Making Tie-top Panels Stronger

Delicate fabrics with colorful ribbon ties make beautiful panels for a window or bed treatment but the ties can add a lot of stress to the fabric over time.

Let me show you how I recently repaired this beige sheer panel.

Here you can see where the fabric is beginning to rip from the stress of the ties.

I laid the ties down and stitched over them about a half inch from the top of the panel.

Completed stitching

Now the ties are stronger and ready to be hung again!

Are Your Roman Shades Safe?

                   this blind may be purchased at www.theshadeshop.blogspot.com

If you haven't already heard about the Roman Shade recalls, please read the following report from the Consumer Product Safety Council on how you can receive a free safety kit.
http://www.windowcoverings.org/pdfs/Safety_Alert.pdf

The Sands of Time

Last week I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs and found this entry on the Everyday Artist blog - www.lesliefehling.com  Leslie posted a photo of a jar of sand collected on one of her vacations to the coast.

It sparked an idea for collecting and storing souvenirs from nature while taking family vacations. I searched the internet for glass spice jars and found some really cool ones like this one from www.gadgetskitchen.com :

What a unique wall piece this would make to display collected sand, colorful soil, small pebbles, tiny twigs or dried versions of leaves and flowers from travels around the country. To label the bottles, purchase small return address labels and write down the location as Leslie did in her photo above. This collection will remind you of all the great memories of your trips, and will also become a unique conversation piece too.

Cool Cubes

I was asked to slipcover a cube the other day

I decided to do a little research on cubes. One of the first items of instruction I found was from my favorite sewing industry supplier, Rowley Company.  Located on their  How-To Page I found instructions on how to build and cover an 18"x18"x18" cube.

I am pretty sure my friend Laurie Medford of Rowley Company constructed the cubes as seen above. When you are a sewing instructor, you start to recognize other instructors by their hands in photographed instructions.

When you go to the Rowley Company how-to page, you'll be able to download, for free, lots of instructions on many different topics. They also sell supplies used by sewing professionals in the home decor industry.

Cubes are great for extra seating or small coffee tables. You can place four of them in the middle of a den to use as a larger coffee table and split them apart when company comes and you need extra seats for them to sit and chat. They can be covered to match any home decor.

So to fill you in on my project, yes I did slipcover the $59.00 leather cube but you'll have to wait to see the final project. It will be used in an upcoming episode of the TV show For Your Home and I will be writing up the instructions after the show airs.

Sew nice of you to stop by,

Creative Judy Peters

My friend Judy Peters owns a drapery workroom in South Carolina www.palmettodrapery.com and just shared an idea on facebook for a really cool embellishment to add to a valance. Here are her notes:

Judy: the beaded dragonflies were cut with wire cutters from metal napkin rings. I touched up the wires with the Sharpie, and attached them with pink ribbon and hot glue.

Judy loves adding details on her window treatments and she is SEW creative!

Redecorating? Hold on to those paint lids

With a new paint color on your walls, new home decor accessories will usually soon follow.  Instead of walking around decorating stores with the tiny paint chip picked up when the paint was purchased, how about holding on to the lids of the empty cans?

When the paint dries completely, put the lids in a Ziploc bag and carry them with you while shopping. They stack thin and take up very little room. You also get the most accurate mixed color as a looks in your home.

Okay so now I have MORE projects to do. Looks like a shopping trip for window treatment fabric and accessories for the top of the kitchen cabinets will be in my future. Glad I have my paint sample lids!!

I'm SEW glad you stopped by. I'll be on vacation all next week and hope to post something creative from the beach.

Repurpose votive candle holders and create a table-scape.

While cleaning out some old boxes I came across several assorted votive candle holders, a few glass blocks and an old mirror. I took some epoxy and began gluing the mismatch pieces together to make some interesting shapes.

 While these were drying I sewed up some leftover drapery fabric into a large rectangle and placed it on the middle of the table. Laid the mirror on top of that and stacked the glass blocks on the mirror. I then grabbed my new multi height candle holders and arranged them around the centerpiece.

Next step was to add a couple of vases I purchased at Kirklands and some greenery. To finish it all off, I scrunched the fabric all around the edges of the mirror. Quick, easy, recycled and cheep! My 4 favorite crafting words.

I'm SEW glad you stopped by,