Sewing Room Stools REupholstered!

On this snowy day, I decided to start and FINISH a quick REdo project in my house.  I chose a project that has been on my "to do" list for the past TWO years.  This project is so easy…it just takes a little bit of time and bit of "elbow grease"…as my GAGA used to say.  

REcovering stools for our sewing/craft room to a more cheerful seat fabric was today's project!

The first step was to take off as many layers of fabric as possible to lessen the bulk when REcovering the seat with the new fabric.  When I removed the denim fabric that I had put on over 13 years ago, I realized why I had REcovered them in the first place.  Nice stains…gross!

By the way, here is what you need to REcover a chair seat…fabric, scissors, an electric staple gun, staples, and a steady/strong arm to guide the gun…with a bit of patience to unjam it!

Step two…pink fabric for the first layer…so it can peek through the top fabric, which was bit transparent.  Cut the fabric about 2-3 inches larger than the seat you are recovering.  Fold the fabric over the the edge of the bottom of the seat and staple it about 1-2 inches from that edge.  Gather the corners of the fabric last…pull taut and staple as best as you can!  It won't be to pretty…but just cut away the extra fabric to clean it up and voila!

Comparing the two chairs…new, cheerful fabric to the old, but very reliable, denim.

Close up of the vintage Lilly Pulitzer remnant fabric I found a few years back…LOVE!  Notice you can see just a tint of the pink showing through the flowers…!

You can do it, too!  Such an easy, quick, and inexpensive way to update any room in your house!

Sewing Room REveal!!!

TADA!!!

Here is what Emily and I came up with to turn our tiny and awkward space in the basement into her new sewing room!

Emily chose a white for her walls, so the fabrics could "POP" and her art could be seen...thanks Becky Ortyl!

She chose this funky light fixture from Lowe's...it is perfect for over the newly REpainted craft table!

Just some of Emily's fabrics that are displayed by attaching them with a magnet to an oil drip pan that I bought for only $10!  We have 3 of these REpurposed drip pans hung on the walls in this space and they provide great visual impact and inspiration for her.

You can see that the "nook" is now well utilized as Emily's sewing station and is surrounded by everything she loves...including her CREATE letters she bedazzled and her new chair that we REcovered together in a cheerful chevron fabric.

Emily's VERA WANG doll that she sewed by hand in fourth grade as part of a Biography Report she was assigned.  It was a labor of LOVE, for sure!

Labeled file folders with pattern ideas...

Here is her button collection...Emily's Grandy helped her find all the jars at local antique shops and flea markets.  She also has her American Girl and Teen Vogue magazines displayed in clear magazine containers we found at The Container Store.

Her favorite color thread (for now)...

Emily bought this funny yellow parrot lamp with her own hard-earned money from the cutest little shop in downtown Webster Groves, Seven Gray.  She has accessorized it with scraps of bright colored fabric to give it a little "zshuzsh"--I'm so proud!!!

We purchased this darling turquoise bookshelf at The White Rabbit and Emily filled it with all things gorgeous---including ribbon, felt, buttons, glitter, fabric, leather, etc...!

Here is an overhead picture that shows where Emily cuts and irons her creations.  Here she has a skirt with a zipper AND button that her made in her Spools class, a baby dress that she bought for the pattern, and a pair of baby bloomers that she embellished with ribbon and a silk heart!

Here is a turtle pin cushion that the owner of The Fabric Nosherie, Shannon Robinson, made with love and gave to Emily for her birthday...she loves it!

Here you can see the shelving piece of furniture that I bought at HomeGoods.  The damaged top can not be seen, as it has been covered with an old door that I painted and REpurposed as the table top for the sewing station.  The six baskets provide great storage for her scraps of fabric. 

My girl is in her element!

Emily bought this bright yellow fabric at Mood Fabrics in NYC because it was just too "gorgeous" to pass by.  It was pricey, so she is still waiting for the perfect idea to come to her as to what to do with it...

In this photo you can see Emily "teaching" her friend, Tate, the basics of how to use a sewing machine...

By the smile on his face, you can tell he was pretty pleased with himself!  

A special thanks to my friend, amazing photographer, and Tate's mom, Heidi Drexler, for taking all of the photos and capturing the feeling of Emily's sewing new room!  Here's to many more years of creating...!

Emily's SEWING room!

Two years ago, my daughter, Emily, started to take sewing lessons at The Fabric Nosherie, a darling shop owned by Shannon Robinson in downtown Webster Groves.  She was immediately smitten with her new hobby and, to be totally honest, I was smitten for her!  Every month, Emily would go to her Sewing Club...she was originally in  Bobbins, but has since graduated to Spools (isn't that so cute?!?)...and she fell more and more in LOVE with sewing!  

Quickly, I realized that fabric was overtaking our dining room...and that I may need to "create" a dedicated sewing space for Emily.  

Here is the space that I decided to transform into Emily's sewing room.  This space is at the bottom of our basement stairs and has been many things.  In the past 10 years, it has been a "wrapping room"...a mini "play room"...the "record player room" and, finally,  "the treadmill room!" (By the way, for those who truly know me, you are laughing and know the treadmill room was the least used of all the options!)  The awkwardly shaped room was tiny and difficult to figure out how to place furniture.  You can see that below one entire wall is all closets, which is great for storage, but not for furniture placement.

This doorway leads into the REAL playroom.

This is the space where the treadmill once was...it is really the only space that can hold furniture.  The closet you see is my "wrapping closet" and it holds all things that go under that category...gift wrap, glitter, ribbon, scissors...and it is awesome!

I knew I need an inspiration piece to get me started on REdoing this room, so I headed to HomeGoods...and this is what I found.  This shelving unit was perfect with the six baskets to hold all of Emily's fabric. 

BUT, what made it even better was that it was DAMAGED!  Score!  

I asked for a discount due to the crack on the top of it and VOILA!  I received a huge discount and paid only $40!  This was such a steal considering the six baskets alone would cost more than that to buy!

I took it home and REpainted it white...and I was well on my way to REdoing this unused space and creating Emily's sewing room!

Stay turned for Emily's SEWING ROOM REveal!

REupholstered 1960's Swivel Chairs!

My latest client wanted to get a FABULOUS pair of chairs from the 1960's REupholstered and asked for my help with the process.  

She was overwhelmed with where to start and how to get the job done.  

I assured her it would be painless...and it was.

Here is a photo of the chairs she inherited recently from her late mother in law.

To make this process as painless as possible for her, I went fabric shopping FOR her and sent her photos from my phone...and brought her some of the samples so she could feel the fabric.

This is the craziest one I found...she loved it, but her husband did NOT!

He wanted plain...

And durable...

On the other hand, she wanted it to maybe be BOLD...?

And possibly neutral with a TWIST...?

Or a bit GRAPHIC...?

Maybe even patterned? 

What do you think they chose for her REupholstery job?

Stay tuned for the REveal...

REvitalized chairs REveal!

So...as you might remember from an earlier post, I was given these awesome old chairs by a friend to REvitalize.  

One of them needed a bit of work...and both needed to be primed.

Although the needlepoint work was beautiful...I decided to REcover them in an updated and FUN fabric.

Here is the color I decided to paint them...glossy HOT pink!

The fabric was a bit harder to choose, but it was love at first sight when my friend, Kim, who owns the shop 7 Gray found it.  We both decided the fabric should be turned a bit...to give it a quirky and more modern look.

Tada!

I mean...seriously!  Aren't they so cute?  I LOVE THEM.

These darling babies could be yours...one for $85 or both for $160!  Check them out at the cutest shop in town, 7 Gray...in downtown Webster Groves.

Let me know what you think...