Lost and Found 2 Placemat Tutorial

Today my placemat tutorial is being featured over at Riley Blake Designs.  It is featuring the Lost and Found 2 line of fabric that is absolutely delicious!  It is the perfect mix of vintage and trendy!  I am so thrilled to finally have placemats for my new table!  They are super easy to make and finish!

I wanted to show off the fabrics so I kept the design pretty simple.  I love the feeling the crochet lace adds!

Deer Friends, Christmas Deer Throw Pillow Tutorials

Do you like my new chairs?  I just ordered them from Amazon and they came in 2 days!  It was totally risky of me to just push a button and have chairs sent to my house, sight unseen!  But, I LOVE them!  They are exactly what I wanted and they are even comfortable!!!  The whole reason to buy new chairs is to sew new pillows, right?  I am obsessed with deer!  Deer throw pillows my chairs do need (a little Yoda verbiage!)

My friend and I got together and the children played and we sewed!!  An entire herd of deer throw pillows!

Here's how to make the appliqué deer pillow: My pillow form is a 20" square down pillow.  Down is a bit "squishy" so the pillows have a more casual feel. 

Appliqué Pattern, download HERE.  Print 2 of these and reverse one of the images.  The image is on 2 pages because it is larger than a piece of paper.

Print out the pattern and tape it together.  Trace the pattern onto Heat n Bond Lite fusible appliqué.  I used a wool blend fabric for the gray deer.  You can use any type of fabric.

Cut the chevron fabric 21"

Iron the deer to the center of the fabric and stitch around the deer.

I wanted a bit of an accent on the back of the pillow, so I put the zipper on the back with a decorative flap over the zipper....sounds hard but is super easy!!

To make the flap, cut your accent fabric 5" x 20" and press in half lengthwise.  

Cut your back pieces 4.5"x20" and 16"x20.

Lay them out like this with your zipper placed as so (NOT invisible zipper)

I promise I ironed my pieces!!

Layer the top piece of the pillow back, the folded flap, and the zipper so all the raw edges align, like this:

Using your zipper foot, sew along the zipper.  For the other side with out the flap, sew the backing fabric to the zipper just as you would normally sew in a zipper.  Press the flap down to cover the zipper - super easy!!! Pin the pillow front and back with right sides together.  Make sure to open zipper so you can turn it.  Sew a generous 1/4" seam around the entire pillow!

I couldn't just have 2 deer pillows - I needed more.  This one is super quick!  It is for a 18" pillow.

Cut the center deer fabric 10 1/2" x 19"

Cut the aqua snowflake fabric (2) 4 1/4" x 19"

Sew them in this order using 1/4" seams

 I had this pretty light gray lace I top-stitched over the seams.  Now, cut the back of your pillow 19" square and finish as desired.  I put an invisible zipper in the bottom.

Deer pillow #3 - this fabric doesn't exactly have deer on it, but it has antlers atop the Cuckoo clocks!  And it's teal!!!  Another quick pillow!!  This pillow form is 20" but it is pretty floppy, so I decided to cut my pillow cover at 20" so it would fit better.

Cut the teal print 15" x 20"

Cut the gray dot 5 1/2" x 20"

Sew using 1/4" seams

Cut the back piece 20" square.

Top stitch lace along seam.  Finish as desired - again another invisible zipper - those things are totally AWESOME!!!

Here are my friend's cute deer pillows - she used a bolder chevron and a brown deer on an 18" firm pillow.

I am so loving the zipper flap!

Sewing deer pillows makes me happy :)

Vintage Sheet Pillowcases, New Bedding, & the Bengal Cat

I bought new bedding for my bedroom!  That is always a big deal for me!  Are you like me & need like 5 pillows to sleep???  Which means I needed more pillowcases then the 2 that came with the sheets.  I got out the box of vintage sheets and came up with these!

This is how to make them: (this will make 1 standard size pillow)

Cut the main fabric on the fold measuring  21" high and 26" long (fold is on the long side)

I used the lace ruffle off a different sheet.  I cut this 1 1/2 inches away from the ruffle seam.

Sew it to the edge of your pillow fabric.  Press seams.  The lace on the sheet was super crooked.  I came up with a way to cover it up.

 

I bought this bolt of lace in the LA fabric district.  50 yards for $15!!  I will be using it on everything!!

 

Sew the lace covering the seams.

 After the trim is sewn on, fold the pillow right sides together and sew the 2 sides.  I didn't sew French Seams, I just zig zagged so it wouldn't fray.

 

 

 I love how they turned out!  So does Marbles!  He loves my new bedding and sleeps there everyday now!  The quilt is Tahari from TJ Max, sheets are from Target.  I was hesitant about buying sheets from Target.  I LOVE these!  They have super deep pockets and a double row of elastic to keep the sheets in place.  And they are super soft and comfy!  The quilt at the bottom of the bed was $16 at Home Goods!

Gallery Wall Start to Finish

I love putting together gallery walls.  This is the last project I did for my friend's home in Virginia.  Here is a step by step tutorial for creating one from laying out the frames to how to properly hang the frames. (The wall paint is Home Depot's Behr Paint in Dolphin Fin)

Step #1 Gather your frames and play around with the layout on the floor.  

For this gallery wall I wanted different sizes, different shapes and different texture frames.  The trick to getting a good layout is to either have it perfectly symmetrical and all frames matching and squared up, or in this case, having none of the frames align.  I was careful not to have the frames line up ant the top, bottom, or in the center.  This picture is not the final layout!  Once you get your layout how you want it - take a picture of it so you can remember!

Step #2 Create Footprints
Get out your old wrapping paper and trace each frame to make a footprint to be arranged on the wall first.

 

Step #3 Paint
I get all my frames at garage sales and thrift shops.  For this bathroom, I had specific colors in mind to paint the frames: orange, green, navy, and yellow. I always use spray primer first.  It totally helps your paint go farther and cover better!

 

 Step #4 Attach Wire for Hanging
I took a picture framing class 14 years ago from a gal who framed art for the Smithsonian.  I have never forgot what I learned in that class!

It is best not to use this kind of hanger - it is too hard to get the picture to hang level.

 

Instead, measure about 2.5" to 3" down (depending on the size of your frame) on both sides of frame.  Attach eye screws.  If it is hard to get the eye screws started, hammer a little nail hole first.

 

Cut a piece of picture hanging wire and loop it through both the eye screws, winding the excess around itself.

 

It's ready to hang now!  What is nice about using wire is you can make adjustments to the height of your picture if you don't get the nail in the right place and it will always hang level.

TIP
If your frame has a stand on the back, you must remove it or it will also hang funny because of an uneven weight distribution.  Take your pliers and rip the thing off!!

Step #5
Clean the glass of each frame and place your art or photo in the frame.  For this gallery wall we choose some fun, retro bathroom prints.

This one is three Waldorf Toilet Paper Advertisements.

This one is a retro bathroom with a child brushing her teeth.

I found this retro Kleenex advertisement and it was in the colors of the bathroom!

 

Step #6 Tape the footprints to the wall with painters tape

This is important because you get a good feel of how it is going to look.  I actually ended up changing a few frames around from my original design.

 

Step #7 Use picture hanger nails

I hammered my picture hangers into the wall through the paper so I knew it would be perfect.

 

Step #8 - Hang your frames & admire!

You're done!  I love how this one turned out!!