Crafty Stuff

Here are a couple of crafty projects that I just finished.

Zippered Pouch

This was my first time sewing in a zipper and it was a little tricky since you have to change out your sewing machine feet and line up everything just so. I love this little bag because it uses up my leftover fabric scraps and has a cute lining. Perfect as a makeup bag!

Directions here.

Crayon Roll

Another great project to use up little pieces of fabric you have laying around. You need to use a lightweight fusible interfacing for this project, which gives it some extra durability. I used three different types of fabric and sewed a long ribbon on to tie it all up. Perfect for the diaper bag to keep Jackson entertained at dinner!

Directions here.

Decorating Makeovers: Changing Your Drawer Pulls

A quick, cheap, and easy way to update a room is by replacing the drawer pulls on a dresser. We have very basic furniture in our bedroom and in an effort to dress it up a little bit as well as make generic furniture look more unique we replaced the drawer pulls on our dresser. Anthropologie has amazing options and different knobs to choose from. Check them out here! We only replaced the top of row of pulls, which saved us money and added just a touch of vintage to the room. What do you think?

House Beautiful- Making Your Own Pillow Slipcovers

Since I am now home pretty much 24/7 I have become obsessed with prettying up our house. One thing that is cheap and easy to do is change your throw pillows. I haven't had much luck finding pillows that fit the bill or my price-point so I decided to break out the sewing machine and make my own! Since I've never sewed before this has been quite the adventure, with lots of little frustrations along the way. Thanks to some helpful You Tube videos I was able to quickly figure things out and make several cool slipcovers for pillows I have laying around the house. These slipcovers can be made to fit any square pillow and don't require a pattern.

Here's what you'll need:

• fabric of your choice (depending on how big your pillow is, you'll need anywhere from 1-2 yards)
• a sewing machine
• stick pins
• a pillow insert (or pillow you have laying around already)
• scissors
• a ruler or yardstick
• marking pen (I use a Sharpie)

What to do:
1. Measure your pillow from one side to the other.

2. Smooth out your fabric face down and get your ruler.

3. Measure out the length of your pillow and add one inch

 to all four sides.

4. I use a ruler to make sure my lines are straight. Measure twice to make sure it's correct!

5. Carefully cut out your fabric on the lines. This will be the front of your pillow.

6. Smooth out another section of your fabric and measure out the length of your pillow plus 4 inches for the long side.

7. Measure out the length of your pillow plus one inch for the short side.

8. Carefully cut out your rectangle

9. Measure to the halfway point on the long side of your rectangle and draw a line straight up.

10. Carefully cut along the straight line to divide your fabric neatly in half. This will be the back of your pillow.

11. Take the equal halves of the back of your pillow and iron along the long side to create a 1/2 inch seam. I prefer not to use pins so I make sure the seam I create is nice and flat.

12. Now on to the sewing machine! Sew down the seams you pressed, making sure to backstitch at each end. Repeat for the other half of fabric.

13. Now lay the front of your pillow face-up and make sure all of the wrinkles are smoothed out.

14. Lay the halves you just hemmed face-down on top, overlapping the edges. The overlap of the fabric will create a pocket to allow you to pull your pillow in and out.

15. Pin along the edges of your fabric, to connect the top and bottom.

16. Back to the sewing machine! Sew carefully around the edges, using a 1/2 inch seam.

17. Flip your slipcover inside-out and push your pillow in.

Voila! A beautiful slipcover which can be easily washed or updated!