Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Big Reveal of Small Sewing Room ~ Part 2

Thank you all for your nice comments on my last post about the small sewing room reveal! As I promised, I would like to have a few posts about the details of what I did to create the things around the room. Somethings will be a quick exploration and some will be a simple tutorial.

Let's talk about the suitcase and furniture in case you missed the other post.

As a base for the "room" you can pretty much use anything. I happened to use the unfinished wooden suitcase for this project, but you can find many other shapes and sizes at major craft stores. I think it will be so much more interesting if you can find a container around the house. The suitcase I used is 7"H x 9 1/2"W x 3 1/2"D closed. The size of your room determines the size of the furniture, how much you can put in and display. It will be helpful to have a rough idea of what your room will look like, but remember you can always change your mind!

Some of the furniture... surprisingly, I found at a dollar store! I wish I bought more when I saw them. When I went back they were all gone and are not carried anymore. I found the others at craft stores, such as Michael's, Hobby Lobby and Joann's. There is always a way to do this cheaper. Use coupons and look for sales are the best. I have noticed that at Hobby Lobby, their doll house section has quite an impressive selection and they go on sale at 30% off quite often.

I simply used spray paint to paint the box and and the furniture. You will want to use the kind of spray paint that will stick to wood, plastic and metal. That way you can spray paint them all at once and you won't need to even worry about switching paints. Read the manufacture's instructions before starting.

After the paint was completely dried, I work on the wallpaper and the flooring, and guess what? They are both scrapbook paper. You can buy wallpaper and the wood flooring made for doll houses, but they are much more expensive, and I didn't find the style I liked. When I was browsing the scrapbook section, I came cross this embossed white paper and wood plank paper. I fell in love with the white paper. The size of the flower embossing gave a subtle, but dramatic look in the small doll house sized room. The wood planks were actually too wide for the size of the room, so I drew some lines in between to narrow the width of the planks. I used colored pencil to mimic the existent lines on the paper.

To install them, you need to measure the inside of the box and cut the paper just a hair smaller. Use Mod Podge to paste them on the box.


* Drawer chest and the Cork board *

Unfortunately, the drawers won't open but since this was one of the dollar furniture, I didn't think I could complain too much. It is still a pretty and fun addition to the room, wouldn't you think so?

I bought the frame a while ago, and I don't remember where. When I was decorating the room, I thought this would be the perfect scale for the drawer chest. Also, any sewing/craft room needs an inspiration board, right?

{How to}
1. I used cork sheet for this project and the back side of the cork sheet has adhesive that you can peel and stick. Cut the cork sheet and soft white fabric slightly larger than the opening of the frame.

2. Layer the fabric and the cork sheet (sticky side up) together. Fold the edges of the fabric to cover the cork sheet.

3. Glue it on to the back of the frame. That is it!

4. Now, you can go through your magazine to find VERY small and beautiful images for your inspiration board. Since I used cork sheet, you will be able to pin them like you do with real cork board. :)


* "Jumbo Pillow" *

Well, this Jumbo pillow is 2" x 2" but to everything else it is "jumbo". It is a simple square pillow, but I did all my sewing for this room with 1/8" seam rather than the usual 1/4". I thought because everything is so small, smaller seams make sense. Here is a quick how-to.

1. You can use any fabric, but I think it is fun to pick fabric with a motif that would fit in 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" as I did. Cut 2 pieces of 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" squares: remember, the seam allowance is 1/8", so the finished pillow will be 2"x 2". If you would rather have a wider seam, that is fine too.

2. Sew around the edge leaving a small opening to turn the fabric inside out. Snip the corners for a clean finish.

3. Turn the pillow inside out, stuff with fiber fill and sew it closed. I sewed pom-poms onto the corners, but this is optional.


* Cakes and plates *

I wish I could take credit for those cute cakes, but I bought them at a craft store. They were stuck on a piece of paper in a row. I separated them and glue them on to buttons. Yep, I said buttons. I went through my buttons and found buttons that are the perfect size for those cute treats. There, I didn't need to spend a dime!

That's it for today's post, but I still need to cover other things in the room. :) See you at the next post everyone!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Big Reveal of Small Sewing Room! Part 1

Do you remember these photos? I started working on putting together a small sewing room a while ago.

I painted the wooden suite case...

Then put up wall paper and hard wood floors... (they are just scrap book paper. I LOVE the texture on the paper!)

I am so happy to finally share the finished sewing room today! I couldn't decide on the furniture arrangement at first. When that was done, I started making all sorts of decorations. Lots and lots of ideas with many possibilities flooded my mind and I really had to pick and choose what to do. I felt like the whole process was just like trying to decorate a real room; except everything I was working on was much smaller.

Welcome everyone to my small sewing room tour!

First up is this cupboard with spool and fabric bolts. I love, LOVE how this turned out!

In the sewing room, I needed a big table for cutting and putting the sewing machine on, and of course a place for treats every now and then. Can you believe I found this table at a dollar store a while ago? It was unfinished but I painted it white. I went back to buy more for future projects, but they don't carry them anymore (sob!).

This drawer chest is also a dollar store find. You can use your imagination of what's in the drawers... more fabrics, findings, yarns, books? Who knows. I made the cork board to pin up some pretty cutouts from a magazines.

One of my favorite things in this sewing room is this mannequin. I had several idea for the dress, but this is what my mind settled on. Wouldn't it be fun to make a live-sized one?

Fabric bolts in a tin. Sometimes I wish I could buy a bolt of fabrics when I find something I really love: here is my chance to have a "bolt" of fabric. Can you spot fabrics from Riley Blake, Art Gallery Fabric, Moda and Cotton + Steel?

The room is a mix of store bought items and things I made. In my next post, I will talk about what I made and how, so stay tuned!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Brother Embroidery Machine ~ Persona PR100



Have you heard about the new Persona embroidery machine from Brother that made a big splash with designers and the Project Runway crew at New York Fashion Week?

The persona PR100 is a single needle machine that can handle intricate design tasks as easy as multi-needle …. but without all the fabric tangles. The Persona’s free swinging tubular arm lets home sewers professionally embroider hard to get places like sleeves and pockets. They can even embroider odd shaped objects, like baseball caps.

Brother Senior VP, Dean F. Shulman said, “Today’s home sewers want the ability to source their own fabric, alter their fit and embellish their garments to match their unique styles. The Persona PRS100 makes this type of personalization easy.”

I totally agree with his statement, because I was thinking about creating fabric with lots of embroidery with different colors of threads to make myself a skirt. I feel like what he is saying is right on to many of us who like to sew and are always looking for ways to be creative and come up with something new.

The model comes with over 400 built-in designs and is compatible with Disney/Pixar designs found on the iBroidery site where home sewers can purchase and download thousands of additional designs.

My imagination wondered, "What can I do with 400 built in stitches?" Right now I won't be able to afford such a dream machine, but a girl can dream right?
So, what could you do with an embroidery machine like the Persona PR100 ?

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Built-In Bookcase Done!

I was looking for a "before" picture and realized that we started this project back in March. We were trying to do this frugally, waited for a sale and all... it took a long time to finish. Now it is finally done!! I wanted a built-in bookcase in our office space, but to hire someone is way more than I wanted to spend. I understand the hard labor and time that goes in, it is still expensive! I checked other options as well such as buying a bookcase but they were all too short. I wanted something that will actually go to the ceiling. Then, I found this bookcase on Pinterest and it inspired me. I though, "We can do this!"

We bought some kitchen cabinets for the base part of the bookcase in March...

We finally finished it!!

I choose four different knobs for the cabinet. I love them all and couldn't decide on one. Then I thought "Why should I, I can use one of each!" I love the unique look they give to the bookcase.


How Mr. TRH and I work is that I have an idea (well... more like a gazillion ideas in my head and pull them out little by little so it is not so overwhelming for him) and ask him to build it. He does most of the building, and I do the detail work such as hiding nails, painting, and caulking. Then, I get to stage and decorate! I think that is the most fun and rewarding part of it all. When we are working as a team like this, I get a little delusional and feel like we are Chip and Joanna from "Fixer Upper" on HGTV. I know, I know we are far from it and I feel like I am gonna receive hate mail from their fans, but a girl can dream sometimes, right??

Well, I had fun decorating, BUT! I must say that the computer books are not easy to decorate with! We have a lot more books, but they are all hidden in the covers. Since the office is Mr. TRH's room, well, mostly...(since I have my sewing room) I wanted to respect that and tried really hard not to make it too feminine. So, here is what I have done so far.

I keep switching stuff around, so when you come to visit us next week, it might look entirely different. I am so happy that we finally finished this project.

So, honey, are you ready for next project??(grin)

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Floor Pillow for a Little One ~ Woodland Tree Stump


I had a chance to work with one of the newest fabric lines from Riley Blake Designs this week.

Woodland Spring is such a dreamy line, I fell in love with it. I used a 10-inch stacker and created two floor pillows for little kids. Head over to Riley Blake Designs to see the complete tutorial!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Modes4U Christmas Fabric Giveaway Winner!


The giveaway is closed and it is time to announce the winner for the Christmas Fabric Giveaway by Modes4U!

Are you ready??? The winner is...


Michelle L



Congratulations! Please contact me with your shipping info so they can ship your fabrics soon. Thank you so much for participating!

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