Chair Project!

About 2 years ago I scored this little side chair for $5 at a lawn sale. I really liked the size and shape of the chair, and the low price didn't hurt either. The chair itself had definitely seen better days, and the seat itself was in need of some repair. 

The underside of the chair. A mess.

It actually took me quite a while to remove the old fabric- because it wasn't secured with staples which allow some leverage, but with small carpet nails. In addition to the hundreds of nails I had to remove (stabbing myself in the leg with a screw driver in the process...don't worry, I'm ok) this chair was dusty. Yuck. 

Working on removing all those tacks

Close up of where the buttons were...naw, this fabric isn't dirty at all!

What the frame of the chair looked like after I removed the fabric
and the cats helped with a little scratching

Originally I was planning to use a piece of textured grey fabric I scored for about $4 a yard. It was on a clearance table for something like $10 a yard at Joann's, and on that particular day it was 50% off all clearance, AND I had a coupon for an additional percentage off my entire purchase. I didn't have quite two yards, but more than one.

But when I put this fabric onto the chair to see how it might look, I was bored. It looked clean and nice, but just not exciting. So I looked through my fabric stash (yup, I have a stash now) for something that was appropriate to use for this chair, and found some fabric that I have left over from another project that I thought fit the bill.

Much more interesting, right?

 Honestly, this is not a tutorial. But the picture below shows how I used the old fabric to make a template for the new fabric. I literally just traced.

And its done!?

It's hard to tell from these messy pictures (keeping it real, people.) but something wasn't right. The original upholstery was structured, where in this iteration, I just covered it the way you would a dining chair.

I lived with it for a day, but it just really didn't look the way I wanted it to. So I removed the fabric off the seat portion, and made a more structured cover using my sewing machine. I considered adding some pipping, but this project was already dragging on, and I've never done pipping before, so for my sanity, I decided that would be for my next project (which I already have in queue...wink wink).

So here are some final after pictures of the chair, and my cats being total hams. You should know, I took these pictures early in the morning, BEFORE I headed out to work, because the light was good--or at least as good as it was going to be. This is serious, guys.

For the back, I am considering adding some nail head trim, sort of like what's pictured below. Still thinking about it. Not sure yet. What do you think? Should I add nail head trim?

Source 

Fall Wardrobe Plans: Part 1

For the fall, I decided to pick a several patterns and make them as my "fall wardrobe." I'm not going to claim that my fabric choices will make it highly coordinated, but that's not my goal at this point. Here are the first couple patterns I've picked and my proposed fabrics. At this point I really only have access to a Joann's (I'm scared to order online! I have to touch the fabric in order to know what to use it for!) at this point-- although I'm about 45 minutes from Haberman's, which is apparently an awesome fabric store in metro Detroit. I'm hesitant to go there because I'm not confident enough with my sewing skills to buy really nice/expensive fabric. I'm fairly comfortable with the price ranges at Joann's, and I don't feel bored there YET, although reading other people's blogs and seeing their beautiful fabrics might send me elsewhere.

1. Pants: Simplicity 2562: I am planning to make these pants in a navy blue, probably a gabardine although perhaps a wool if I find one I like. 

2. Dress: McCalls 5927. I plan to make the view with cap sleeves, with a black w/white specs suiting fabric from Joann's. I also have some cranberry fabric that was given to me (gabardine? I'm not sure) that might end up in this style.

 3. Dress: McCalls 5974. This pattern is for a knit, which I have recently started playing with.Honestly, I'm not sure what color I will use for this. Maybe a  turquoise color similar to the dress shown below. I plan to make the version with the wrap detail and 3/4 sleeves.

 4. Jacket: McCalls 6041: I like this pattern because of the similarity to Channel style jackets. I'm hoping to find a tweed or boulce that has a bright color in it- pink, red...

 5. Another Jacket: McCalls 6329. Again, not sure what color, or even which view. I'm hoping that I have a good experience sewing the view shown in khaki, and then I can attempt the wrap style view. I've seen a linen fabric at Joann's that has some sparkle woven in--I could see that working well for this jacket. (And also a skirt, dress and pants...I'm in love with that fabric)

In my next post I'll finish up showing the patterns I'm planning on. Yikes, this looks like a lot. I better get sewing! Besides these things for myself, I'd also like to make Christmas gifts again this year. I already have ideas for my mom and sister, but brother, aunt, grandma, dad, stepdad and stepmom are still unknown. What do you sew for boys anyway? Dress shirts seem quite scary. PJ pants/boxers? Seems kind of lame.

Glittered Heels

For a while, I've been obsessed with glittered shoes. Kitten heels, pumps, open toed pumps...Kate Spade, Jimmy Choo, Mui Mui....

The problem with this is I can't afford to buy a pair of Kate Spade shoes...but even more, I'm unsure how practical they will be for "everyday" wear, which is the test I put all of my clothing and shoes through. 

Glitter Heels by aburlock featuring jimmy choo shoes

Christian Louboutin platform pumps
$895 - bergdorfgoodman.com

Christian Louboutin glitter pumps
$805 - mytheresa.com

Miu Miu glitter pumps
$476 - bluefly.com

Jimmy choo shoes
$495 - shirise.com

Betsey johnson shoes
$119 - betseyjohnson.com

High heel shoes
$120 - topshop.com

Michael Antonio platform heels
$55 - heels.com

JustFabulous glitter pumps
$50 - heels.com

I've seen a couple DIY glittered shoes around the internet, and I decided to try it myself.

I had a pair of shoes I felt were good candidates, but I liked them as is too, so I set out on a hunt for affordable shoes to glitter. I went to the Salvation Army, and as luck would have it, I found an awesome, brand new pair of black opened toe ankle strap pumps. 

I bought them, but by the time I got home, I was already unsure that I wanted to glitter them, as I loved them in their current state. Also, the ankle strap and heel height made them slightly more dressy than I was intending. So, I decided to glitter the original heels and keep the "new" ones I had bought black! The shoes I ended up using are from Target, from a couple years ago. They're comfortable and I actually have them in two colors. 

All you need for this project is a pair of shoes, some glitter, modge podge, a little newspaper and some clear enamel spray paint.

 It was beautiful out that day, so I decided to work outside on my balcony.

Mix some modge podge and glitter- I used Martha Stewart's smokey quartz glitter, bought at Michael's for $3.99. I really just eyeballed it, no exact recipes here.

First Coat 

It took me about 4 coats to achieve the level of uhh...glitteirness that I wanted. As you can see, I also glittered a barrette I had laying around. I find when I have glue and glitter mixed, and even a little bit left over, I get giddy looking around trying to find something else to glitter.

I stuffed some newspaper into the shoes to protect the insides, and then sprayed a coat of clear enamel that I bought at Ace Hardware, also for $3.99.

Voila! The finished project. Prepare yourself, friends. I will be wearing these around town starting tomorrow morning!

Sewing: Simplicity 2258

This might just turn into a sewing blog--sorry guys :)

Well really, I started this blog just as an easy way to show my friends and family what I had been up to, since I live almost 1000 miles away. I like doing all kinds of different projects (sewing, painting, upholstery, crafting) and apparently I go in spurts!

For this project, I decided to step away from my trusty pencil skirt pattern and try something new. I picked this pattern, Simplicity 2258. I liked the tie on the skirt and the pockets, so I decided to give it a try with this pink bottom weight fabric I got (at Joann's, of course).

The pattern was not hard, and I think my version looks a lot like the picture on the envelope. I used the style of version c (the tie, essentially) with the length of version B. I wanted it to be work appropriate, and I was afraid version C would be too short. Unfortunately, I ended up with a skirt that was kind of too big- definitely not as well fitting as the one on the model there. I have worn it to work a few times, but I really need to take it apart and make it smaller, and perhaps a smidge shorter. I'm working on my fitting issues, but its really a work in progress. 

Would I make this again? Absolutely. Maybe when I get brave I will try it with a silky fabric! And I'll try to make it fit properly.

Since summer is going to start winding down very soon, I thought it was probably time to show you what  I did with my balcony this year.

Since I moved here in August last year, I only had a couple short months to use my balcony and then it was winter, so I was kind of starting from scratch this year.

I did find a nice little table at the end of last year, and repurposed a chair I previously used inside for more comfortable seating.

Just to refresh your memory- above is what my balcony looks like. I have two sliding doors- one in my living room (on the right) and one in my bedroom (the left). This is my first outdoor space and I am totally tickled with it.

I wanted to make the balcony more like an outdoor living room for this summer, and I wanted to think about decorating it like a room in my apartment (for some reason this is a strange concept to me. All my decorating knowledge goes out the window when I go outside)

In making the balcony a little more cohesive, I decided to first recover the little chair I had outside. 

Bad pic, sorry. It's the only one I can find!

This chair came from Ikea and originally had a red seat and flowered back cushions.

My sewing skills have definitely improved since this project, thanks to practice and a new machine!

One of my first sewing projects nearly 2 years ago was recovering it with some green geometric fabric. But this time I decided to go with purple ikat, an outdoor canvas from Joann's. 

The cushion is actually a box cushion, I made it with 3 pieces- top, bottom and the piece that goes around. I put invisible zippers in the pillows, but wasn't able to find a long enough zipper for the seat cushion, so I did it the old fashion way. It's hard to tell because the table is in the way, but this cover fits WAY better than the last. 

I also decided to re-purpose a bookcase I had inside as a plant stand outside. It was a dark brown color, but had seen better days. I decided I wanted to go with a contrasting color for the bookcase, so I picked out a rusty orange color at Ace Hardware. I only needed one paint sample to complete the bookcase.

Bookcase in previous life (stay tuned for an
update on that chair as well)

Bookcase now!

I put out the plants I had on hand that can handle the outdoors, all of which are in my white planters. Some of the planters are from Ikea, others are from a local gardening store. Overall, I think the white on orange is pretty spiffy, and the purple and orange go together swimmingly. I think I have made good progress with making my balcony feel more incorporated into my apartment and have got a ton of use of out it so far this summer.

I thought about making chair pads for the little bistro set that I have neglected to take a picture of (and its now too dark...), but in the end I decided that might be overkill, plus the chairs are fine as they are.

I would like to do something with that black table I have in front of the chair. Its placement more as a coffee table than a side table has been really convenient, but it doesn't really fit the feel of the rest of the space. Paint it, or make something else to go there?