Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Reupholstered Bar Stools - With Tutorial!


We are in the process of redecorating the high school room
at my church

And I was excited to be asked to reupholster
four "bar stools".

No, the high school room is not in a "bar",
nor does the church serve alcohol,
even though we are in the world famous wine region of
Sonoma County, CA. 

But these stools needed some new covers!


So the first thing I did was to turn one upside down,
on a large piece of paper.

This way I could draw all the way around the seat
to make a pattern for the top of the stool.

Because of the curve of the side,
it actually added about 1/4" all the way around,
making a seam allowance.


I cut out the circle
and laid it on the wrong side of the fabric.

Then I drew around the circle directly onto the fabric.


I cut out the circle and marked the circle
at the North, South, East and West, 
just like I was looking at a globe.

Actually I clipped at those places but
the clips didn't show in the photo,
so I put pins there so they would be visible.


Next I measured all the way around the edge of the
seat cushion. 
I had to pull the measuring tape tightly,
because the sides stretch out to accommodate
the curve and the foam inside.

This measurement became the length (width) of the band.


Then I measured the depth of the seat cushion
and added 1 inch for seam allowance and
room to staple.

I was unable to get the staples out
that held on the old vinyl cover,
so I decided to just cover it completely.


Using my quilters ruler,
I measured the 4 1/2 inches in depth for the band,
and measured 41 1/2 inches in width and cut the strip.


I sewed the short ends of the strip together, 
using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I prefer to use upholstery thread,
but heavy duty cotton thread will work fine.


I pressed my seam open and then pressed the seam
to one side. 
I top stitched the seam into place. 
This will add strength to the seam,
which will be under stress because it will fit snugly 
onto the stool.


I pinned the seam of the band to my "North" point 
of the circle.

Then find the halfway point of the band and
I pinned it to my "South" point.

Then I found each halfway point on each side
and pinned it to my "East" and "West" points.


I kept pinning all the way around the circle, 
making sure my pins were in the direction 
so I  could pull them out as I sewed
without poking myself.

Sadly, I learned this after getting poked way too
many times with my super sharp pins!


I stitched around the circle with a 1/4" seam allowance.

(Pardon the ugly sticker on the sewing machine, please.
I am still sewing on India's machine while mine is in the shop,
and she never took the stickers off.)


Sorry this is so blurry. 
But I was trying to show that I 
pressed the seam allowance toward the top
and top stitched right next to the seam.

I did not clip the seam allowance inside,
like I would normally do for a garment.

The reason is that the full seam allowance was 
needed for stability of the seam,
and the foam seat
will fill out any puckering.


This is the cushion cover where the 
seam of the band meets the 
top of the seat cover.


I finished the edge of the 
band with an overlock stitch to prevent fraying.

I put the new cover directly onto the old 
vinyl cover of the seat.

It fit snugly but well.

I pulled the band tightly over the bottom of the 
seat cushion and stapled it in place
using an electric staple gun.

I also have a regular staple gun,
but the electric staple gun is much easier 
to use.

I put staples very close together,
so that the fabric would not tear from stress.


This is how the bottom of the seat looks
on a finished bar stool.


All four of the bar stools
are finished and headed back to the church!

The church provided me with 2 yards of 
this upholstery fabric.

I have enough of the fabric left over
to make 3 throw pillows for the high school room!

Because, you know,
high school students must have pillows to smack
each other with when they are not listening to the
youth pastor teach!

 I am taking the stools with me to 
church in the morning, 
when we go for Vacation Bible School.
FUN!!!!



In other news,
my beloved Janome Memory Craft 9700 
is supposed to be ready to pick up from the 
shop tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

I am so glad!!!!

I have a very important apron order
to complete and it needs to be 
embroidered!!

But I will tell you more about that in a few days!

Happy Sewing!!!!!


 Sivje

Saturday, June 23, 2012

The Chiffon Bridal Jacket


Last week I received a phone call from the
sweetest bride.

Her name is Jo and she is a beautiful blond lady.

I should have taken a photo of her in her lovely
steel blue embroidered silk cocktail dress.

But Jo is a tad more mature than the average bride.

And she wanted to cover her arms during her wedding.

So she was referred to me by a local fabric store.


She arrived with a little bit of periwinkle blue chiffon
and, together, we sketched out the "illusion" 
jacket she envisioned.


She wanted something light and airy,
as her nuptials will 
occur on June 30, here in Sonoma County, CA.

She didn't want to obscure the lovely lace of her gown.


She wanted to be able to dance,
so the illusion jacket needed to allow freedom of movement.

She wanted it to float on the breeze.


Jo came this morning to pick up her jacket 
and she was glowing with happiness.

She said it was exactly as she envisioned.

I was greatly relieved!


Now, for the story behind the jacket............

You see, last week, while sewing some 
throw pillows out of heavy upholstery fabric
and chunky piping, for a client,
my trusty Janome Memory Craft 9700
went on strike!

So, she is at the spa getting refreshed.

Thankfully, both of my girls have
sewing machines!

So, I sewed several custom apron orders
and this jacket on a
Hello Kitty Janome
and a Disney Brother sewing machine.

Yes, really!

I sewed French seams on the jacket
and hand stitched the neckline, front, and hem.

I am praying my Janome is ready this week because
I have a lot of sewing to do.

Today, we are going to see "Brave" 
and then I have 4 stools to reupholster for 
our church's high school room.

Now, if only I could find my upholstery tools........

Happy Sewing!

 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Yaya's Apron On Sale!


Yes!
YouCanMakeThis.com
is having a big sale and 
my Yaya's Apron pattern is on sale for 5$!!! 



You can get it HERE
 


You can also purchase a lot of other 
great patterns on sale 
today through June 18.


And remember, you can always
contact me if you want to order a custom made
Yaya's Apron created for you by me!

You can email me directly at 
Sivje @ Sivjegoose . com
(remove the spaces)

Happy Sewing!


Friday, June 1, 2012

Chinese Girls Faux Wrap Top and Capris


Yippee!!!!

Today was Ahnalin's last day of 2nd grade!!!

And I hadn't made her anything new to wear since.......

.........last week!

(Never mind that I wear capri jeans pretty much
every day. Sewing for her is my fun!)


I decided to make my little one a spring outfit
out of this "Memoirs From China" print by Robert Kaufman.

It was sent to me last year by another sewing friend, 
Hettie Lynn, because it reminded her of Ahnalin. 

I had been saving it for just the right occasion.


 I bought Simplicity 2677 a few years ago,
but had still not tried it.

For this top, I chose view D.


I cut the top in a size 5 with a size 8 in length.

Do you recognize the contrast fabric?

It is the same Michael Miller print
I used for Ahnalin's and Cherish's Christmas dresses.
I just had a few little scraps left, 
so it worked perfectly!

And, well, yeah. 

Rick Rack

Of course. 



The top is actually a faux wrap,
with a zipper and hook and eye in the back.

I really liked this little top.

I will probably use this pattern again.


Ahnalin refuses to wear jeans. 

She doesn't like how they fit and 
how stiff they are.

But I learned a while ago that she WILL wear
things that I make for her out of old, soft, worn jeans.


So I cut apart a pair of old black jeans. 

Reduce! Recycle! Reuse!

There is enough left over to make another jeans
mini skirt for her too!


For the capris,
I used Simplicity 2711.


I added the trim on the bottom, 
right at the hem line.

I chose this pattern, because
it is a little slimmer than most pants patterns.

I cut a size 4 in width and a size 8 in length.

I have also made the dress in this pattern before and
highly recommend it.
 


Ahnalin wanted me to take a picture of her climbing up the fence.

But you can also see the cute sandals I found to match!



Ahnalin is also very proud of the strawberries growing in our garden.


Classic!

So my girl wore this on her last day of 2nd grade.


Oh! And last night she reminded me that 
she wanted to give her teacher something special.

Her teacher's favorite colors are green and purple
and it had to say
"We Love Mrs. Dyer".

So, I made her a little prayer pillow.

When I am sewing for others, 
I pray for them.

My mom used to make prayer pillows
for gifts and it made such an impression on me
growing up, that I now do the same thing.


Ahnalin LOVED being in Mrs. Dyer's class this year.

She was excited that Mrs. Dyer gave her 
extra math books to work on FOR FUN this summer!!!


Ahnalin wrote this in class this year,
about her favorite thing!


I am a Mathematician 
by Ahnalin
My favorite kind of math is fractions and multiplication. 
I like to have a math paper in front of me.
 For a whole week we did star testing and it was so much fun.
 Math is the bomb!


So summer vacation has officially begun for Ahnalin!


She has big plans for sewing this summer!

Happy sewing!