Table Make-Over

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Now that we have completed chair refreshment project we obviously have to transform whole table too.

This is what I had before:

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and this is what we have after a little bit of work.

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I was very lucky with this beautiful color of place mats but I couldn’t get matching napkin holders so I have decided to make them myself.

I have prepared 4 pieces of fabric 25 cm x 10 cm and decorative tape which is 3.5 cm wide.

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I sewed fabric thru on the left side keeping a 3.5 cm width. Then I turned it on the right side and folded each end in together with decorative type. Now we can sew it all around with machine (or by hand) and connect ends to create a loop.

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I connected the ends by hand to hide stitches and make sure they meet perfectly at the top and the bottom.

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table make-over 2I just love heaving dinner at my new table now!


Nursery – Part 5: Bassinet Make-Over

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Dear Friends!

This time we are going to work on the Bassinet for our Nursery room.

I have checked in many baby stores in my area but unfortunately there was nothing available in purple, so I have no choice but to re-decorate something I believe is functional and good looking already. bassnet make over 1

This is a 5-in-1 Bassinet. It has a rocker, multiple levels of height, obviously a basket, music player, a night light, and when you lift the basket the remaining part is a changing table. There is also a spacious fabric bag below for some diapers, baby cosmetics and clothes. bassinet make over 10

I started with the external frill. I made it a bit longer to cover both the original frills of the bassinet and I used elastic band for easy on and off use.

Then I sewed two new fitted bed sheets. It was totally simple so don’t spend money for original bed sheets! They are far too expensive for very little work required to make one.

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I cut an oval shape, like the matress of the bassinet with an additional 10-15 cm in size. I tucked in the edges all over and then I used the technique known as shirring. Just sew a curvy part along the edge on the both sides and use elastic stitching to pull it together.

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It fits perfectly fine! bassinet make over 8

The next step is a flat pillow and a small blanket. I used a quilting technique to finish them off. You will not get those in the store. Bassinets don’t come with this kind of accessories specialists are not recommending pillows or blankets for small babies, however, the pillow if is flat and the blanket only half size, so it will not have any impact on the development of your baby. bassinet make over 9

Now we should take care of the hood. This was the most difficult part as there was no access to remove the old one. I had to sew fabric on it. It took some time as you can’t use a machine for it and then it will take some time to remove it later when you want to maybe adapt the bassinet againbut I didn’t see any simpler way to deal with it.

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Now some stuffed toys to hang on and voila! The bassinet make-over is completed!

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And the basics of the Nursery are almost ready.

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Nursery – Part 3: Window Curtain

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The curtains for the window are obviously a very important part of the decoration in our new nursery.

window curtain 1I have three small windows so I will have to sew three pieces and you will adapt sizes and fabric type to your own needs.
I’m keeping mine in light purple as the main colour.

window curtain 2window curtain 3When using similar decorative tapes like mine make sure to sew them on from end to end and then fold the edges. It will look professional and hide all the ugly threads.
Then I added pieces of fabric along the top edge and I will use them to hold the curtain rim.

window curtain 4It was time consuming to make all of them so if you wish you can take some shortcuts and use ribbons 🙂

window curtain 6window curtain 7 Good luck with your own nursery designs!

Nursery – Part 2: Picture Frames

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Hi again!

This time we are going to work on home made picture frames which will perfectly match all the other baby pieces in the room.

This wall decor is a necessary part of our nursery. Can you even imagine a nursery without family pictures in beautiful frames?

It will not be an expensive creative project. It will cost as much as any other wall frame you would spend money on. The biggest investment will be your time and patience 🙂

picture frame 1

Fabric on the wooden frame.

Let’s cut a suitable-size piece of fabric which will fit the shape of the frame to go all over it.

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I have used professional tools but you can use regular scissors, just make sure to take proper measurements.

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Make small cuts on the corners of the inner part and glue them on the frame. Best is to use fabric glue – look for it in arts and crafts stores.

Then glue down all of the sides.

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Leave it for half an our to dry and then you can put back the glass and the back cover back.

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I made a couple of those and then I made one that’s a bit different to match a flower pot which I made earlier.

picture frame 7It looks lovely on the wall.

You can come up with any design! Be creative and have fun!

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Neilson Park – BLACK & WHITE Exhibition

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I’m glad you are back to see what new is going on here.

I have entered into the Black & White Art exhibition which is hosted by Neilson Park.

As the title suggest the art work has to be black & white only. this is first exhibition out of 3 prepared for this summer and hopefully I will participate in all of them.

I have decided to compose something different than I used to.

On this painting (reading from the top) you can see an average, cloudy sky, well blend with realistic shapes. This is representing the ever changing part of our lives but at the same time is a very clear aspiration of Heaven.

black&white 3On the left side we can see irregular lines, ugly, overlapping, some of them flat, some with texture – this is where we live and how unimportant it is, unclear and messy. Also it represents the passing of time and how little of it we actually have.

black&white 5On the right side you can see the perfected shape of a place of worship. it is ideally white and clean, and formed, and stable against the rest of the painting. It is like an anchor of our life and stepping in it will let us see this cloudy sky.

black&white 2On the bottom of the painting towards the building you can see the shapes of people. since we have only black and white colors to use I have used different shades of grey to illustrate the different characters of people. Some shapes are dark or black – thses are bad people among us who are hypocrites and the are still blending in and going to pray. Then you can notice shapes of people in the crowd with printed words on them. Words represent all the values I’m identifying my religion with and which I’m trying to communicate to the world.

black&white 1The painting is full of meaning and I’m planning to show it at the Muslim Fest 2014 which is coming up in the first weekend of August.

black&white 4Let me know what you think about it.

Take Care! 🙂

Warm Jumper Project

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Hi Sewies! Today we will work on another awesome sewing project. I will have it in a mini scale for my daughter but you can use the design and make something lovely for yourself. Cold days have come so we should get onto those warm and soft sewing ideas right away! I have prepared the materials I would like to use (or rather my daughter would like me to use:)) warm jumper 0 Then I drew the whole project to keep the picture of my imagination consistent with the creation. warm jumper drawingOnce all of the pieces where cut I separated  them per units: sleeves, back, front and collar. Then I starts with the slews. I have ruffled edge of bigger square and connected to the smaller. There are few ways of doing it. You can make frequent ruffle all the way thru the edge or do it like me with three bigger double-sided folds. warm jumper 1I sewed it thru and then zig-zagged  the edges. After that I ruffled the bottom end of the sleeve and added the pink lining (sewed thru and zig-zagged the edges). You have to make sure both fabrics are on the left side and then you can simply sew thru the whole length of it and zig-zag again. warm jumper 5 You can already see the shape of the sleeve and once you’ve pulled the ivory fabric over the pink it will look like that: warm jumper 14 Perfect! Once we have both sleeves done we need to get onto the front and back. I started with the back. warm jumper 3We follow the exact same procedure as with the sleeves. I did five folds on both sides and sewed it thru, then I ruffled the bottom and added the pink lining. The width of the lining is similar to the width of the top par, which makes it all look proportional, and the ruffled section has just enough extra material to look neat and puffy. Then again the same procedure with each part of the front. warm jumper 2Once the pieces are all together in their own groups I connected them length-wise on each side, the lining parts together and  then each front with side to the back. Once you finish and fold it on top of each other you will see the result. warm jumper 11The next step was to sew each set of the shoulder section with each other from the inside. You have probably noticed by now that all of the stitching is going on the inside and we will carry on this way. Nothing should be visible on the outside. The next step is to sew in the sleeves. Lining with lining and prime fabric with prime fabric. This is a bit tricky but still can be done on the inside; you just have to be careful with the other pieces of material so they don’t get sewn in together with the sleeves 🙂 Take your time and make sure you are doing it right. It doesn’t matter which fabric will be sewn together first. I started with the lining thinking it would be easier for me to turn it; and this way I will get some practice before I touch the thicker material. warm jumper 7 Ok, now both sleeves are in and I can start working on the collar. This is really simple. I prepared a satin fold to make the design more interesting and bring this brighter color closer to the face. I put it in half length-wise and then sewed thru with 1 cm folds along. If you would like some other solution and maybe ready products which you can buy in fabric stores that is ok, your design doesn’t have to be exactly like mine. It is still important to have the stitching nicely hidden inside, so I have put both pieces of collar right side in and with a fold between them. warm jumper 16 We will sew it only on the outside of it. You can see how it looks like inside right now. warm jumper 17Then, once it is sewn thru and zig-zagged for security of the fabrics we can turn the whole collar inside out and it is ready. warm jumper 18If you like you can still sew it around and I guess this is what we can see on the “shop clothes” but I have decided not skip this process as top stitching may not look as good as bottom while going thru so many layers of material.warm jumper 15Now I will do the same on the right side of the front, all the length down. We will need an additional piece of fabric to have a fold in between them and also to manage to finish off for the front pieces. warm jumper 21 This is left side and below you can see right side once it is turned. warm jumper 20 warm jumper 22 Now we can put this together with the lining underneath. Again the sewing will be a bit tricky but it is do-able and will look very neat. warm jumper 30 In this picture I have already pinned in the collar to see how it will all come together but I had to removed again in order to sew both sides of the front and have them finished. worm jumper 42 Since there was still a lot of space from the top of the jumper I had no problem to push the material thru the sewing machine and have a very professional finish. The last step is the collar. I decided to sew it from inside again but it was possible only on one side, so I did it from the front. warm jumper 28 I ran it on the machine as much as I could and where it is important for a perfect look in all those places which are easy to see. warm jumper 26The last piece had to be done by hand. I used the right color of the thread to make it as invisible as possible. Now the buttons. I used those Cover or Cobrir buttons. The instructions were straight forward. First cut a circle shape from the fabric. warm jumper 34 Put it over the white rubber cup, press thru the metal cup. warm jumper 36 Then I covered all with the back of the button and pressed with small blue cup. All is done! The buttons can go on the material. warm jumper 37

warm jumper 39 Done! warm jumper 40 That was fun! We will do it again soon! if you have any questions please let me know as I’m not sure if I have described each element and step fully and clearly. See you soon!

Leg Warmers – first knitting project

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Dear All!

Yes we are going to learn something new from time to time. Maybe it is nothing new for you but it is definitely for me. I have never touched knitting needles in my life. I thought it takes too much time and this repeated movement will make me sleepy in 5 minutes.

Since I couldn’t find any decent material to sew leg warmers I decided to try with my hands on needles and yarn – why not? Actually one of my friends was strongly surprised I hadn’t included it in my portfolio of skills yet. So, let it be!

leg warmers 1

I got  yarn and needles and started some research on the net. Well I had to learn somehow so my best bet was youtube with instruction movies. If you would like to try yourself  you can find a link at the bottom of this post.

First look at the label which comes with the yarn. You need to find out how many loops you have to put on in order to get the right length of final product. My yarn was size 6 and in order to make it fit my daughter’s legs I should have put 22-24 looks but since her leg warmers will have to go over her trousers and maybe even over her boots, I put on 34 loops and I decided on the Brioche Stitch (very easy for beginners).

leg warmers 2

I thought it would be a long few days before I would manage to finish it and I was very nicely surprised to see that I made 15 cm in 1.5 h! 🙂

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I tried to keep up my spirits because in truth I was actually very disappointed and devastated I needed so much time for such a small result. But hey! I said A, so I should say B and get it done.

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When the first leg warmer was finished I tried it on and I thought it was a bit too big, and I will show you later how I overcame this little obstacle. Now we can both wear it, both me and my daughter!

Winter clothes are not my favorite part of creativity but we need them, so it is good to learn knitting and crocheting in case you need to make something warm for a change.

leg warmers 6leg warmers 5

I obviously added small decorations. This also helps kids to find the front and back. I always put some small “marks” on so my daughter will not get confused.

When we tried them on for the first time they did stand out in the middle section which is the widest and the most stretchable so I had to do something about it. I fed through two lines of white elastic underneath and it did the job perfectly fine.

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Beautiful! All done now! If you have some easy leg warmer projects handy please post your link so I can make another one soon.

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For now, by, by project makers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS2K6Cr8EDY

 

Great deal T-shirts

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This is going to be a surprise!Tshirt1 When it gets a bit colder and we have to start thinking about long-sleeved t-shirts for kids it is hard to find bargains in the stores. When I was looking through summer season clothes on sale I found those fabulous tank tops size XL for men. There was plenty of material to make something brand-new and the colors are lovely too, so why not?! I got two of them for $6 in total and started planning.

I thought that adding some fun to this project will engage my daughter as well, so after cutting it all up and then putting it together I allowed her to create some art on it. t-shirt 1 I’m glad I got two of those t-shirts because I messed the up the red one a bit and the sleeves got too tight to wear it.

t-shirt 2So we ended up with tank top again, but it is ok, another long-sleeved t-shirt can go underneath or I could have used other material to make sleeveless, but there was no time! I had my little art maker standing next to me and keep asking “Can I start now? Can I start now?”. I had to hurry up so she could start on the red piece and I could work on the blue one. t-shirt 3The finished project is  lovely and she couldn’t wait to put it on 🙂 t-shirt 4 We have used special paints for fabrics. paint for fabrics Mine  are quite old and after drying I have to iron them to make the picture permanent but you can get a wide range of this kind of products in “Michaels” or even in Walmart. Those new ones are much easier to use with a little applicator at the end, so no more messy brushes.

Painting on the fabric is a lot of fun, so I’m sure you will see more of it on future posts. Going back to my project 🙂 I finished the 2nd t-shirt, this time I took better measurements so the sleeves were bang on. t-shirt 5 I know there is no art on it yet but wait a second! I will update this post again very soon so you can see final result. This time I’m having fun with painting it 🙂

T-shirt art Now the t-shirt is so unique, colorful and pretty! I just love it! Would your kids love it? Go on, have a try!

Skirt for School Picture Day

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Hi dear Readers!!

I was so exited about my little girl going to Grade 1, so I decided to sew a new skirt for her. I thought it would be a perfect surprise for Picture Day. She would look neat and formal like a 1st Grade student should. So I made one just before the end of the summer break. I thought it came out quite nice, however, it wasn’t her favorite. So, I decided to make another one with a bit different colors, pattern and shape.

picture day skirt

I found very nice piece in fabric store and matching jersey material to make top out of.

skirt material

I cut it a bit longer so she can wear it next year as well. The design itself is quite common which I thought is good, so she will not feel “standing out”.

skirt 1

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Then I said… how about the lining! There has to be lining! And I used this pretty pink which I had left from some previous project.

I put it all together thinking that I should have one of those too so I can wear it for office meetings, hehehe

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The next piece to do was the top. Again I was trying to keep in my mind what my daughter’s taste in fashion is and I kept it simple, easy to put on and take off with stretch around the neck and wrists, and with just a little bit of fancy decoration with silver ribbons to bring some more light into the whole composition.

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What else? hymmmmm …. how about a nice white head band? White will be perfect! It will be a stark contrast in my daughter’s dark hair.

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The whole imaginary picture was coming to life! She will look so beautiful, and she will have a super Picture Day at school!

top 1

Well she could have (in my opinion) obviously if she would only wear those clothes which I have made for her….

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Yes, you may believe me or not, but this little Pixie didn’t put it on in the morning. I went out to work early and she got ready for school with her daddy, and she has made her own choice of clothes. Even the head band got rejected 🙁 Yeap!

We still have a chance to get the picture retaken in a couple of weeks, so lets see if these lovely clothes will get a 2nd chance 🙂

Thanks for reading and I whish all of us another happy and creative weekend!