of that fabric}? Good bones, as they say, those cute little wheels {DH asked, “Why are they just on the front??”}, and best of all, a reasonable price tag.

So within an hour of bringing her home, the makeover began!

Using my patented fabric-stapler-inside-out-slipcovering technique, we made steady progress.

Houston, we have a problem. I simply couldn’t make the slipcover fit properly over the arms! This was after day two of wrestling with, cursing at and basically attempting to throw the bloody thing out the window! Then I had a thought. What about reupholstering? The chair looked pretty basic. Just pull out a few staples and we should be good to go.

Ha! Two more days and I had had it with staple removal. I was scouring the want ads for a professional staple-puller-outer! Even in this economy, there were no takers.

Not yet ready to say “uncle,” even a broken air compressor and finicky staple gun couldn’t stand in my way. I could see the finished product in my mind’s eye and I wanted it in my family room. TODAY!

A sudden burst of energy and a four-shot cappuccino gave me the needed push! I even added a box-pleated skirt and lumbar pillow!

Since I was able to purchase the fabric with a significant discount, the total investment for a brand-new chair in my COM fabric: $502!

She looks so at home now, don’t you think? Right where she should be.

You’ll find flat folding home decor fabric will have a similar effect. Permanent creasing. Those blasted wrinkles may never come out. And, if  by chance, you take your fabric to a workroom in this condition, you’ll be paying extra for the wrinkles to be removed, if they can be removed.

A correctly stored bolt of fabric lays horizontal. Like this.

So there you have it.  Leave the wrinkles to these guys!

Someone helped me out within minutes after I found an unnamed fabric in a bin in Chicago. I’m hoping the same thing will happen today! So here it is, the mystery fabric. Somebody out there knows what it is, right?

The color is a coral-y pink, it has a 4″ repeat, I believe it’s 100% cotton and it works perfectly in the turquoise room I’m working on.  It looks considerably pinker on my monitor than it does in person. I know I could spend hours searching The Fabric Files for it but I’m betting someone has seen it or worked with it and knows what it is without even breaking a sweat. Pretty, pretty please!

If you have a fabric you need to identify, please email me and I’ll do a similar post and see if we can make this a regular service. I think it’s True-Up’s site that does fabric ID-ing in the quilting world. I’d like for Nouveau Stitch to be the source in the home dec fabric arena.

So how about it? Put your Nancy Drew skills to work and please solve this mystery!

Thanks SO much!

Not appearing in any order of priority, I now present six sewing tools that will CHANGE YOUR LIFE….can you tell I got an A in drama? 

3. A 60″ aluminum ruler. Stop fiddling around with yardsticks and go big! A heavy duty metal ruler will have you whipping out precise projects immediately. You’ll be amazed at what a big difference such a little tool can make! And they’re under $10 at the big box store. Get two!

via Pinterest

You know how when you’re ready to start thinking about a new project around the house, fabric selection is (supposed to be) the first place you start? Well, if you tend to shop for fabric online, your task  has just been made easier for you! You’re probably asking yourself right this minute if Nouveau Stitch is going to choose your fabric for you, aren’t you? {Just so you can blame it on me if your masterpiece doesn’t turn out the way you hoped. Ha!}. No, I won’t be selecting your fabric for you, but I will hold your hand via a new little thing I’m calling The Fabric Files.

{Cue Hallelujah Chorus}

It’s intended to be a master resource of links to home decor online fabric vendors first and foremost,  but secondly it will include your feedback, comments, recommendations {and, when necessary, raspberries} for said companies. If you think they’re particularly friendly and efficient, please share. Shipping costs seem too high, tell us! They have a great deal going on? We need to know this! Messed up your order big time, or worse, you never got it? Your input will save fellow sewists the same fate.

We all have considerable apprehension about ordering something so visual and tactile online but it certainly seems to be the best way to shop for many of us who don’t have local fabric stores. Anything we can do to ease our minds before laying out the cash is always a good thing. {Oh, and I always sample first when there’s that option.} Obviously pricing is relative and if you locate the last piece of Duralee 338-22 on earth and are happy to pay $500/yard for it so you can finish your room, the term “expensive” is moot for you. On the other hand, when you run across someone who charges considerably more time and again for something that is readily available, we’d appreciate knowing.

Sound good? Okay, I’ve done the initial, and by no means complete, compilation. Now I need your help. Please review the list and comment on only those companies you personally have experience with. Your favorite isn’t listed? Well, by all means, please let me know! I’ll add them ASAP.

I did not include companies that also sell fabric in addition to their primary business, (e.g. Pottery Barn, Ballard Design, etc.). I also did not include any Etsy or Ebay sellers since it’s the Wild, Wild West out there and I don’t have any personal experience buying from those sources. If there are some that you feel are glaring omissions, please let me know.

Now before any of my decorator friends start sending me hate mail, please know online fabric sources are not going away any time soon. I don’t know too many DIYers who pay MSRP on fabric when most of them are trying to save a buck on their project in the first place by doing it themselves. There are decorator’s sites listed above and they may or may not discount the products they sell.

So where is this list you ask? Look up!

I’ve added a tab to the top of my main blog page (see it up there, above the header? It says The Fabric Files). There’s a link in my sidebar, too. Please tell your friends. The more input, the better. Oh, and I have no relationship with {other than being an occasional customer} and have not been compensated by, any of the sources listed.

Thanks for helping make The Fabric Files the best one-stop spot for home dec online fabric shopping resources!

But let’s say we do get buckets of the white stuff.

What better way to escape the dead of winter than to dream of summer?

Lake Michigan, Petoskey

And while you’re dreaming, check out {pun not necessarily intended} these fantastic porch curtains. Reminds me of laundry blowing in the breeze. Ahhh, summer. I remember you well.

Image via Scalamandre ~ Antigua

An easy alternative to floor-length porch draperies.  Perfect with some of the new indoor/outdoor fabrics popping up everywhere.

Duralee-14966-137 Springtime

Schumacher - Trina Turk, Super Paradise Print, Punch

Duralee 14959-137, Springtime

Schumacher - Trina Turk Arches, Pool

Sunbrella - Tommy Bahama, Seersucker Sun

It’s the 30th day of January and the sun is shining. Dream of punching up your porch {instead of the local weatherman}.

It’s not likely to stay looking like this for long. As a matter of fact, as soon as I was finished shooting these pictures {and moving the piles around so they didn’t show up in the pictures} the clutter proceeded to rear its’ ugly head.

So let’s just savor this for a moment, shall we?

Nice.

Organized!

I can find everything I could possibly need to get the job done.

Except, it’s not a job. It’s an obsession.

There I said it. I’m obsessed with sewing.

As soon as I finish a project, it’s on to the next. Even if that means redoing something I made just a month ago.

I know. Dr. Phil’s name has been mentioned more than once in this house, and not in a “Isn’t Dr. Phil performing wondrous miracles?” kind of way. More like a “I’m putting Dr. Phil on speed-dial” thing.

Is it wrong that Robert Allen’s name comes up in casual conversation…as though he’s an old family friend? Or that we once lived on Waverly Road? Or that my UPS guy apologizes on days he doesn’t have fabric to deliver?

Maybe. But if creating beauty in my world is wrong, well then, I guess I don’t want to be right.

As I thumbed through them, I kept happening upon the same phrases: 102 WAYS TO DECORATE YOUR BEDROOM FOR UNDER $10! EASY FIXES IN AN HOUR! ALL YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED WITH PAINT!  REBUILD AND REFRESH YOUR HOME…FAST! Why is it decorating magazine articles are always written with a sense of urgency {and exclamation points}? If I don’t hang this wallpaper by 7, the husband will walk out that door forever and the kids will have no hope of ever making it past the sixth grade! I’m SERIOUS!

If I were a magazine editor, my cover would probably read:  GET ORGANIZED…OR LEAVE YOUR LAUNDRY IN PILES ON THE FLOOR. WE’RE NOT HERE TO JUDGE, or COLORS BEST PAINTED IN 14″ X 14″ SPLOTCHES TO SEE IF YOU CAN LIVE WITH THEM LONGER THAN 15 MINUTES, or BEFORE/AFTER/AFTER THE AFTER, or DECORATING “EXPERIMENTS” IN 50 AGONIZING AND TIME-CONSUMING STEPS. Then of course nobody would want to read my magazine and it would probably fail and … uh….yeah.

Anyway, while I was brainstorming about what to hang on my walls that was eye-catching and inexpensive, I remembered I had some of these.

Ikea Nyttjas. $1.99 each. Since I have quite a bit of territory to cover, the perfect choice! Now what to put inside…..drumming fingers on a stack of decorating magazines….hmmmm.

I know the proper term these days is “Aha Moment” but I kind of like the word “idea.” Seems short, to the point, and it fits. So I got this idea.

Apparently magazines spend quite a lot of money and time on the cover photo and art. Shame that it only gets looked at a couple of dozen times and tossed on a stack.

Especially when their size is almost perfect for a generic frame.

The photography so crisp! The colors so vibrant!

It’s as if they were begging me to give them a new lease on life.

But things are coming along.

Lots of color. Since I’m in the lower level and sunshine isn’t an option, I decided to substitute color. It almost works.

Lots of storage….glass so I can see what’s inside.

Neat and tidy. Just the way I like it.For some reason I saved this pattern envelope. One of the first I ever purchased. It has earned a place of honor.

A snippet of my fabric collection obsession.

A little more {I won’t show you the huge closet full – today}.

More glass, and twill tape.

I haven’t been able to make a spot for a reading chair yet. Still working on that.

So, I’m hoping to finish up over the weekend. Then I’ll need a project to test out the new space. And it should really involve the 20 yards of this that has taken up residence in the closet.

Have a great weekend!

Overstock.com

And enough of these two

DIYUpholsterySupply.com

To create an awesome border!

DIYing the perfect blend of traditional-sisal goodness at a fraction of the price.

Oh yeah. That’s definitely what I’d do.

In with the new!

Somehow mid-swap, the volume of stuff in that little room more than tripled! How on earth did it ever fit in that tiny space? Here we are in the “honeymoon phase.” We had only made a few trips up and down stairs in order to install new natural light fixtures overhead and some shelves. See that antique on the floor over there? That’s one of them there telephony things….

Okay. Five sewing machines, five tables, a 5′ x 8′ worktable, a thousand yards of fabric, miscellaneous billions of little thingies to go. But first we need to bring down the base kitchen cabinets that have survived three home moves. I never installed them, they just float. Best investment I ever made for the sewing room!

Ewww. That countertop is sooo the wrong color. I can fix that! This stuff is AMAZING!!! Highly recommend!

$20 (and some very strong fans) later!

Okay. We’re still working here. It can’t happen overnight, right? Unless we had movers, which we didn’t. So more stair work.

If you’ve never moved industrial sewing machines with tables and motors boy are you in for a treat! Seriously! You’ll be treating your back to a bubble bath in no time. Blasted heavy machines!

It’s still piling in folks. Seriously, do I really need all this crap? Why yes. Yes I do. But for today I’m done. Once I get it into some semblance of order, and I can again raise my arm to eye-level so I can snap more pics, I’ll be posting the dramatic results of the big move.

Romo Fabrics - Paeonia Cobalt

Cut fabric to size of window for inside mount adding for seams. Stitch small pocket for tension rod at top. Add buttons and buttonholes or any kind of fastener to secure flap up from bottom.

Couldn’t be any easier.

Gosh I love Romo Fabrics and couldn’t you just live in that chair!

Restoration Hardware

And lifeless solids?

Pottery Barn

Yawn.

Can we all agree that adding a little pattern and color is like Dorothy landing in Oz?

Shades of Light

Like going from black and white to color TV….

Shades of Light

…..although today a more apt comparison would be going from analog to HDTV.

Overstock.com

I’ll bet even sales clerks would be thrilled if you paid with one of these punchy Benjamin’s over boring greenbacks!

Using this piece as my starting point, I’ll be back soon with a revived mantle {without the watermark, of course}.

Annechovie

Because frankly, I can’t tolerate one more day of it looking like this.

In the meantime, you can browse over one million suggested color palettes for your home here.

I fluffed up the pillows …..

Scooted the cat off the furniture …

I even added a few words of wisdom …

And made a clean break with the past.

There’s nothing like a bloggy facelift to sweep away the cobwebs. And to make you realize you may actually know a little more than you thought (or that old dogs can eventually learn new tricks)!

I came   t-h-i-s    c-l-o-s-e   to adding a new photo of myself, but as you can see, just the idea made me ill.

So I’ll just leave well enough alone for tonight, have a Potent Potable and hit the sack. 

Too expensive, you say? Are my virtual $37.41 custom one-and one-half width drapery panels reasonable enough for you?

Impossible, you say? I’d say read on. Start by ordering nine yards of this Premier fabric from Fabric.com, on sale for $4.89 per yard. You won’t pay shipping because the purchase is over $35.

9 yards x 4.89 = $44.01

Deduct 15% for Fabric.com’s current sale (good until 1/3/11)          (6.60)

Total fabric cost:      $37.41

Nine yards of fabric will give you two, one-and-one-half width, 96″ panels, which is proportionally sufficient for a fixed drapery rod between 48″ to 86″ wide. When talking custom, a more luxurious look is created by using more than a skimpy single width. If your window is 33″ inches wide or smaller, a single-width will work, however. Normally, I would line the panels, but it’s not always necessary. The lining would bump up the cost by about $20, but would add to the fullness of the drapery and protect your face fabric from sunlight. All in all, a full set of lined panels for under $50 is still a fantastic deal!

There are dozens of good books available that will walk you through the process, but if you have a straight-stitch sewing machine, you can sew draperies. Starting with inexpensive fabric is a great way to build your confidence.  I still use this primer often when I really want to get down to the basics. Not a bad investment for under $10.

For $42.69 you can go with the panels in green….yum!

If you’re still not sold on DIY, I can recommend some incredible sewists who will whip up panels that will make your little heart go pitty-pat…. and fit your windows.

Cheers!

DecoMags.com

I thought today I’d open my files for your viewing pleasure. These are things that, for one reason or another, I haven’t gotten around to making yet, but have inspired me to either go out and buy all the stuff for{one of those drop-everything and run to JoAnn’s moments that turns into a three-hour trek} or spend days deciding how I’d do it differently, or what I need to buy or where I’d buy the stuff, etc. Kind of an “After/Before” if you will. This, folks, is the number one reason I have a jam-packed crap room. Since these pictures have been in my file for quite some time, I’m unfortunately unable to give credit to some where credit is due. I will be most happy to add sources if any of you happen to know.

Lovely, isn’t it? Visit Belle to see her school desk transformation here.  Wanna see mine?

It’s been shoved into the guest room closet, along with a can of chalkboard paint, so if you happen to be my guest, feel free to finish it up. Now onto my next muse….

I think these itty-bitty travel trailers are just fantastic! What a haven! Of course I would never take it on the road or camping and they’re not allowed in my subdivision, but I still want one because my five-bedroom basically empty home on three acres doesn’t quite have enough room for me to sit and read in seclusion, even though I’m the only one home 90% of the time. Luckily, I’ve only shopped for these online and never could quite pull the trigger and buy one, although there is a refurbisher less than an hour away and I could snap at any moment. In the meantime, I’m contemplating redoing this pop-up we have stored, and I’ve stocked a minimum of 25 yards of coordinating fabrics should the mood strike.

Aren’t these the most adorable cupcakes EVER? I love them. Of course I went out and bought all the M&Ms….and ate them. No cupcakes were ever conceived.

How about this for the half-bath? I figured I needed to bone up on my handwriting first, so I researched different handwriting styles, including the Sumerian pictographic system, Gothic script, calligraphy and regional handwriting variations and decided I didn’t trust myself with a permanent marker unless I had several drinks and the theme from Urban Cowboy playing in the background. I now own a complete set of Sharpies, however.

Lilly Pulitzer Dressing Room

Here’s an easy one, right? And another great possibility for the Sharpies.

Baggie Art by Babalisme

One small thing. I forgot I can’t draw. I’m prepared, however, should I ever find an art class that teaches Baggie Drawing 101.

How did I miss the free panty-hose in Baggies offer?

Oh sure. You non-crafty types think whipping up stuff all day long is child’s play. Well I’m here to tell you, it’s complicated! First there’s the investment. Who knew you had to equip your home like a fully stocked JoAnne’s ETC, at a cost of approximately $1.26 million, to just stay current with all the crafty new releases and trends? The closest thing we have to TMZ for crafters is Martha.  Have you a clue how many episodes of Martha Stewart I had to watch to develop this “eye for detail?” Seriously, I have to listen in the car just to keep on top of the latest in breaking craft developments. {God help me if I jump in the car at 5PM and accidentally listen to her whining daughter, Alexa, complain about nearly everything under the sun but her potential inheritance.}

There’s real estate involved, people! To avoid the shame and condemnation associated with having to craft on the dining room table, there must be a separate area devoted to projects. Ofttimes it can be more cost-effective to buy a second property and convert it to a craft-house thereby circumventing the problem of modifying the roof-line for the addition.

So there you have it. You’ve now been privy to my inner sanctum ~ my idea files. Oh and if you ever need advice on how to start and abandon multiple projects at once, I’m your sensei.

Since I’ve barely gotten around to decorating due to the piles of Christmas gifts I’ve lovingly handmade again this year (one), I just have a couple of shots to share. The sole purpose of including these photos is to justify the snow effect added to the blog. Isn’t it wonderful? I get to look at 8″ of the lovely, fluffy white stuff outside, as well as have it spew all over my blog!

Okay, here’s the mantle.

Now here’s my favorite ornament. New York City, Checker Cab, drawings of buildings. Yeah. Anyway, I love it. It’s from my extensive Christopher Radko collection (10).

As I’m still weeks behind in my holiday preparations, I will be breaking from blogging for a bit to regroup. See you soon!

Ham is our granddog.

I know.

Anyway, the girls and I thought you might like to see a Christmas gift we whipped up for Ham.

Violette laid the fabric out, cut the bone shape and stitched.

Willow turned it right side out, inserted the squeakers (available at PetSmart) and stuffing and stitched it closed.

Come get it, big boy!

And if you believe that, I have a slightly used, nearly ex-governor of Michigan I’d like to relocate to your state to help “blow it away” like she so graciously did here in Michigan.

While I don’t really know what these color selections mean in a practical sense, I know for one I will not be running out and exchanging  my nearly new sofa for a shocking pink version. I doubt I’ll even add any fuchsia accessories, but for those of you who decorate with what’s in in-mind and have a boatload of disposable income, I’ve found a few fabrics that would fit into the category of bright pink coral y with a slant toward a bit of rosy watermelon.

Colefax & Fowler Dryden Linen

Thibaut Anafi

Thibaut Ecuador

Scalamandre Gertrude's Rose

Scalamandre La Perouse

Pretty, aren’t they? If you add just one of them to your person and/or decor, according to Pantone, “energizing Honeysuckle lifts spirits and imparts confidence to meet life’s ongoing challenges.” This means your house that’s been on the market for 18 months will suddenly sell (for 20% above asking price), your boss decides to promote you because he’s heard you’ve received three stellar outside offers, and the twins received identical offers for college tuition reimbursement from Harvard, and they’re still in preschool! All these years I thought hard work was the trick!

Not to be Debbie Downer here, I mean we all need something to look forward to when we’re staring out our den window and all we can see is piles of snow for miles around, but really. Can a color actually have super-powers? “In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues.” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. So much for Prozac.

Crapifying our lives with more stuff we don’t need in a different color will not make us feel better, more productive, happier, and have more energy. It just won’t. And I can guarantee, it will have to be an even colder day in Michigan, before the DH agrees to a pink anything in this house. Just sayin’.

Let’s all take a deep breath, remain calm and savor our Turquoises (2010), Mimosas (2009), Blue Iris’ (2008) and Chili Peppers (2007) from years past, shall we? Be glad for the Sand Dollars (2006), Blue Turquoises (2005), Tigerlillies (2004),  Aqua Skies (2003) and True Reds (2002) that have graced our lives! Nobody, and I mean nobody, will suffer if fewer honeysuckles are sold this year. And I guarantee your kids will thank you for your restraint when they’re cleaning out your attic.

I threw together a little something.

The beginning of my holiday decorating.

Now go peel me a grape, Jeeves.

I got nothin’.

Uh….not this time. I got an amazing adventure, some spectacular educational opportunities AND, yes, a fantastic free lunch! And got to spend the day at this little old place, the historic Chicago Merchandise Mart!

According to Wikipedia, “When opened in 1930, the Merchandise Mart or the Merch Mart, located in the Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois was the largest building in the world with 4,000,000 square feet (372,000 m²) of floor space. Previously owned by the Marshall Field family, the Mart centralized Chicago’s wholesale goods business by consolidating vendors and trade under a single roof. Massive in its construction, and serving as a monument to early 20th century merchandising and architecture, the art deco landmark anchors the daytime skyline at the junction of the Chicago River branches. With upper levels bathed in colored floodlight, the structure stands out against darker downtown buildings in night views. The building continues to be a leading retailing and wholesale destination, hosting 20,000 visitors and tenants per day. The Merchandise Mart is so large that it has its own zip code (60654)!”

How great is that?!? Okay, so this ginormous building houses design showrooms. By the hundreds. Back in the seventies, the first time I visited, I had no clue. This time, I swear I nearly had a coronary. I mean, I’ve been to the D & D in New York City and our little Michigan Design Center, but this place just blows your mind.  Since I’m all about the fabric, I focused on the fabric showrooms. All the players were there. Brunschwig & Fils, Cowtan & Tout, Scalamandre, Schumacher. I even got a new shopping bag to add to my collection!

The Duralee people really were impressive with their Designer Match Event. If you happened to bring some pictures of your home along (we were advised to), you could meet with a designer who would give you a 10-minute assessment of your “situation” and perhaps form the start of a beautiful new relationship. Since I live four hours away from these designers, I opted to settle for refreshments and fabric drooling-upon instead.

The designers, via Duralee.

There is so much more I could be writing about. I took copious notes from all the seminars  and snapped some shots of the speakers. These nice people are House Beautiful Editor in Chief, Newell Turner, speakers Judi Roaman (theAccessorator.com) and Darius Monsef IV (COLOURlovers.com) who had a lot to say, but sadly I can’t read my notes. I know! It was good stuff though, I’m certain of it, since there are lots of  “!!!!” and some “???” and “hmmmms” sprinkled throughout.

Here’s Barry Dixon, discussing his new book Barry Dixon Interiors. I was a late arrival due to the fact that I got a little waylaid by the Lee Jofa showroom which seemed to be calling my name. I hate sitting in the back.

I found the fabric I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO HAVE for my sofa cushions….but I have one small problem. I saw thousands of samples and can’t remember whose fabric it is!! That’s right, folks. The fabric I’ve been searching for for months is right here in front of me BUT I DON”T KNOW WHO MAKES IT! So, if anybody out there has a clue, please, I beg of you, tell me! I’ll be forever in your debt!

What an exhilarating day it was! I know House Beautiful presents these very generous day-long programs in various cities so I strongly suggest, NO I INSIST, should you get the opportunity, you take them up on their free lunch offer. The fact that they threw in a full day of design goodness as icing on the cake has absolutely no influence on whether I’ll continue as a subscriber and a huge fan of design magazines in general. Despite word to the contrary, holding my laptop and reading blogs and e-zines in no way can take the place of the smell and feel of a fresh design magazine in my hands.

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s here. I seriously have no words. None. I leafed through with tears streaming. Words like beautiful, amazing, stunning, drop-dead gorgeous, exquisite, captivating and remarkable barely scratch the surface.

And the accompanying words! When’s the last time you actually read a design book?

I’m not even going to begin to try to cover here what’s in all glorious three hundred pages of the book. Run, do not walk, to your bookseller and lose yourself in My Passion for Design. When we all come up for air, we’ll talk amongst ourselves.

I purchased 3″ firm density foam from a commercial supplier. For cushions that will get plenty of use, splurge for heavier density vs. lower quality available at the chain fabric stores. It’s worth it since you never know who may take up residence.

I then constructed a basic box cushion with zipper, inserting the contrasting flaps between the top and side edges. I also included the button loops and twill-tape ties to secure the cushion to the stool. I won’t tell you about having to rip the whole dang thing apart because I forgot to include the ties on the second cushion.

Miraculously, they fit like a glove and I just had to add the covered buttons and aloof Himalayan as a finishing detail.

This is why you must learn to sew, or find yourself an awesome custom home furnishings workroom, that can bring your personality to your home. Where could you ever find ready-made’s with this much kitty appeal?

Please join us over here!

As usually happens, my solution came to me in the middle of the night. Pleated silk ruffle to the rescue!

Gosh, I love an easy fix! And my pleater!

In case you’re interested, the pattern I used is the Delaine valance, available from Pate-Meadows here. I modified it slightly, eliminating the piping on the top scallops and the brush fringe on the now-flat bottom.

My to-do list. Done and done!

Image via Overstock.com

You have a couple of options. A) Buy longer draperies, or B) Shorten the window.

That is all.

For THIS!  {Take particular notice of the complimentary and Newel Turner parts!}…….. I KNOW!!!

Scalamandre via Traditional Home Magazine

Do you get emotional at the mere sight of a suzani?

Photo via Decor Pad

Turn into mush when you spot a Marimekko?

Toile talks to you?

B H & G

Why not frame up some fabric yourself and create your own gallery? Start with this.

Now find some fantastically frameable fabric. Have you seen Premier Prints graphic prints available in tons of wonderful colors? I selected these three from Fabric.com for under $7.00 per yard each!

Cut the fabric about 2″ larger than the canvas on all four sides.

Fold under the raw edges all the way around and miter the corners. I taped the fabric in place while I got out the big gun…the pneumatic stapler. Now s-t-r-e-t-c-h that fabric eliminating any wrinkles.

So easy!

Voila!

Not in the DIY mood? You can order pre-assembled Marimekko fabric/stretcher kits here.

Blank walls begone!

Today I found a super-easy alternative.

Double fold bias tape (quilt binding) – 7/8″ width! It comes in solid colors only, but there’s a pretty wide range of colors. I found it in coral, plum, stone blue, sea foam, lime green, deep peacock and sea glass, plus many more, online. Since it’s folded twice and cut on the bias, the poly/cotton blend holds the cording firm but allows it to bend easily.

Simply place the cording into the crease and stitch using your 1/4″ piping foot. No muss, no fuss. Voila! Three yards of covered cord with a 1/2 lip in no time. And no need to serge the edge. It’s already finished! It works beautifully! At $2.79 for three yards at JoAnn’s (it comes up at $1.65 through Amazon), it’s a bit pricey but when you figure in time savings…. ya gotta LOVE it!

It won’t work for every project, but for those it will….nice!

With all the time I’m saving, maybe someday soon I’ll finish these counter stool cushions!

Being on the offense (vs. being offensive) makes returns much easier. And I don’t miss that felon-like feeling of trying to return something without the receipt. So in order to keep myself organized about my receipt keeping, I’ve devised some protocol when I check out. Once I get that receipt in my hot little hand, it immediately goes into the dedicated receipt holder (DRH) in my bag.

What? You don’t have a dedicated receipt holder? Really? Well, after today you’ll have no excuse. You can whip one up in no time using Noodlehead’s tutorial.

Oh I know, there are dozens of tutorials out there for small bags, but this one is just the right size. It finishes up at about 8″ x 5″ and is QUICK. Now if you add all the gathers and inside pockets and dividers it does take a little longer, but it seriously took me about 15 minutes to whip one of these up this morning. And to help you out, I even put together some pattern pieces to work with the tutorial to save you even having to measure. The basic DRH I made above required two 9″ x 5.5″ rectangles of the outer fabric, two 9″ x 5.5″ of the lining, some fusible interfacing, one 7″ zipper and two 1 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ rectangles to cover the zipper ends. That’s it!

I whipped up a stack of them in no time! They’re great to have on hand for presenting gift cards too. You can embellish them a million different ways.

As a companion to Noodlehead’s wonderful tutorial, I’ve put together the pattern templates that you can print out here:

Gathered Clutch Pattern Pieces

No need to thank me. Knowing there may possibly be fewer people without receipts ahead of me in the returns line is thanks enough.

Have a great weekend!

Some of my fondest memories of freedom as a child began when I was allowed to ride my bicycle to the town library. It was more than a mile from my house and across two major intersections. The best part of the week was Saturday morning, when I could fill my basket as full as I possibly could with the fattest books I could find. I must have been ten years old. I can still remember the smell of the books due to a malfunctioning oil-burning furnace. Regardless of the condition of the polluted indoor air, I felt very safe there. Mrs. Niemi, the librarian, ran a tight ship but truth be told, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Until recently I had never even dreamed of a home library, but almost by default, I now have one thanks to my latest remodeling project.

When I updated the breakfast room, I no longer needed the built-ins in the dining room to store my collection of ironstone. {You can read a great new post by Linda Merrill about my dining room inspiration, The Something’s Gotta Give” dining room here.}  It took me about two seconds to realize I had a library-in-waiting!

I started the process of filling the shelves, gathering books from nooks and crannies throughout the house.

Pretty quickly I had the beginnings of a bona-fide library, right in my own home!

Plenty of extra space for a collection of encyclopaedia or maybe a children’s wing?

I’m holding out for a rolling library ladder in my price range. Probably a little less than this one for $35,000, available via 1st Dibs.

After all, they can’t all start out looking like this!

Libraries are not made; they grow.
- Augustine Birrell

Edited to add:

I found a ladder! At my local antique mart. Great price too!

My vision was to make what the architect  deemed a breakfast room/sunroom combo into something that would be more functional.

To make that happen, I wanted a massive table to be a primary element. After looking high and low at pieces apparently manufactured everywhere but the USA, I finally found a furniture maker who shared my idea of what a fine table should be. Quoting from The Ole Craftsman’s website, “In the fall of 2000, I retired from the high-pressure demands of commission woodworking but could not retire from crafting quality wood furniture. I now work at a leisurely pace and build one or two pieces of furniture a week and have really focused on building farm tables. I love the simplicity of these tables, each and every one is different from the other and I have focused on bringing quality and style to the traditional farm table.” Those words, people, were music to my ears. I read every, single word written on his website, including dozens of glowing testimonials. Every day we read stories of deals gone bad, particularly when the Internet is involved, and I proceeded with caution but I placed the order confidently. I mean, just LOOK at his amazing work!

After a lot of communication back and forth, we fine-tuned the details and I took my place in the The Ole Craftsman’s que. I had a time frame in mind but it was months down the road. Take your time, Mr. Craftsman. Quality cannot be rushed.

Then …. the day after it was shipped, all 450 lbs. of harvest table and six matching chairs turned up in the driveway! {It was actually delivered by semi-truck and believe me, my FedEx guy wasn’t nearly as exuberant to be unloading my five giant boxes from his truck.}

Since Fed-Ex doesn’t deliver freight inside the home, and since we don’t exactly have the muscles we had thirty years ago, a wrestling match ensued between the very, very heavy table, DH and me. After some, shall we say, creative lifting, sliding, pushing, straddling, crying and cursing, the humans prevailed.

Have you ever seen such gorgeousity?

Note the wormy-maple top. I love that we won’t have to treat it with kid gloves {although every day I fawn over it like it’s the work of art that it is}.

I simply couldn’t be any more pleased with the way the breakfast room redo turned out.

Now onto phase three. The window treatments. As soon as I get a nice chunk of time, I’ll be knee deep in this…..

And I’ll reveal the rest of the redo…. along with the beadboard backsplashes in the kitchen!

I designed our home around the cover of one of those self-indulgent, “collector’s edition” magazines showcasing an architect’s line of homes. I had stared at the issue placed prominently on the top of the stack in our powder room for four years until one day it clicked! I must have that house! And one year later, Atlanta’s Stephen Fuller’s, Stephen’s Walk was renamed Ellen’s Walk, at least here in mid-Michigan.

The "prototype" from 2001.

My 2010 version.

Still have some circa 2006′s lying around? Well I do! I could never part with even one issue of Decor, no matter how old it is.

And when I tire of reading the over 200 design blogs I have in my Reader, I pull out the magazines. I thumb through them looking for inspiration that speaks to my current project.

Occasionally, in the words only my fellow decorists (and Oprah) would understand, I shriek . . . . “IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS ETHAN ALLEN”  and have an ah-ha {design} moment!  See that green cabinet in the lower left corner? In that shade of seafoam/moss/fern/sage/celery? It was only a matter of time before I whispered in it’s little miter jointed moulding….”You complete me.”…. or at least my breakfast room reno.

Here he is again, in all his well-proportioned glory! He’s a little shy, not allowing a full-frontal view but not to worry. I have a pretty good imagination.

Let’s just say after a lengthy liaison with my carpenter, I can now introduce you to Le Cabinet Vert {The Green Cabinet}!

The rest of the room isn’t ready for the big reveal just yet but stay tuned. I have a matter I’ve tabled for the moment that’s gonna knock your socks off!

Having been a fan since my life was changed in seventh grade when I saw Funny Girl, I can only pre-order and hold my breath. On November 16, 2010 I will devour this book.  Private tours of her residences, past and present, I can’t wait to inspect each and every single precisely placed tsotchke.

Of course, after this all other design books pale but I’ve added more about- to-be or recently released collections that may place a close second, third or fourth. Definitely full of eye-candy and not Kindle-worthy. {Click on the pictures for more information.}

Release date: November 9, 2010

Release Date: October 26, 2010

Release Date: October 19, 2010

Release Date: October 5, 2010

Release Date: November 1, 2010

Release Date: October 19, 2010

Release Date: October 5, 2010

Perhaps the most timely and ground-breaking design book to be released this year ….

Release Date: September 28, 2010

So, like I did with my slipcover fabric here, I take a shot in the dark when I order fabric online. Sometimes I’m lucky and hit the nail on the head, other times, well, I guess sooner or later I’ll find a use for a misstep. Or at least that’s the way I felt until I ordered from Fabric.com.

I first came across their site when sourcing additional fabric for this project. When I bought the fabric initially, I had paid an exorbitant amount and bought all that seller had in stock. When I ran short, I searched further and located the identical fabric by a different distributor through Fabric.com at a savings of over $11 per yard and free, fast shipping {on purchases over $35}! Fabric.com was also $5/yard LESS than my wholesale source.

And I haven’t told you the best part yet. Fabric.com allows full-credit returns with FREE RETURN SHIPPING!  Unheard of! Seriously, who does that? It’s not that I’m complaining or anything, but wow! Just because I don’t like the cut yardage I chose in the middle of the night when surfing while under the influence of late night TV, they’ll take it back, no questions asked and they were as nice as could be when I questioned their motives! There’s nothing, and I mean NOTHING that turns me all soft and mushy like a company that wants a happy customer!

And just when you think you couldn’t possibly be any more in fabric-love with a vendor, and they already have fantastic prices, what do they do to seal the deal? Coupons. Yep, COUPONS! Saaweeet!!!

So now that I really have nothing to lose, I’m searching in earnest for my breakfast nook window treatment fabric. Love this beautiful Duralee print.

Robert Allen’s Cat’s Cradle:

This suzani by Richloom is so alive!

Check out these coordinates by P Kaufmann.

When you bring up the page that breaks out the coordinates, you’ll see this button! Either they’re true optimists or they know me really, really well!

How about some chalk cloth? Yep, chalk cloth! Who knew?

So kudos to you, Fabric.com. You rock! Now if I could just get you to do the measuring, the cutting and hang the rods….

*I’m not receiving any type of compensation from Fabric.com for this blogpost, I’m just a happy customer.

To this ……  all in a matter of two days!

No, I  didn’t put the pictures in reverse order. He spent two days tearing out the ceramic tile flooring. I now have a thick coating of ceramic backer board dust all over everything. Well at least I did. But I’ve been dusting and mopping and scrubbing for two days now and most of it is gone. Guess what we get to do for another week?

Wait for the hardwood planks to show up.

{Sigh}

I sure hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll be doing my best to keep slivers out of our toes. Have you ever tried to convince two energetic kitties to wear socks?

Not happening.

You design it, redesign it, contemplate the choices, finally decide on the perfect fabric…

And then you have to wait some more?

This has been the case with my little slipcovered settee. It’s going in my breakfast room redo. I’ve been waiting for the carpenter to have an opening in his schedule to fit me in. He’s my brother-in-law so you’d think I’d get special treatment or something.

My fake huge family and the reason I don't get preferential treatment.

No so. He’s good so he’s really, really busy. This is a good thing, especially in this bleak Michigan economy. Anyway, I’m still waiting but the word is he’ll be here on Monday. I know, I know. Monday of which month?

The plan is to install hardwood floors and a built-in cabinet that will make sure I never lack space to store dishes and linens ever again!

I’ve ordered a beautiful custom 8′ x 4′ farm table, which will be the centerpiece of the room.

And I wanted some additional seating that was comfy. Enter my “vintage” Pennsylvania House Chippendale settee. {Why yes, that IS a southwestern motif fabric! I said it was vintage….}

It’s been stored in the attic for years and I finally had it brought down and placed in my old breakfast room to work on the slipcover. After a marathon session yesterday, it’s finished!

You know how when you have a project in your head for so long and you finally see it, sometimes disappointment sets in?

WELL NOT IN THIS CASE!

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and I couldn’t wait to brag a little.

I am always my worst critic but in this case, I couldn’t be more proud!

It’s just how I imagined it and best of all, no mistakes! None. Nada. It went together beautifully.

The only screw-up I made was paying too much for the fabric. {Note to self: Just because a fabric is shown in one fabric line doesn’t mean it’s exclusive to that line and hasn’t been renamed by a less costly fabric distributor and priced accordingly.} I overpaid to the tune of $125.00. I hate when that happens.

It took some VERY creative cutting to end up with just these scraps as leftovers! Out of a nine yard piece, I ended up with inches to spare and enough covered welt for a couple of pillows.

I’d like to send a shout-out to my blogging friend, Peg, who helped me with a couple of tips from a pro. Thanks Peg for encouraging me to make my slip…. and show it too!

I made pickles! My first pickles and I can hardly stand the wait to try them! They’re refrigerator dills and take just two days to cure, but it seems like forever! They really were easy to make but since I haven’t tried them yet, I don’t want to link to the recipe I used. IF they pass the taste test, I’ll share it with you.

So, while we wait, here is an in-progress shot of the settee.

I use the inside-out, fabric stapler method that I concocted and it’s going well. Even though I have a hard time concentrating {and it kills my knees to work on the floor}, I’ve already accomplished a lot. Yesterday I cut out all of the main pieces and converted 1 1/2 yards of fabric into covered welt cord. Those two things seem to take forever but they have to be done. So today, I’ll work on the piecing and stapling. I devised the fabric stapler method because I got sick and tired of being stabbed by those huge glass-head pins using the pin method! Make sure you use a fabric stapler though since those staples are so easy to remove.

So, today as I saunter back and forth between keeping an eye on the pickles and stapling my settee, I have to say I’m enjoying one of the best days weather-wise we’ve had in weeks! ….78 degrees, an azure blue sky and breezy…. Days like today make summer in The Mitten State almost as good as spending the weekend on an Italian island with George. …..Right.

]]> http://nouveaustitch.com/2010/08/16/george-schmorge/feed/ 9 Nouveau Stitch IMGP0005 IMGP0013 1072930E 3 http://nouveaustitch.com/2010/08/13/wish-me-luck/ http://nouveaustitch.com/2010/08/13/wish-me-luck/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:29:56 +0000 Ellen http://nouveaustitch.wordpress.com/?p=2444 ]]> I’m ready to tackle a new slipcover project. I have this

And this

I’m thinking I may need to call in the reinforcements on this one.

Have a wonderful weekend. If my birthday wishes come true, I’ll be rockin’ size zero jeans, a new Bentley and a date with George at the villa, which could prove to be a decent alternative to the slipcover project.

The room was intended as a multi-purpose room when I designed it. Of course, laundry was the number one priority. I also created a gift-wrapping station, a la Martha Stewart. How nice to have gigantic drawers and a tall cabinet for rolled wrapping paper! Huge upper cabinets were installed to organize my Christmas dishes and an ever growing collection of vases. Finally, it housed a powder room for my perfectly pampered Persians and that was supposed to be the extent of its’ multi-purposity.

Days after we moved in, I decided the nice, flat surface (reserved for meticulously wrapping gifts) could be used more effectively as a catch-all for random clutter. A gigantic, room-sized, junk-drawer if you will. Anything from stray socks to spare garage door openers to paint samples found a place on the stack. The cabinets soon became tchotchke purgatory – junk I just couldn’t part with ….. yet. It wasn’t quite a hoarder situation, but let’s just say the cats were picketing for humane living quarters. I knew something needed to be done, so I cleared it ALL out and painted.

Here are the ….{yawn}….before shots:

Lots of blah…

See those boring white cabinets? Well, they’re not boring any longer! I discovered Cabinet Prints, a new company that developed a product to conceal boring, bland cabinets by adding fun and funky adhesive designs! Easy to install, they quickly transformed my laundry room cabinets. And they even create reasonably priced custom designs! When I didn’t see exactly what I was looking for, Lolly and the gang came up with some possibilities and graciously dubbed them The Ellen Collection!

Ready for the big reveal? Now you realize, this is a one day only opportunity, right? If you show up at my house tomorrow, there’s no telling what you might find in there, but TODAY ONLY, I present my newly accessorized gift wrapping station!

And, a round of applause for the organized laundry area! Those fabric drawers are from the Martha Stewart line at Home Depot.

These Color of the Year laundry baskets were just $2.99 at Target! And the hangers, $2.00 for 20!

I still need to add this to the wall next to the ironing board. Wouldn’t you know Ballard Designs had it on sale for $99, but today, they regret that this item is not available. Miraculously, it is available later this week, AT FULL PRICE. Go figure.

When I do get it, it’ll hang right next to the message center/ironing board. Like this.

So there you have it. The DAY my laundry room was CLEAN! …. What did I do with all the excess clutter? It’s probably best if we don’t pan the camera out to the mudroom.

And, at $200/yd, it’s a real steal when you take into account all the other unrelated tsotchkes you don’t come home with.  Not to mention that funky eau de flea market odor.

Do you know the easy way to assemble an “inset” pillow front? Think you have to cut and piece and measure and fold and mutilate? Not true. You just need to stitch-in-the-ditch! For this bulls-eye pillow, start with a sheet of 81/2″ x 11″ paper. Fold it to create a triangle pattern.

Use the triangle to cut four pieces for the pillow front. My pillow is 18″ square, the center square finishes at 10 1/2″, leaving an approximate 3 1/4″ border all around.If you’re using a striped fabric, create the bulls-eye by turning the fabric and cutting.

Now stitch the fabric together, two triangles at a time.

Next, join the two sets of triangles.

Ta da! Your center square is finished!

Press the seams from the back and add piping. I had scraps from my sofa slipcover project on hand so I just pieced the piping. Normally it would be attached in a single piece using a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Tuck under the seam allowance and, in this case, the piping ends, and pin to your solid pillow front.

Here’s where the stitch-in-the-ditch part comes in. See the recess where the edge of the triangle is joined to the piping? That’s your “ditch.” Now stitch in the recess on all four sides. You should not see the stitching unless you look very closely in that recess.

There you have it! Stitching-in-the-ditch….without a hitch!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Check it out!

]]> http://nouveaustitch.com/2010/07/16/got-an-itch-to-stitch-in-the-ditch/feed/ 3 Nouveau Stitch 026 A 001 002 003 004 007 008 009 011 C B 3 825895175_xmTVA-O http://nouveaustitch.com/2010/07/10/everyone-makes-the-occasional-slip/ http://nouveaustitch.com/2010/07/10/everyone-makes-the-occasional-slip/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:05:15 +0000 Ellen http://nouveaustitch.wordpress.com/?p=2343 ]]> So during my lengthy slipcover-making research, I ran across a book review on Amazon.com. D. Strong said, “…. with a bit of dilligence (sic) you can have a very nice slipcover within half a day.” I’d like to know what part of the universe has days that last almost a month.

Here’s what I started with. Of course, I never snapped a “before” picture in it’s current setting because that would have been entirely too much work. This picture is in it’s former setting, in all of it’s brand-new glory. Actually, it has barely shown signs of wear from the past 10 years of pretty heavy use, but I was ready for a change from the subtle velvet paisley.

A celadon and cream cotton mattress ticking by Covington caught my eye and I purchased it online, basically sight unseen (unless you consider that fuzzy swatch that shows up on the monitor equivalent to holding a swatch in your hand, which I personally don’t). But this seems to be how we do things these days. Fortunately, I was very lucky. The color, and fabric for that matter, was perfect!  I purchased 18 yards (and had barely inches to spare) at a cost of $150 including shipping. I figured at that price, if it didn’t turn out and ended up being 24 pillows, I wouldn’t have to mortgage the house.

Now if you’re looking for a good book that gives you the exact steps to follow when slipcovering a sofa, with lots of colorful pictures and explicit instructions on how to cut and assemble pricey upholstery fabric, you can forget it. It doesn’t exist. Oh there are books out there. And videos too. But could I learn how to properly construct a perfectly fitting slipcover based on what they wrote or showed on their video? Not me. They may as well have written them in Latin since it would have made about as much sense.

So I surfed. Suprisingly, I did run across a series of videos online that made more sense than the books or DVDs. But there were problems. The videos were posted unnumbered AND they abruptly stopped. By my account, there should have been at least another dozen or so to complete the slipcover. But they got me through the rough spots. Thank, Karen!

Creating a Couch Slipcover

I love some of the quickie instructions you can find online, and surprisingly in books, like what I found on eHow:

Fit Material to Furniture

Here we are after approximately a week on the job. I had a few minor interruptions and luckily had a few chunks of 15 minute intervals to pick up the slack! Making progress now. We only had to look at this {and huddle on the loveseat that is NOT at the perfect angle for proper baseball game viewing} for another week.

So, after a sudden burst of energy (and a week of 95 degree heat that made sitting on the same loveseat with another human being for One. More. Second. completely out of the question) I got busy and figured it all out. It isn’t perfect, but it’s done! And no, I didn’t iron it. The sofa wouldn’t fit on the ironing board. I prefer the “just been jumped upon” look.

Just look at Willow sitting there all perfect in her cuteness. You’d never know she did everything she could to sabotage my efforts. From playing with loose welt cord to running off with my thimble, she terrorized me for days. I’m running out for the Scotchguard as we speak because I know this one. First chance she gets, the furballs come out.

Join us, won’t you?

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