Oh oh, it's a No-Sew Throw-Pillow!

Remember this little gem from a previous post?  Well...I can't sew.  I don't even own a sewing machine.  But I wish I could...so I fake it.  With my trusty Heat N' Bond iron-on sewing strips.  I love them.  It's easy to do, has a super strong bond, and is even machine washable!  I made the crib skirt for Brody's crib last summer and a couple odd things here and there.  But, a couple of weeks ago I took a stab at creating a slip-cover for some cheap Ikea throw-pillow inserts.  I love this project because anyone can do this.  I highly reccomend it, actually.  What a fun, easy, and best of all cheap way to add a fresh pop of color to your bed, couch, lounge chair, whatever!  Here's the step-by-step...

All you'll need is about a yard of fabric of your choice, scissors, a measuring tape, iron and ironing board, and some iron-on hem tape.  I use Heat N' Bond, Ultra Hold.  Works great.

Measure the size of your throw-pillow (mine was 20" x 20").

Next, measure and cut your fabric.  Basically, you'll need two square pieces.  One piece will be about 2" bigger than your pillow.  And your other piece should be three inches bigger than your pillow.  My pictures below don't show it because when I first did this, I cut it too big at 24".  So, pretend my measuring tape says 23" and not 24", mmkay? 

Basically, I cut one 22" x 22" square and one 23" x 23" square piece. 

Next, cut the larger square piece straight up in half. 

Since my piece was 23" I measured half of that (11.5") and cut.

Next, lay out the hemming tape along the cut sides of the fabric you just cut.  

Iron it onto the fabric.  It should be right along the edge.

Peel off the paper backing after it has cooled (not all hem tape has this step).

Next, fold over the fabric

And iron again.  This creates a nice clean "sewn" edge.

See!  Repeat for the second cut piece.

Next, lay the two seams on top of each other so they overlap.  You want the printed side of the fabric facing up for this step.

Now lay your second piece of fabric (the one you didn't cut in half) on top.  The printed side should be facing down in this case.  Basically your pillowcase is inside out right now.

Now you just need to have your dog come in and approve your handiwork.  ;)  

For real though, peel back the top layer a bit.  Lay out another strip of hem tape along the bottom piece of fabric.  Like so...

And repeat for all four sides.  

Iron all the tape into place.  Then peel back the paper backing.

Layer your top piece back on.  My pieces aren't perfect, as you can see in the below picture.  I probably never passed the class in preschool that they taught you how to use scissors!  But, it's ok because this un-evenness wont show anyway.  

Now, iron together all four sides. 

Once all the edges are cooled to the touch, flip over the fabric so the opening is exposed.  Turn the pillow-case inside out...or outside in...or, right side out...whatever you want to call it.  You know what I mean. 

You're ready to insert your pillow!

Voila!

Aint she perrty?

Ta da!!

What other projects have you made using iron-on hem tape?  It's it lovely for the non-sewer!?!

Re-covering a Lampshade

You may recall that I mentioned in a past post the need for some new lampshades on our bedside lamps.  We've been periodically searching for some new ones over the past year or so, but never seem to be able to find any that would fit quite right.  The lamps are just inexpensive lamps from Ikea that we purchased 4 or 5 years ago, and they came with the lampshades you saw in the pic.  Over time one of them got yellowed from the light bulb, so we knew we wanted to replace them.  Anyway, since we weren't able to find a good match, and I have a DIY streak going, I just thought...why not re-cover them myself!?  So I did.  Here's a little tutorial for you if anyone is interested in making these themselves.  I want to preface this tutorial by saying this project will definitely be easier if you have an extra set of hands with you, though.  :)

The materials I used are as follows:
Fabric
Scissors
Measuring tape
Scribe (which I keep calling a compass)
Spray adhesive
Hot glue gun

The first thing you want to do is strip off the cover on your lampshade. 

Since this project was learn-as-we-go, not all the
items we ended up using are actually pictured here.



You can see we were in the garage again. :)

Keep the lamp shade cover you stripped to use as a template.  If you are covering a drum shade, you won't need to do this, but for the typical lampshade shape, your life will be much easier if you have this for a template. 

 Lay out your template on the fabric.  You could actually flip the fabric over so your pencil marks are on the non-printed side of the fabric.  It's not necessary because they shouldn't show anyway, but couldn't hurt! 

 Trace your lampshade template onto the fabric.

 Make a mark approximately 1 to 1.5 inches above the original outline. 
Do this for the top and bottom of the shade.

 To keep with the curved shape of the lampshade, we used a compass scribe set at 1.5 inches and marked a second line to follow both the top and bottom of the shade.  This will give you enough extra fabric to be able to wrap around the shade.



My sexy hubby's hands helping me out so I could snap a pic.  :)

The next step, (I didn't take pictures...sorry!) is an important one.  For the outer sides of the template, you'll want to measure about 2.5 inches on either side from the bottom and 1.5" from both sides of the top.  Here's a drawing to help visualize.  This will ensure you have plenty of fabric to completely cover your shade...

Notice how the bottom stretches out further than the top to keep the shape of the shade.

Next, cut your fabric along the lines.

Then you'll be left with this!

Next, spray your lampshade with spray adhesive like so...

Slowly and carefully wrap the fabric around the sticky shade.  Watch for air pockets and wrinkles.  This is where the second set of helping hands comes in. One of us held the shade while the other wrapped and smoothed.

Test the lampshade on a giant flashlight.  Just kidding, we did though, hahaha...

Using a hot glue gun, wrap the edges of the fabric around the wire rim of the shade.  *Note, on the second shade we actually skipped the hot glue gun all together and just used some more spray adhesive. Either way will work just fine.

And voila!  A whole new look to some once boring lampshades!!

And watch for a tutorial on how I made this guy...no sewing machine required!  LOVE!



So, what do you think?

Also...on a funny note.  Jeff and I decided that we're pretty sure we are probably the only couple our age in the quad cities that knows that Hancock Fabrics is closed on Saturday nights, but JoAnn Fabrics is open.  Ha ha ha, it's funny how old grown-up that makes us feel!

Silhouette



Sorry about the terrible reflections in the frame

 Here's the third project we worked on during our garage nights.  I love this project but have to give props to the hubs for this one.  He did all the intricate cutting because he has the steadier hand.

Supplies we used:
Camera and Editing software
Scissors
Exacto Knife
White Colored-Pencil
Black Card Stock
Picture Frame


First we closed the white curtains in Brody's room on a sunny day so that the light would shine through.  Then Jeff held him up so just his silhouette would be in the pic, and I snapped away.



Unedited pic #1



Unedited pic #2

 Then I did some editing on the computer and increased the shadow to get a nice dark outline of his silhouette.

We went with pic #2.  Then we printed it off, cut it out, and traced the outline with a white colored-pencil onto black card stock. We weren't sure what to do about all the spikey baby fine hair and the eyelashes in the pic, but Jeff did a simply amazing job of free-hand drawing and cutting it so it would look "normal".  I mean, check that out!  He used an exacto knife to get a better finished cut. Then to get the typical silhouette look, he extended the shoulders a bit and polished up the bottom.

Then we stuck it in a white frame and hung it on the wall above his crib. 

We love love love it! 



Ignore the empty picture frame on the top left...
it is a place holder and will be replaced with
 another project I'm working on tonight!



I love how you can even see the funny little bump on the back of his head!


One thing we might have done differently for next time, is when we took the photo, we probably should have taken Brody's onesie off so we had a better image of his shoulders.  Jeff had to free-hand a chin and neck because of this, but it ended up turning out pretty great, we think!      What do you think?  Anyone else done a silhouette like this?  I just love the look of it!  I think I might do one every year of Brody to see how he grows.