Cushed MCM Couch

The progress on our office is slow going but I have finished a project that is going to play a huge part in the room—making cushions for our mid-century modern couch frame. Remember when I picked up the MCM couch and chair frames at my neighbor's estate sale for $5? I was super happy when I finished the cushions for the chair frames not too long ago and now these are done, I'm even more excited to share my handiwork. Check 'em out!

I bought the fabric during our trip to Mill End Fabrics in Rochester, Minnesota, and I followed the tutorial on Sew Mama Sew, which was just as easy as the first time but once again very time consuming. I hate to admit it, but it took me a whole Sunday to create the long seat cushion.

As you can guess by now, a dark blue color is going to play large part in our office's color palette, but we still haven't painted yet. The past couple weekends I have intended to paint but choosing a color is proving to be extremely difficult. Though, once I've got some color on the walls, I will share some pics.

Cushed MCM Chairs

I finally finished the necessary work on the pair of mid century modern arm chairs I picked up at an estate sale way too long ago (over a year—eek!). They weren't in bad shape but as you can see, they were missing some crucial parts.

I couldn't find webbing material similar to what remained on the chairs, so I opted for some woven straps that reminded me of cotton seatbelts and tacked them down using a staple gun.

The webbing didn't take long to replace but it took me a long time to make these cushions or should I say build up the nerves to get started. I'm no seamstress or upholsterer and was entirely intimidated with the task of making cushions for the chairs. At first I wasn't even sure how to start but after seeing a few similar chairs on craigslist and one identical match in Emily's room on the finale of HGTV's Design Star, I knew I could do it. So, with the first task of project-cushions accomplished, aka growing a pair, I was ready to get my hands dirty.

The second task was finding fabric, which speaking from experience, I knew wasn't going to be easy. I had three basic criteria I needed the fabric to fulfill: 1. neutral color, 2. upholstery quality, 3. I had to like it. Pretty simple huh? Well, let's just talk about that. First I scoured my go-to discount shop in Chicago, Textile Discount Outlet, and when I left empty-handed was highly disappointed. However, I didn't give up and visited three other large fabric stores warehouses, perused the selections at Hobby Lobby, and even stopped at Joann's—still nothing. Then one magical weekend when we were up in Minnesota paying a visit to our friends and family, I was venting my fabric-finding frustration and my friend's boyfriend mention a store in the area that may have something. To all y'all that live in the Twin Cities area, and have a fabric fetish but don't know where to look, let me introduce you to Mill End Textiles (this is the Rochester store).

I hope the photos speak for themselves, but let me tell you that the selection there was fantastic. The Rochester store wasn't extremely large but I easily found fabric for the chair cushions as well as another project I had been needing fabric for. The best part, it was a holiday weekend and everything was discounted on-top of the already terribly low prices. We bought 4 yards for the chairs and only paid $20 and probably have at least 1.5 yards of fabric left. Woo hoo!

With that checked off my list, the next tasks I completed were purchasing foam and finding a box-cushion sewing tutorial online that I could follow easily. Unfortunately, foam is not cheap so I patiently waited for it to go on sale at Joann's and when it did, I was on it like peanut butter on jelly. In the meantime, I found this great tutorial on Sew Mama Sew and read it about a hundred times. I followed the steps to a T, omitting the handles, making one of the seats first. Can you guess which one (I hope not!)?

I am so please with my work not only because this project was a huge skill- and time-undertaking (it took about three hours to make one cushion) but because I think I did an excellent job for a first-timer and now we have two more functioning chairs! What do you think? Did you ever think I would actually finish this project?

BTW: According to Urban Dictionary, "cushed meanz dat u feel comfortable".

A new kind of paneling

To finish off my recent redecorating binge of our master bedroom, I pulled another curtain change-up. However, this time, I didn't swap the panels with another room's; rather, I tackled another sewing project and let me tell you, this takes paneling to a whole new level.

But before I get ahead of myself, this upgrade was not sparked by my brilliance alone, as Justin and I were making a Saturday morning stop at good 'ol HD (Home Depot), I spotted these roman bamboo blinds on mega-clearance. ($12 a piece! How lucky could we get?)

After discussing where we might hang these beauts (and consulting the notebook that I carry everywhere with dimensions of practically everything in our house—no joke), we decided they would look perfect in our master bedroom. We both loved the way our living room window turned out with the dark cocoa colored bamboo blinds and light, airy silk curtains, so after work one day, I trudged back to the Discount Fabric Outlet in Chicago and bought 12 more yards of the antique silk fabric ($3 per yard!) to make four more panels.

Before you scroll down any further, let me remind you of the old window treatments. They weren't terrible (heck, we lived with them for almost 3 years), but there was a bit too much dark chocolate brown going on for my taste.

This is how our room looks now and I'm so much happier. The bamboo blinds are a tad lighter than our furniture and have a slight reddish hue, which complements our paint color wonderfully. They also add another textural element, which elevates the rooms aesthetics. The light colored curtains frame the blinds serenely and pull the color from our bedding to create a more cohesive palette.

For what it cost to make these updates, I think we gained more than we spent (about $70). And it reminded us that our tastes are ever changing, so don't be afraid to make some simple changes. It might be worth more than you think!

Decoranza III: Behind the Curtains

I am finally ready to share a pair of the curtains I made. See them in all their loveliness? Weelllll, you know that I can't just give you a picture without a story, right? It never fails that I have a few trips before I complete a project, but the positive side is I get to share them with you so you don't make the same mistakes.

Let me start from the beginning...

I searched and searched for affordable curtains for our dining room (affordable being the key word) before deciding to make them myself. I knew I wanted panels that were a neutral color because we had chosen the sour apple paint color and I didn't want them to clash or contrast. I also wanted the curtains to be light and airy, allowing sunlight through without being sheer and they had to have texture. So, after determining the criteria of what I was looking for, I searched numerous fabric stores online and in person. This helped me narrow down my material to silk, but even then, I needed three yards for each panel and at $10-$40 per yard, I was not happy with any of the retailers' options. That is, until the day I found the holy grail of fabric in Chicago, the Textile Discount Outlet (sorry out-of-towners!).

The descriptions of this place on Yelp do not even begin to describe it to the fullest but I'm going to give it a shot to set the scene. Imagine a maze of rooms with hundreds of fabric options that line the walls and aisles, racks stacked with bolts from the ground to the ceiling, continuing for three floors that seem like a whole city block long, that is the Textile Discount Outlet. I arrived thinking that I knew exactly what I wanted, but after perusing the aisles my head became clouded and excited about other fabrics that would work for other projects in my home. Fortunately, I have a strong will and stayed on track. About an hour into my search, I came across a wide selection of silk and this is where I scored six yards of the most perfectly colored antique silk. At $2.95 per yard, the price was right too. After doing a celebratory jig, I grabbed a cart and finagled the super-heavy bolt into the basket. The total for the fabric: less than $20. Score! AND it couldn't have matched my vision any better. See the beautiful texture the threads create?

As I explained in my teasing post about my sleeping quarters at the Craftin' Cabin, I brought with me a handful of sewing projects to keep me occupied for the weekend and I thought I was being smart by putting this task last on my to-sew list. I reasoned that I should warm up with the other easy projects before tackling these since they were going to be hung in a public space in our home. It should have been easy-peasy and I flew through the first panel, but my luck ran out towards the end of the sewing marathon at the Craftin' Cabin. Little did I know that I was going to be on the home stretch of hemming the last side and my little-engine-that-could (my sewing machine) in fact, couldn't. That's right, mid stitch, she jammed and that was the end of her work day. Even after my Grandma's, my mom's, and my efforts to revive her, she still wasn't budging, so I figured it was the indicator to pack up, pop in a movie, and grab a glass of well-deserved wine. Heck, I did get a lot accomplished!

So, you're wondering, "Well, how did it get done?" Da-da-da, Mom to the rescue! The last panel went home with my mom for the week and as easy as stitching up a minor cut, she finished it in a few minutes.

An added detail that I am proud of are the rings that I affixed to the top of the panels. The curtains in our living room, adjacent to the dining room, hang from round metal rings and I wanted to duplicate that look in the dining room to provide subtle cohesion in the open space. Once again, I was on the hunt. I looked at countless online stores and brick-and-morter shops, but the only rings I found were either too small, cheap looking, or too expensive ($20! You have got to be joking!). Then, while on an errand run to Target, I found two sets of seven rings that had removable clips on clearance for $2.48 a set, cue celebratory jig #2. I removed the clips and sewed them on 7" apart along the top of each panel. Then I hung them up and admired my handiwork. The total for the curtains: $26 after tax.

So, what ever became of my down-and-out machine? I gave it to my Grandma who dropped it off at my other aunt's house. My aunt knows a sewing machine repair man named Ralph that our family has called upon to fix a machine or two. I fully expected to get a call from my aunt telling me that I had ran it into the ground and it was going to cost more to fix it than to buy a new one, but happily, I received an email a few days later informing me that she took a look at it and fixed it herself! Go Auntie! All my little engine needed was a good cleaning and a fresh oiling. Who knew that sewing machines needed to be maintained like a car? Well, I do now! So let that be a lesson to everyone, in order to keep your sewing machine working, make sure it is clean and oiled under the hood. And don't forget to check back tomorrow for the second to last decoranza post!