Tag: sewing

The Patio is Finished!

I’m sorry for not writing for the past couple days.  This weekend has been a little busy.  Yesterday, I spent the whole day cleaning and hanging up new pictures….

 

 

….such as this one of Fancy….

 

 

…and this one of our sweet Kaylee…

 

 

…and this ridiculous one of Lazarus.

But today, after much procrastination, I finally finished the last 2 curtains and curtain ties, which means that our covered patio is finally complete!  In case you didn’t read this post when I was contemplating between 2 different patio furniture sets, we ended up choosing the blue set, which actually turned out to be a light aqua/green color.  Luckily the pillows and curtain ties I had already made still matched.

It’s been almost a month since I started this patio project, which probably should have only taken a week or so.  But since I’m a procrastinator and like to take alot of breaks, it ended up taking significantly longer.  I’m so happy with the outcome, though.  It looks way better than I pictured it.

So without further ado…here is our new patio, complete with a lovely seating area and hand made curtains and pillows by yours truly.

 

 

 

 

 

There is a screen door that leads out to the yard, but if you look closely, you can see that we had to put a baby gate up in front of the door so that Camelot wouldn’t push the door open.  We had a latch that kept the door closed, but Camelot didn’t let that deter him.  He would somehow push the door open enough for him to squeeze through.  Then he would bark because he was trapped inside the patio.  When I would go out there to let him out, I could never figure out how he got into the porch.  The latch was still locked, and when I would pull on the door it would only open a couple inches.  Definitely not far enough for 150 lb Camelot to squeeze through.  I had a Houdini dog on my hands!

Finally, Camelot must have pushed the door too far, because he ended up breaking the latch.  So now, I have to put a baby gate in front of the door, as well as a door stopper on the other side so that the wind doesn’t keep pushing it open.  We really need to get that latch fixed.  Every time there’s a storm I can hear the screen door slamming closed every few minutes.  Thanks alot, Camelot!

 

 

The kitties like the patio too, because they can experience the outside world without being able to run away.

 

 

We got this cute lantern at the Ikea in Atlanta when we were there for the Pioneer Woman Book Signing.  I thought it would be a great little accessory for the patio.  And get this….it was only $4.99!  That Ikea, man….they have some great deals!

 

 

Here’s a close up of the curtain ties I made.  I’m most proud of the fact that I figured out how to sew a button hole and a button with my sewing machine!  I’m moving up in the world!

 

Patio Curtains

For my 2nd sewing machine project, I decided to make curtains to match the pillows I made a few days ago.  Don’t worry, I didn’t use the same patterned fabric.  That would have been WAY to much pattern.  Instead, I used white linen fabric for the curtains and the double roller blinds, and then to make everything coordinate together, I used the fabric from the pillows to make cute buttoned ties to go around the middle of the curtains.  Thank goodness for Coupon Commotion at Joann Fabrics.  Otherwise this little project would have turned into a very expensive project!

If you’d like to make some curtains of your own, here’s my interpretation of how to do it.  Granted, I just kinda made it up as I went along and did what I thought seemed right, so if there are any experienced sewers out there feel free to tell me how I could have done this better.  I’m still working on sewing in a straight line with the machine!

I started by cutting my fabric to the length and width I needed.  When I told the lady at Joann’s that I needed 8 yards of fabric she gave me a very surprised look, until I explained that I was making curtains.  Then a couple days later I decided that I wanted to cover every opening on the patio with curtains instead of every other, so I had to go back and get 8 more yards!  That is where my 40% off coupons came in very handy.

I then ironed the fabric so it was nice and smooth.

I barely had enough room to stretch my fabric out on the floor, but I managed.

Next, I folded the fabric 3/4 inch all the way around and pinned it.  This is probably too thick of a seam, but I didn’t want to go too thin since I’m still practicing sewing in a straight line.

I then pressed the fold so that it made a nice sharp seam.  I will neither confirm or deny that I stepped on a pin sticking straight up during this process.  You can’t make me admit to it!  This pain in my heel must be from something else.

Now I was ready to sew the seam!  That light on the sewing machine is so helpful!

When I finished sewing the seam around the entire curtain, I then folded and pinned a 2 inch section across the top of the fabric.  This is where the curtain rod will go.

Then I was ready to make the patterned button ties.

I started by cutting 2 identical 4×15 inch pieces of fabric.

Then I laid the fabric so that the right sides were facing each other, and pinned.

I sewed 3 sides together, leaving one short side open.

I trimmed the excess fabric from the edges so it wouldn’t be too bulky or fold in a weird way once I turned the fabric right side out.

After the fabric was facing the right way, I pressed it.  This was a little tricky since the seams didn’t want to expand fully.  I ended up inserting my ruler into the little sleeve that was created when I left the one end open and was able to force the fabric out so that the seam was nice and tight.

Then I folded the open end in about 1/4 inch and slip stitched it closed.

You’re supposed to barely be able to see the slip stitch if it’s done right.  I need a little more practice, but I think I did okay.

I actually figured out how to sew a button hole and button onto the fabric using the sewing machine!  Granted, I studied the directions for several minutes before I started, and then I still ended up messing up……twice.  But at least I’ll know what NOT to do when I make the next 5 curtain ties.

And here is the finished product!!!!  There are 6 openings where the curtains will be.  I know I probably should have taken this picture when it was light outside, but I finished sewing the curtain tie around 12:00am and I couldn’t wait!  Hopefully once we have the loveseat and chairs accessorized with the pillows I made out there it will all tie together and look nice.

At first I was just going to have the curtains left loose at every other opening, but it just looked too plain.  So that’s when I decided to add the ties.  I think it looks alot better.  What do you think?  Any suggestions?

Here’s an updated picture from this morning.  Looks so much prettier during the day. 🙂  Gotta love that natural light.

My First Sewing Machine Experience

Well, I figured since Steve so thoughtfully gave me a sewing/embroidery machine for Christmas this past year I might as well put it to some use.  So last night I taught myself how to use it.  I had never used a sewing machine before, and the only time I had ever seen one used was on TV or in pictures.  So I had alot to learn.  For my first project, I decided to make some pillows for the furniture we are getting for our screened in porch (a love seat and 2 chairs).  Here is how I began.

I cut out 2 pieces of fabric 13×13.  2 of the pillows I was going to use for this project are 12×12 and I wanted to leave a little room for the seam.

Next, I hand stitched the 2 pieces of fabric together at one end so that the correct sides of the fabric were facing each other.  The wide loose stitch is called “basting” and it’s used for when you just want to hold fabric together temporarily.  Once you’ve machine stitched, you can remove the basting stitches.

This is what the fabric looks like when I opened it up.

Then I pressed the seam open.  This is where the zipper is going to be.

For the record…the fabric is cream and blue, not green.  My camera just decided that it wanted to pick out the slight green hue in the fabric and make that color the dominant one.

Next I basted a zipper onto the open seam.

Then I used the machine to sew the zipper firmly in place.

Now I’m not sure why I stopped taking pictures at this point.  Maybe I was distracted by Lazarus’s arm clawing at me from under the door, or maybe I was just so focused on my work that I just simply forgot.  Either way, this is how I finished.  Once the zipper was securely in place, I pinned the rest of the fabric edges together and machine stitched all the way around the pillow case.  Then I turned the fabric right side out and inserted my pillow.

Tada!!!!!  The first thing I ever made with a sewing machine.  I was really proud of myself!

I repeated that process 3 more times, with 2 of the pillows being 12×12, and the other two 14×14.  Now I’ll have some nice home-made pillows to accessorize our covered patio!  Next I’ll be making some white linen curtains for the same space.  Stay tuned!!!!