by Wendy Scheel | Jul 30, 2015 | DIY
Incase you have forgotten, I love estate sales. And for some reason I am always drawn to the chairs.
When I first started going to estate sales I would buy all wood chairs, no fabric on them. I would clean them up and usually paint them. But I wanted to branch out. I wanted to try re-upholstering a chair. This is the chair I branched out with. Go Big or Go Home Wendy!
How hard could it be to take off each piece lay it out on some new fabric and tack it back on? Seriously, how hard? So I started and I removed all of the fabric and then painted the wood.
So far so good and only a couple of hours of work. Then I put the old fabric on top of the new fabric and started cutting. BUT, I didn’t mark anything down as to where the new pieces were suppose to go! I had so many different size pieces and no idea how to put it back together. Ugh.
Instead of trashing the whole thing and losing the $40 I had into it, I cut off the arms of the chair so I didn’t have to re-upholster them! Bra-ill-ient!
Now it was just a matter of sewing a couple of square corners and, done.
(I will share more about this chair on another day. It is now part of my daughters first apartment. )
Since biting off more than I could chew in the re-upholstering department, I have reverted to buying chairs that aren’t so difficult to re-upholster.
Exhibit A: This chair that I painted and re-upholstered the seat.
Exhibit B: This rocking chair. It needed a little TLC and an update of fabric. And here is how I did it. The right way.
After removing the fabric, I washed the wood with water, dried it and polished it up with Hemp Oil from the Miss Mustard Seed line of products. Instant beauty.
I knew I wanted to go with the French Farmhouse fabrics to replace the not-so-desirable fabric that was on the chair. Here is the line of pillows made from French Farmhouse style fabrics in my shop that I chose from.
The winner for me was the beige/khaki line fabric.
So, I removed the old fabric pieces and laid them out on top of the new fabric to cut them out. With only two pieces I figured I would know where to replace them.
Self explanatory right? The same process was used when the head rest part of the chair needed a little padding. To hold the padding and fabric in place I used some basting adhesive.
Incase you were wondering, this was the brand of basting adhesive I used to hold everything in place. Incase you were wondering. 🙂
And now for the big reveal…..always my favorite part.
And one more beautiful collage.
I haven’t attempted another large re-upholstering project. Going Big or Going Home! wasn’t the best choice. 🙂 Have any of you miscalculated your skill set when trying a project?
And as a side note, Spencer my product photographer didn’t take some of these pictures. I think it’s pretty evident, but in full disclosure, wanted to point it out. 🙂
by Wendy Scheel | Jul 27, 2015 | DIY, Quick Thoughts
So many times people say to me, “Oh, I wish I could sew.” or “Putting in a zipper is so hard, I could never do that.” or even “I have so many ideas for pillow covers, but I don’t know how to make them.”
Well there are hundreds of YouTube videos about learning to sew or putting in a zipper. But if you want to take it one step further and save yourself some time and create all of those amazing pillows for friends, relatives, co-workers or a hard to buy for person, you’ve come to the right place.
As we all know, the acronym DIY stands for Do It Yourself. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to do it all by yourself from beginning to end. So, I am here to help.
I have available in my shop pre-made pillow covers that you can then DIY. They can be used to stencil, screen print, embroider, hand paint or appliqué.
But the best part, they are available at wholesale pricing. The more you purchase, the less expensive they become.
Unleash those creative juices and don’t let a little zipper or sewing machine hold you back!
Cotton Canvas covers:
Set of 4 covers, Set of 10 covers, Set of 25 covers, Set of 50 covers, Set of 100 covers
Burlap covers:
Set of 4 covers, Set of 10 covers, Set of 25 covers, Set of 50 covers, Set of 100 covers
And if you find a spare moment, I would love to see what you’ve created. 🙂
by Wendy Scheel | Jul 27, 2015 | DIY, Quick Thoughts
So many times people say to me, “Oh, I wish I could sew.” or “Putting in a zipper is so hard, I could never do that.” or even “I have so many ideas for pillow covers, but I don’t know how to make them.”
Well there are hundreds of YouTube videos about learning to sew or putting in a zipper. But if you want to take it one step further and save yourself some time and create all of those amazing pillows for friends, relatives, co-workers or a hard to buy for person, you’ve come to the right place.
As we all know, the acronym DIY stands for Do It Yourself. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to do it all by yourself from beginning to end. So, I am here to help.
I have available in my shop pre-made pillow covers that you can then DIY. They can be used to stencil, screen print, embroider, hand paint or appliqué.
But the best part, they are available at wholesale pricing. The more you purchase, the less expensive they become.
Unleash those creative juices and don’t let a little zipper or sewing machine hold you back!
Cotton Canvas covers:
Set of 4 covers, Set of 10 covers, Set of 25 covers, Set of 50 covers, Set of 100 covers
Burlap covers:
Set of 4 covers, Set of 10 covers, Set of 25 covers, Set of 50 covers, Set of 100 covers
And if you find a spare moment, I would love to see what you’ve created. 🙂
by Wendy Scheel | Jul 20, 2015 | Quick Thoughts
We’ve all heard the phrases, “Get your ducks in a row”, “Get your poop and a group” and for those that need to hear it a little stronger, “Get your shit together”.
I for one use the phrase, “Get your poop in a group” quite often when organizing my office and for that matter when I am talking to myself. I find it easier to create and really buckle down and actually get something done when everything is in it’s place.
However don’t be thinkin’ that my office is always organized. After a long day of sewing it is a mess. A joyful pile of scraps, thread, strings and unrolled fabric. And to be honest, I usually don’t clean up after a long day. I will wait until the next morning to get my poop in a group and attack another great day of creating.
So here are pictures of my office when is ready for a new day.
Have a great week everyone!
by Wendy Scheel | Jun 27, 2015 | Business
I love fabric.
The designs, the feel, the colors, the color combinations, even the fresh, clean smell.
A fabric store for me is like a candy store to a three year old.
I walk through all of the racks of fabric while running my hand along the huge rolls of beautiful textiles.
This is such a process that I usually go alone to shop. But I did ask my children for shopping coupons for Mother’s Day last year. You know the ones where they pull out crayons and construction paper and then stick them together with glue? Yep, those. Seriously, I use those coupons so they have to go with me to the fabric store. Up and down every aisle without complaining or eye rolling. Best. gift. ever.
In the store every spectrum of the color wheel, every fiber is represented. I love them all. A black and white fabric has a soft spot in my heart, but I must admit that I struggle with the brown color wheel section. I have very few brown pillow covers. Someday I will have to lay down on a couch and have a professional analyze that.
But when I see a fabric that stops me in my tracks, that is a fabric that I have to buy. Love at first sight. I realize that not everyone loves what I love, but I have found that the pillow covers that I make, that sell the best, are the fabrics that I love.
I was in a store recently and came across a pink cotton with large pink dots on it. It was stunning. It was simple and it was precious.
I see it as a pillow in a little girls nursery. It sits on the glider and for the 3am feeding, it is propped under a new parent’s arm for support. I see that same pillow in my daughter’s first apartment bedroom showing a touch of whimsy on her desk chair.
So at the risk of sounding like Dr. Seuss; I buy what I love and I love what I buy.
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