Tutorial: Draft Stopper + Noise Muffler=Sleep Sweeter

I love this thing. It helps me keep my sanity. 

Having two young children has taught me something: two babies awake at 2 am and howling for the attention of just one person is really not fun. The scenario is that the infant cries for milk and the toddler hears him and awakens...screaming. I decided to make a little something to keep this scenario from repeating itself every three hours until the end of time... (read that again but with a slightly frantic tone of voice). 

Don't get me wrong, there are tons of GREAT things about having two very young babies (one 2 years and one 7 weeks, to be precise), but sleep deprivation is not on my list. I'm one of those people who can't remember words when I'm short on sleep. Like last night I was trying to tell a story and couldn't remember the word...wait what was it again?...oh, yeah...werewolf. 

So I made this thing and it was really easy. It has multiple purposes--it stops drafts, blocks out noise (both while looking a little more chic and a little easier to manage than a towel stuffed under the door) and helps us all sleep a little sweeter. 

You need:

heavy-weight fusible fleece

home decor weight cotton 

   -2 rectangles

   -width= 9 inches+door thickness 

   -length=width of the doorway plus one inch

sewing machine with a sharp heavy-duty needle, thread, iron, yardstick, disappearing marker

5 lbs of rice

1) Cut out your pattern pieces. Two rectangles of home decor weight cotton using the specifications above, then back each piece with fusible fleece (leave about 1/2 inch of fabric 'unfleeced' on one short end to make it easier to stitch closed at the end.). The fleece helps make the stopper feel more sturdy, reinforcing the fabric, and it also takes up some space so you don't need quite as much rice to fill it. 

2) Pin fabric right sides together, with 1/2" seam allowance,  sew along both long sides and one short side. Turn right sides out through the open end. Now you should have something that looks like the photo below (without the two lines of stitches in the middle, that's the next step). 

3) Using the yardstick and disappearing marker, measure in 4 inches from each side seam and draw a straight line (the distance between the two lines should be approximately the thickness of your door). Using matching thread, sew along each marked line-stopping about 3/4 inch from the open end. Then you should have this:

Closed end:

Open end from top:

Leave some room so you can turn the raw edges under:

4) Sorry, I didn't photograph this next step because my hands were full of thousands of grains of rice. You could use a funnel, but I took my chances and it worked out ok. Fill each side of the stopper with rice, be sure to leave enough space for folding under and for your machine foot and don't fill the "under-the-door" part.

5) Now tuck the raw edges in, pin, and stitch across the opening--forward and back stitching securely. Trim any loose threads and slide it under the door!

I love mine! The best part is that it slides with the door, no adjusting or slipping on towels (that happened more than once in my house). They really do help block noise, I tested it. This thing is for real!

Comment if you make one and love it or if you have suggestions to make it better!

(The cute red chevron fabric came from Hobby Lobby). 

I made a...

QUILT!! I made a quilt, a legitimate quilt. I pieced a queen sized quilt last year but chickened out when it came to actually 'quilting' it. For this one, I was determined to do it the right way. I used a template and a rotary cutter to perfectly square up all the pieces, pressed all the seams open, and used hundreds of safety pins to make sure that the layers of batting, backing and top were smooth and flat before quilting. Bingo!

I used Jay Bird Quilts' "Large Dot Party" pattern and it was really simple. I used all prints instead of a single solid color with a few contrasting prints like the directions recommended. I'd like to try that too.

You can see here that P's room is still a work in progress. Lamps with no shades...nothing hung on the walls...no rails on the 'big boy bed.' We are slowly transitioning from crib to bed, I'm waiting to see how he does at night with baby brother's room right next door before I give up the luxury of having him contained. I love, love, love the bed! It's exactly how I imagined it (think Downton Abbey hospital beds :). It's from Pottery Barn Kids if anyone is interested, I snatched it up when they went on sale a couple of weeks ago.

The quilt is backed with a soft, black and white ticking striped, cotton duck (on sale at Hancock's right now) and I used a super low loft batting. I love the back almost as much as the front and will definitely  use both sides, depending on what sheets are on the bed, etc...

One of the things I adore about quilts is how they look after being washed and dried, I think I'll love this one even more after a few washes. There are raw edges around every circular shape. I think it will add a lot of softness and a vintage feel when the edges fray.

P had a ball pointing out animals and toys and colors. I am wild about every single print and tried to keep it playful and boyish, he will be able to use this for years. I used so many prints that I'm not going to list them all, if you have a specific question just leave it in the comments section.

The only shortcut I took with this quilt was to use the backing for a self-binding, instead of cutting bias strips and all that. I like it and don't think it takes away from the look or the quality at all. I totally finished it in 3 nap times, not bad for a twin sized quilt. (Disclaimer: my little guy takes anywhere from a 3 to 4 hour nap-so maybe a 12 hour project)

1) Preparing/cutting/assembling the blocks
2) Piecing the quilt top
3) Laying out quilt sandwich/pinning/quilting/binding

I think he likes it! Cozy!

My Sewing Area

So I recently found No Big Dill's "Never Enough Orange Sewing Room Reveal" and I was drooling. It is amazing! I love her ideas and how creative and eclectic it looks. I'm all about eclectic decorating. We are renting a little place in New Orleans while my husband is finishing school. We have the space we need, but not enough for a sewing room! I consider a sewing room a true luxury, maybe one day...



For now, the dining room table is my "sewing room." Our living room and dining room are combined so it makes it easy for me to sew and watch Baby P while he plays in the living room, but it makes it a little tough to sit down for family dinner when the table is covered with pins, buttons, and fabric scraps. Here was my "Sewing Room" yesterday.

Yes! My poor fabric stash has been living in a plastic box in my closet or under the table if I'm in the midst of a project. Here's the only part of my sewing area that I'm proud of!

        This is my third baby. (Hubby and Baby P are obviously top of the list). I kept all the original packaging (styrofoam and box and everything) and when we moved back in the summer, I packed her up and made sure she had a safe place in the back of my car. No moving van for this lady!

        So, given my limited space and my need to have all my sewing supplies near where I will be sewing...I decided to clean out this cabinet that I have by the front door. It's a yard sale find from a few years ago. I snagged it for $20 and after a little sanding and refinishing, I love the way it looks. I've been keeping placemats, chargers, cloth napkins and paper products in it, kind of a waste of space. So I cleaned out all the junk and was left with this.

        I also wiped down the inside with a little white vinegar, it had a musty smell and I didn't want musty fabric. And yes, there is a random square cut out of the bottom.

        Here is most of my sewing stuff all organized and put away! The plastic box contains all my trims, buttons, needles, etc... and my thread and clothing labels are above that. The fabric on the left is apparel (seersucker, shirting, corduroy, denim...) and the pile on the right is all quilters cotton. I'd like to get some shelving that I can stick in to help me keep things organized, but I've had a hard time finding exactly what I want. Maybe a specialty closet store? Most of my patterns are in the plastic file box. I also have a reusable shopping bag that I'm going to slip right in the front (over the hole) to keep my partially completed projects in order. All my jersey and home decor weight cotton is staying in a large plastic box in the bottom of my bedroom closet. I only use those things on occasion.

Now maybe we can eat dinner at the table tonight like civilized human beings :).

Impromptu Fall Mantel Makeover

So Baby P and I are visiting Grammy and we took a little trip down to the lake over the weekend. It was so much fun and we had nice weather. Can you believe husband W wants to cut off that sweet baby hair? I love how wild and wavy it is and it makes me sad to think of losing it!

While at the lake, I noticed that the mantel looked like this...

Everything else looks super cute, my Mom is good at rounding up cozy, interesting things for the cabin. But this mantel was just so EMPTY! So I started gathering some things from around the house. Books, lamps, placemats, fake ducks (actually there were maybe 5 to choose from), and some goldenrod from outside. There is tons of it blooming right now (Goldenrod is the state flower of KY, BTW).

The things I tried to consider were the many textures already existing (stone chimney and wood mantel) and the high ceilings (meaning lots of exposed chimney). The fish was not optional. Ideally it would be hung a little higher, but I needed help, a drill and a ladder so I left it alone for now.



I really like the chunky, unfinished wood mantel.

This is a neat textured basket that I found, filled with pinecones and walnuts.

The vase is just a plain, clear glass florist's vase. I wrapped a plaid placemat around it and tied it with a little piece of raffia. The chubby, little pumpkins were swiped from my Mom's dining table arrangement.

On the left is an old-fashioned oil lamp converted to an electric light. I put it on a stack of books to try to get some height. I found an old checkerboard that I stood up against the chimney, it helped the lamp and wooden duck stand out a little against the texture of the stone and added some visual interest. There's a small mason jar full of checkers behind the piece of goldenrod. On the right is a big basket of pine cones and walnuts with the vase of goldenrod and little pumpkins. Also on the right are two small, fake oars. I found them floating around the house and I think they were from a canoe shaped coffee table my parents had years and years ago. Again, I was thinking "Height."

 

This is not an elaborate change and it was definately not time consuming. I think it suits the rustic feel of the cabin and it's not overly symmetrical. There are some things I would change or do differently given unlimited supplies and resources, but it's nice to know that you can do a cheap, easy upgrade with what you can find around the house and outdoors. Puts me in the mood for fall and Thanksgiving!

My Quilt

I love the look of quilts! Love, love, love. Here are a few quilt ideas that I'm stashing away for future home makeovers!

Real Simple

Pottery Barn

So fun and whimsical! I love those painted metal chairs and the industrial style hanging lights.

House Beautiful

That pop of bright orange is gorgeous!

These are all beautiful...however, I don't love the thought of cutting (precisely and accurately) for weeks, piecing for weeks, and then quilting for weeks before enjoying a finished product. Not too long ago, Sew Mama Sew posted this tutorial for a "Shoo Fly Quilt" using oversized quilt blocks by Malka Dubrawsky

Here is Malka's supersize "Shoo Fly" alongside her original "Shoo Fly" which is featured on the cover of her book Color Your Cloth.

Sooo...It was such a great tutorial and the giant squares seemed so non-threatening that I decided to give it a try! There is also the possibility that I'm in a new city without friends yet and have a good deal of time on my hands, but I'll leave that conversation for another day.

Malka's tutorial shows a crib sized quilt, but I wanted a large version. I cut 6.5 inch squares, combined them to make 18 inch blocks. Six rows of five blocks came together to form my 90 x 108 inch queen sized quilt.

As you can see, I sewed my bias tape on in the "cheating" way so it's not exactly perfect on the backside, but I was going for an easy, comfy quilt on my first attempt, so I'm happy with the results.

I chose six colored patterns-3 yellow and 3 blue, ranging from light to medium to dark in each color. I also used a solid, bright white muslin and an off-white cotton printed with faint blue, floral design for the background. Two of the blue patterns were my own designs, which I had printed at spoonflower.com. Since we're living in New Orleans I wanted to incorporate fleur de lis (they are absolutely iconic here and we see them all over the place) in at least one of the prints and since many of my choices turned out to be floral, I wanted a bold, geometric for the sixth fabric (the big squares). All of the other fabrics came from Hancocks.

I am a novice quilter. After trying to quilt several rows and making a mess of things, I pulled out the handy stitch ripper and took a new approach. I made tacking stitches at the corners of every block (about ever six inches) using a wide, very dense zig zag stitch.  It didn't take very long at all and I am very happy with how it looks. There aren't weird wrinkles and it feels light and soft. It would also be easy enough to take them out and quilt it all together if I ever learn how to do it or decide to pay someone to quilt it for me.

I'm wild about my quilt and sleep with it every night! It feels wonderful and isn't too warm or too cool. It makes me want to sew up a whole bunch more-I especially love the thought of lap quilts. Maybe Christmas?

DIY A Folding Screen

We live in a two bedroom here in New Orleans and we quickly realized that we'd have lots and lots of visitors because we live in such a cool city...sooo that meant converting our den/office area into a bedroom at least once a month. A pull out sofa was the first necessity then we decided we wanted some kind of room divider so that we wouldn't see our guests chilling in the bed if we had to sneak to the kitchen. I, being the penny pincher that I am, wanted to DIY something so I sketched up some plans for a folding screen and I'm thrilled with how it turned out!

Here's what you need:

• 8 1" x 2" x 8' white wood boards (hold them up and eye them to make sure they're straight)
• Sandpaper
• Hand or Table Saw
• Screwdriver
• Kreg Jig (I bought a mini kit and a C-clamp, it was about $20)
• Electric Drill
• Pocket Hole Screws (1.5 ", Self threading, found in the same aisle as kreg jigs)
• Hinges (you'll need 6 small, lightweight hinges for a four panel screen--that generally means 3 packages because there are two to a package)
• Wood finish (I really like the Minwax water based, rub on stain. Use an old cloth or cheesecloth to apply it, make sure the coats are thin and you move quickly so that lines don't form as the wood absorbs the stain. I used a walnut finish.)

Fabric Covers:

• You'll need about 4 yards of 45" wide fabric and you'll have a good bit left over.
• 4 Fabric panels 63" by 12.5" finished size (you could go a little bigger on these if you don't want gaps)
• 16 Fabric ties, 14" long, width is your preference (you can make these with the leftover fabric above like I did or use some kind of purchased cord/ribbon/webbing, etc...
• Matching thread, scissors, sewing machine

Cut List
(After cutting you should have 8 six foot pieces and 8 one foot pieces)

Measure, mark and cut 8, six foot pieces of the 1" x 2" boards (you'll be left with 8 two foot pieces)
Measure, mark and cut 4 of the leftover two foot pieces into 8 one foot pieces

Fabric: cut 4 panels, 64" by 13.5", turn and press edges to wrong side and hem on all sides (should then have approximately 63" by 12.5" panels). My fabric doesn't fray so I just folded over once. If you have a fabric that needs to be turned under twice, add a little extra when cutting.

If using fabric for ties, cut 16 strips that are 14" long (width is up to you), press edges inward and sew

Construction!

Start by using the Kreg jig to drill two pocket holes into each end of the one foot pieces of wood (4 holes total in each). Follow directions on the packaging to use the jig. I used a bit of foam rug grip between the wood and C-clamp so that I didn't leave marks on the wood. Just eye the distance so they're basically even, you don't want the holes to touch.

After drilling all the holes, take out your sandpaper and get busy! Smooth around the edges, around the drilled holes, and the length of every board. Make sure that the bottom of each long board is completely flat so that your screen is level. I used the machine cut end as the bottom. Next, wipe off any sawdust and start applying your stain.

When everything is dry, you're ready to start putting this thing together. Start by laying your long boards on the floor, the the short pieces (screw holes facing up) one at the top and one seven inches from the bottom (you will measure just before attaching). Be sure that the edges of your long boards are flush with the edges of the short boards and screw them together (stabilizing so that they don't shift as you work). Once that is finished, measure up 7" from the bottom of one of your long boards and screw together, do the same for the other side.

Repeat process until you have 4 completed panels.



Now, just attach these panels together with hinges. Be sure that the barrel of the hinge extends far enough beyond the wood that the screen will fold up easily without scraping together, also you will alternate the direction of the hinges like in the picture below-two opening backwards and the middle one opening forward. I placed the hinges 10 inches from the top and 10 inches from the bottom.


MAKE SURE that your screw holes are all facing the back!! I made this mistake once, and had to take 8 screws out--no fun!

I used a hammer to start the screws, but you could used a tiny drill bit if you have someone else with another set of hands to help you.








The last step!! Covering the screens.

I love old-fashioned ticking fabric. It's usally blue or red and cream striped and the stripes are actually woven through the fabric--not just printed on (although you can find faux, printed ticking these days). This fabric came from Hancocks.

Positioning the fabric ties: pin the tie about 1/2" away from the outside edge with 8" on the top end and 6" on the bottom end (so that the longer piece goes around the wooden frame and leaves you with even ends after tying it to the frame). See below:

Measure and pin a tie to each corner of the four panels, sew securely along the hem line (forward and back stitching a little beyond the edges of your tie).


You're done! I love mine so much that I want to make more. I think they look so cute in a bedroom or filling up an empty corner somewhere.



Happy Screening!

Mini Mantel Makeover

             I got the idea in my head last week to 'mini makeover' my mantel, so I finally finished yesterday. After I painted last year, I just chunked a bunch of photos up there without really thinking about it, got busy with baby stuff and never fixed it. So after looking at some inspiration photos online and of course referring to my fav home decor blog-younghouselove.com- I realized again how much I needed to do this little re-vamp. Here are a couple of befores:

No real order, too much red, even worse... boring.

So I started rounding up things from around the house: pictures, stacks of books, etc... and finished this mini-makeover for just $1.99. I bought one little thing that I couldn't resist on clearance at Cato. Let's see if you can spot it.

Those biological prints (they're actually framed pages from a neat calendar) in black frames I used to have in our bedroom until it became a nursery. The glass urn things came from TJ Max super cheap (like $5 each sometime last year when I wanted more green in our house). The frames I've had for years, they were already on the mantel (the sweet pewter one was a bridesmaid gift from Sarah!), the wooden candle holder was also a wedding gift, and there's no shortage of books in my house. I robbed the piano for that houseplant on the left--I love a fresh, green houseplant.

Oh yeah, the metal circle deal was something I got years ago on clearance at Pier 1. It's been all over the house, on the wall, propped against things, etc...

It's not perfect, but it's definately an improvement! Any guesses on what I added for $1.99? It's probably obvious since I already mentioned everything else. It's that cute, little ceramic bird. I'm not one for knick-knacks, but it's so green and was so cheap I couldn't resist.