Pillow Covers for my Hand Me Downs

My sister moved to DC last month and gave me these pillows. The one in front had a hole in it that I just stitched up. How lovely the look with just a couple simple new pillow covers : )

I got fancy with the pillow cover in front, it's double sided. One side is upholstery and they other is cotton for a more casual laid back look. This was my first attempt at invisible zippers, I clearly didn't do a very good job. My sister was really impressed because initially she thought I piped it! None the less, still loves lovely.

It a big project

My Aunt has a breakfast nook in her kitchen with a window seat.  The cushion was in terrible shape.  She's literally had the same one from when she first moved in like 20 years ago.  The fabric looked like terrible 80s floral bedding and was completed wore out that the foam was exposed!  She asked me to make her an updated current cushion for a replacement.  This thing is 2 yards long and 30 inches deep.  Lucky for her we found this awesome upholstery fabric at M&L for $2.98 a yard.  I recently got a 50% off coupon for Joann's so the foam was $40 (3 in thick).  I think she'll be very pleased with how it turned out.  I was off on my measurements and one of the corner is bunched up a little bit.  But it's ok because it's a corner that faces the wall. 

Fancy Curtians

My first attempt at real curtains turned out pretty good. In my prior post, I had picked up fabric at an outlet for $2/yd. I purchased 6 yds after tax it was about $13, then the curtain rod was $24.99 and 2 sets of curtain rings at $2.99/pack. They didn't have thread to match the material, so I went to Joann's and paid $2.95 for it. Total damage = approximately $50 including hardware...not so bad for somewhat fancy looking curtains. I've mastered blind hemming after doing 2 panels, 4 sides each. My learning experience here is that I should measure the bottom hem after it's hanging on the curtain rod every 5-6 inches across. It turns out my cuts where not exactly squared, so my ends were a little shy of touching the floor. It's ok, I don't think anyone will notice. I still have some left over fabric. I'm thinking there's enough to use as decorative trim on a basic white or cream duvet and maybe even a cover for a lumbar pillow I have.

Home Work

The hubby has complained about the fact that the faux wooden blinds that came with the house does not do a good enough job of blocking out the light since we moved in over 2 years ago.  I found a "Fabric Outlet" store in Santa Ana last week on Bristol that sell fabrics for home decor at $1 - $6.99 per yard.  That's a steal compared to Joann's.  I picked up this lovely cream and gray heavy weight fabric at $2/yd.  I'll make simple curtians to hang with clips in our room.  I also picked up a curtian rod for $24.99 in brushed silver to go with the hardware on our bedroom furniture.  What ever is left over I'll use to make some pillow covers.

I came across another blog this week that I will be visiting on a regular basis - Centsational Girl.  She's got great ideas for the home.  I love this DIY tutorial for a padded head board and this one for a roman shade.

I've been reading online that black out curtians are great for not only keeping the light out but also insulating.  I've got old 70s metal windows that are far from energy efficient, but don't have the budget to upgrade them yet.  The Piggie does not like blankets...so we have her sleep in blanket sleepers.  But these days she no longer wants to be in her toddler bed and opts for the day bed that's right up against the window.  I purchased some black out curtian at $4.99/yd (seemed like a good deal) at the same fabric store mentioned above.  The problem is that it's 2 inches shy of covering the window once hung on clips.  I was struggling on if I should make a complete new set of curtians and line them with the black out, but once I priced out the cost of the fabric...I decided I needed another alternative.  Solution:  I used some left over fabric from another project and attached 7 inches across the top of the panel.  I hung it with clips.  It just looks like any other white curtian with a brown strip across the top.  During the day we pull the curtians all the way to one side.