Framed in black

Because almost everything seems newer in all black!

Since we've been using our fair share of black paint these days I decided to quietly toss in one teensy extra item on the spray pad while we were doing our patio furniture :) I'm so sneaky, Mr. Painter hardly noticed!


We've had this pine color room divider frame for so long, just standing all alone in our garage waiting for some love and renovation. And... also a little motivating kick to get our guest room/sewing room presentably decorated for all the family coming into town.

You'd think since it's mostly my sewing room I'd take the time to decorate, but until I realized that this would give my crafty stuff a secret hiding place (away from 2 year olds) I wasn't in a hurry.

Once I discovered the potential, I couldn't believe how easy of a fixer uper this would be! 10 seconds later it was off with the screws for ol' framey!




Smoothed off with my trusty sander....



And all ready to meet the Painter!





Which actually got to be me this time!! Either I finally proved myself or the Mr. Painter was too sick of painting and caught me trying to sneak in my project too :)


Either way, I got to test out the sprayer, so I win!! It is everything I hoped it would be and more, and by more I mean honestly, a tad bit harder to use than I expected... but shhhh I played it off like I was a pro ;)

The hardest part of this upcycle was deciding on only 15 pictures to put in the frame!


So I did the only reasonable thing I could...
I printed extra, so I could change them out depending on who was visiting!

Just a little hostess tip I learned from my other mother, who, for the longest time, I thought only had pictures of my family in her house!

Sounds odd at first and almost a little insincere-ish, but if you stop and think about it... Don't you love visiting people and seeing that they keep printed pictures of you in frames??

I got laughed at for it, but I think it's a nice touch :)

My Patio Furniture Conquest!

It's been a few months in the making, but thanks to you all for that last uphill push to help me conquer my HUGE patio project just in the nick of time!

A few months ago we became the excited owners of new patio furniture! New to us that is.

By new to us, of course we really mean something like this...

Click on the image for more before-pics

The price was right for this abandoned beauty, as you can imagine, and naturally, we had a vision to go with it.

A vision that started with a lot of this...











to cover all of this.

And a long and tedious revitalization for 12 of these...

...topped with the all important re-fashioning including custom-made (and quite elegant) red "robes."

After many, many late nights, more movie bribes than I care to admit, and (quite literally on all accounts) a lot of blood, sweat, and tears I conquered the biggest up-cycling project I've ever faced.

Are you ready to see it yet??

Ok....

Here! It! Is!



Sienna, of course, was the first to test it out.

I think she was as excited as we were :)


But the best test came after naptime...

when Mommy and Daddy finally had the perfect spot to celebrate their hard work with some nice, fresh and fruity margaritas!

A job well done and just in time to help us enjoy my baby brother's graduation as we welcomed nearly my entire extended family to our completed patio for 3 days of non-stop pool side delight!!

Thanks for such a wonderful time (all of you who are reading this)
and to my little brother- I'm so proud of you!!

It's been a great week to say the least, but I've missed my bloggy blog world and I'm excited to dive back in. I guess the best part about a break is all the great ideas that seem to just pop in your head without even trying... let's just say I have some work to do!!

Painless Piping

Don't believe me? Here's how I taught myself in only a few tries....

I'm conquering so many firsts for myself in my huge Patio Project and I promise to share all the tips and tricks I'm picking up along the way! The first stop was tackling this whole business of piped cording.


It's one of those musts for upholstery and really completes the professional look for lots of pillows, purses and even some clothing.


Like this really cute nautical top from Anthropologie....

Or these crisp cushions from Pottery Barn....

I don't know what's up with the navy and white theme, but these were the two examples that caught my eye :)



Here's what you'll need

• Fabric for your piping cut into bias strips
• Material to sew it on :)
• Cording to go inside your piping
• A zipper foot for your sewing machine
• A denim needle size 100/16 for sewing through heavy fabric with lots of layers
  
• Ruler, pins, fabric marker and your trusty iron

Don't worry, I'll walk you through all this stuff!

Cording
3 types to choose from

1. Store bought cord with 1/2" fabric edge
   
2. Store bought cord without any fabric edge
3. Custom made cord that you make by wrapping fabric around plain or welting cording and stitching leaving a 1/2" fabric edge.

The quickest type of cord to work with is the cord with a fabric edge, as this kind of cord comes ready to go for you to just sew the cord right along a seam. The problem there is you are limited by the colors and styles you can choose from. That's why for this project I used custom made cording, so that it could match my cushions exactly!

The BIAS STRIP

Don't be embarrassed if you're not really sure what a bias strip is, because I wasn't either! I see them in the store all the time and it looks just like a bunch of thinly cut fabric strips.

And that is basically it with a few secrets behind the cut. A bias strip is a thin strip of fabric that is cut on the bias (or diagonal line) used to finish edges or in this case, wrap around the cording to making bendable and smooth piping. They do sell a number of pre-made ones in the fabric store, but I just think it's much more fun to pick your own matching fabric and make some yourself.

Hold on! Don't run off to the cutting board just yet. Before your start nipping away at your really, really long strips of fabric let me tell you about this much easier, cheaper and once you get the hang of it, quicker way to cut your own bias strips out of a small square of material!

Personally, I am simply amazed at how this works out. Click here for a tutorial on cutting your own bias strips.


OK. Finally! Let's get started....
Step 1. Cut your bias strips to your desired length and width. In this case, I need to cover big cushions, so my strips were 69" long and 1 1/2 " wide.

Step 2. Cut your welt cording 1 in shorter than bias strip. 68" in this example.

Step 3. Fold your bias strip in half and iron to form a nice crease. Open your strip back up and tuck the cord right in the crease. Pin in place.

Step 4. Crease the fabric you want to sew your piping to along the seam.


Step 5. Open the fold and lay the piping on top so that the raw edges of each piece are on the outside and the piped corded rests onto of the fabric. So the finished product will look like the picture to the left.




Step 6. Attach the denim needle and the zipper foot on your machine. Begin sewing the wrapped cord to your fabric about 1" from the end, so you'll save room to attach it or close it when you're finished. Make sure you get the piping as close to the zipper food as possible.


I actually prefer to sew this with the piping strip on the bottom and the fabric piece on top. I find it's easier this way, because I can feel for the cording beneath the fabric with one finger, while using the ironed crease as my guide for exactly where I want the piping to go as in straight (which is harder than you think with so many layers of fabric!)


Step 7. Finish sewing, make a little hem at the end, flip over and admire your hard work!


Here's a little preview of the piping on one of my patio cushions chairs in progress....


There are different ways to finish the piping if you want continuous piping or piping that does not end, as in the edge of a pillow. While I didn't use continuous piping for this project, the easiest way that I read about basically tucked the beginning of the piping inside the casing of the end of the piping.

It looks like all you do for this is simply sew the piping to the main fabric stopping about a half inch before where you started and trim the end of the piping back to give enough fabric to turn under and enclose the beginning of the piping. The ends of the piping should but up to each other under the fabric. Then all you'd do is fold under the fabric to enclose the beginning of the piping and sew in place.

Sounds pretty easy. I'll have to try this when I get to the decorative pillows for the patio set, so if you've done this before I'd love to hear any tips or tricks :)

Bias strips made easy!

This tutorial is how I learned to toss out the crumpled corner

And proudly welcome THIS delicious smoothness!

The only thing I changed was the way I cut my bias strips :)

Is it just me or does anybody wish that sewing books and patterns were written in plain English?? I have to admit that I still feel as confused as a mole in broad daylight when I try to teach myself new stuff, so I often glance over things that seem easy enough to figure out...

Let me tell you about my most recent adventure with bias strips and how I learned (again) why it's important to read the directions first, so that after you are almost finished with your entire cushion you don't end up having to scrap it, because Mr. Crumple Corner just wouldn't go away...

It all comes down to one tiny over sight. The Bias Strip. These were one of those lovely things that made me feel as sharp as a circle when I thought I was the only sewer smart enough to skip the hubbub and just cut really longs strips. Let me tell you, there is a reason most "sewers" don't just do that!!

A bias strip is a thin strip of fabric that is cut on the bias (or diagonal line) used to finish edges or in my case, to wrap around cording to make piping for my patio cushions.

The "bias" was the key that I was missing in my own looooong strips of fabric you see. The reason quilters and other sewers use bias strips is that they're cut along the material that has the most stretchability so that it easily bends smoothly around corners like this:

Funny how I thought I was taking the easy way out before, because once I learned this way to make them I couldn't believe how quick and easy it was!! And what a difference!

Here's how I did it:

Step 1. Cut a square piece of fabric. In this case I used 21 x 21 inches.


Step 2. Fold the corners together to make a big triangle, make sure the edges match up perfectly (cut any excess fabric if you need to), and finally cut along the folded line to make two smaller triangles.


Step 3. Lay the two triangles together so the tip of each hypotenuse (diagonal line) touches the right angle corner of the other triangle. Like so:

Step 4. Pin and sew a 1/4" seam to attach the two triangles along this edge. Unfold and press your seam open. This is very important so your bias strip wraps or folds smoothly.

Step 5. Using your ruler and fabric marker (or chalk like I do) mark a line across the width of your parallelogram about 1 1/2" apart. You can adjust this for smaller or wider bias strips. Starting with my 21 x 21 inch square I was able to draw 9 lines.

Step 6. After all of the lines are drawn, wrap the parallelogram around to match up the lines from the opposite side skipping the first mark. Again, it is very important to skip the first mark so that a continuous strip can be cut.


Step 7. Almost done! Pin the tube together and sew another 1/4" seam. Make sure to press the seam open as well.



Step 8. Last, but not least, simply cut along the marked lines so that you create one very long strip.

If you're using the bias strip for piping, all you'll need to do is fold it in half once and press to create a pocket for the cording.

If you're creating decorative trim for a quilt or another garment you can hide the raw edges by first pressing a small seam on each side and then folding in half to crease.

And that's all she wrote! Finally :)

Psst... here's a sneak peak

...at my next HUGE project!

Friends, I'd like you to meet our new patio furniture

These deck dwellers may have seen their better days. Their arms and legs might have a "few" age spots, their cushions are a "little" tattered, but deep down somewhere there is a whole lot of outdoor sitting left to be had and we are on a mission to find it!!

In case you couldn't tell, we never take the easy way out of anything here at the Subtle Tee household.

Naturally, instead of buying brand new patio furniture to complete our outdoor remodeling project we decided on this "vintage" 6 piece set plus a free (if that doesn't say enough) swing we somehow acquired.

The "slightly" tattered cushions on our "vintage" set and the lack thereof for our swing have happily made their way into my hall of fame for one of the biggest sewing projects I've ever taken on.

The countdown for new cushions has begun.....

5 1/2 cushions down and 6 1/2 to go!!

It won't be easy, it sure won't be quick, but luckily I think it will be a lot more fun if I get to share all about it with you!!


To be continued.....

Please, come in and have a seat at my desk...

...while you wait for me to change your stinky diaper??

Well, ok, it doesn't quite have the same ring to it as a stay-at-home mommy, but that's no reason not to love having one!!!


A few weeks ago we found this seriously abandoned desk at a garage sale for $20. You wouldn't believe the third world sweat shop sewing conditions I'm working under right now, so $20 seemed like FREE to help me upgrade from my broken card-table sewing desk!

What the picture doesn't show is that it shakes vigorously every time you press the pedal.
I feel like I'm sewing in a blender!

Ok, I'll be honest, there's no sugar coating a turd here, this thing here was ugly... but under the many tacky layers of ugly was a bright rainbow of potential for this mass of strong, solid wood.


Wouldn't you love to know the vision for all these colors in one piece of furniture?


While it makes for a pretty neat photo, this wasn't exactly our color scheme, so we busted out the trusty sander and got to work!

After a few hours of sanding... blah!

We got to test out Kevin's new spray gun, and by "we" I mean Kevin, because he was too excited to let me have a turn. Note to self, buy Kevin a new sander next time we refinish furniture :)


You'll never guess how long it took us to paint this whole thing with our new spray gun??

About 30 minutes!!!

That's including all the little knobs and drawers. Oh.My.Gosh! I love this thing!!


The second best part that I didn't know about using a sprayer is that it dries in half the time too! We moved it inside within the hour!

I really, really like it.

I know I said this transformation was supposed to be my new sewing desk, but you have to promise not to tell my husband, but I love it so much in our guest room just like this, so pretty and clean, that I almost don't want to put my sewing machine on it... I'm sure I'll be over that next time I sit at my blender-table, but I just couldn't do it even for a picture's sake just yet!! It still has that fresh paint smell... give me time... I'll get there!