DIY Edition: Curtains & Pillows

I wanted to put together some quick curtains for our garage windows on the cheap. My endeavor began with a trip to Hobby Lobby where I picked up this grey cotton blend fabric for $5.99/yard. I bought four yards knowing that I would probably end up with a little extra. 

The color of the curtains in the garage didn't really matter, but I knew that I wanted something neutral to keep the light that comes in from looking eerie. I chose grey because I knew I could do something with the extra fabric in another room of the house.

To begin, I rolled out the fabric and measured the length of the window (something near 51"). I decided to add 3" to the top and bottom (6" total) to allow for a 1.5" folded curtain seam. My final cut was at 57" for both panels. The width of the fabric on the bolt was enough for the width of my windows so I didn't need to cut it vertically. If I had, the panels would have looked more finished.

Here's the inseam for the curtain rod. Before sewing I pinned the seam and stuck the rod through to be sure that it would fit. 

Here we sew!

Ta-da!

After all of that I still had enough left over to recover these pillows for my grey and yellow living room. To get started I made sure to have enough fabric to fold over the pillow by placing the pillow on the printed (top) side of the fabric. Then, by folding the back side up, I pinned fabric to the the left and right side of the pillow. Sewing this pillow inside out is key so that the seams can hide.

Once the sides are sewn and flipped right side out with the pillow slipped inside, the top can be pinned by folding both the front and back edges into the pillow. Pin so that the seam is tight the pillow fits snugly in the cover.

To hide the seam, I use a slip stitch (go to the :50 mark). Pillow case covers aren't like pillows, in that with pillows you can sew the fourth side nearly all of the way before stuffing and then slip stitching the remaining 5" or so.

Here is the finished product! I made this burlap pillow over a year ago and freshened it up with a little paint and a monogram. 

$20 for two new pillow covers and two curtains seems like a pretty good deal to me! Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock. Do come back :)

Cara

DIY Edition: Fort Kit

This fall I not only got a husband but three nephews! Over the last five years I’ve helped pick out some pretty cool Christmas presents for these little boys but this year I decided that as an official ‘aunt and uncle’ we had to get something for the boys on our own; not with the other uncles. 

Leave it to me to wait until a week before Christmas to finally get my rear in gear and think of something really really cool. After scouring Pinterest for what seemed like hours, I decided to modify an idea that would be sure to keep any house full of young boys occupied - A FORT!  I then found myself in Wal–Mart on December 15th (you’ve got it, payday for the entire population – big mistake!) with arms full of supplies in a line nothing short of 35 minutes long.

Here’s what I purchased:

• Three 50x60 fleece blankets (pinterest recommended flat sheets but I couldn’t find any sold separately)
• A matching tub for fort storage
• Extra reinforcement clips (clothespins)
• A  small lantern to use inside the fort 
• 4 AAA batteries for the lantern
• Pajamas for all of the boys to wear in their fort
• Ribbon (I had this already, but be sure to buy this to sew to your fleece blankets)

To begin, I unrolled the blankets and cut ribbon into roughly 6 inch strips. I angled the ends and counted them into groups of six. Each blanket received six of the strips (all four corners and one on the middle of the 60” side). 

I then secured the ribbon with four passes on my sewing machine to make it more durable.

I threw in the other goodies and laid the tag on top so that it didn't get ripped off during the rigorous gift opening that always seems to occur and stuck everything into a matching chevron storage tub for easy storing.

I polished the fort making kit off with these nifty tags from KIN. Watch their DIY fort crafting video here.

Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock! Do come back!
Cara

Sew: Dresslift

This little gem became too short after a couple of washes (and drys - oops!) It had been in my Goodwill pile for awhile but before this last donation I decided to see if I could lengthen it a bit more. With a little scrap fabric I was able to to turn this....

Before

into this!

After

Now I only have to wait four more months until spring when I can wear it! Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock! 

Cara