Framed Silverware Tutorial & Dining Room Updates

Our dining room walls have been barren for the majority of our time in this home, a little over two years.  I just couldn't seem to decide what I wanted to do in there, and what I really wanted was too expensive. So, I waited.  Decorating a home on a small budget takes time, thought, and patience.  Sometimes that can be frustrating, but in the end it's rather rewarding when you end up with something you really love and don't have to spend tons of money to achieve.

Last summer my mother-in-law let me go through some of her silverware, I believe it was her grandmother's, and I chose a few pieces that I wanted to use as some type of wall art in the dining room.  I had some old pictures from our first house that weren't being used, so I took those apart to create something 'new' for one wall of the dining room.

This is a really easy project, and not an original!  I've seen various forms of framed silverware all over Pinterest, but here's how I did mine.

You will need:
-frame
-thin foam board
-burlap
-silverware {that you don't intend to ever use}
-hot glue gun and glue sticks

First, cut your foam board to fit the size of the frame.  It needs to rest just inside the edges of the frame pretty snugly.

Next, cut a piece of burlap to fit around the foam and be glued to the back.

Carefully apply hot glue to the back of the foam piece and push the burlap onto the glue.  Be careful that you don't burn yourself; the glue will come through the holes in the burlap.

Position your silverware where you want it on the burlap.  Apply a strip of hot glue and place the silverware directly on top, pushing down to secure.

Allow the glue to dry and hang up on your wall.

I finally took the opportunity to lengthen my Dining Room drapery panels, and I'm glad that I did.  They look much nicer right above the floor, instead of the several inches off the floor before.

And, when returning something to Sears one day last fall, I found two packs of drapery rings on clearance for $.99 each!  I had initially only purchased one package of rings for these drapes, which was not enough, so I was glad to finally have the correct amount, appropriately spaced at the top.  They weren't the right color, but after a little black spray paint job, they were just right!

Lastly, I purchased some matted pictures of peacocks from Hobby Lobby and framed those.  Someone had given me a gift card for my birthday, and these prints were 50% off on the day I went.  I love the pops of color they add to the wall.

Once the dining room table is finished, I'll take some final pictures of the whole room, but here's what it looks like now.

How long does it take you to finish decorating a room?

To Lengthen or Not to Lengthen

Today I just have a simple question for you.  I need some help!  The drapes I made for my dining room last summer are a bit too short, I think.  People have varying opinions on drapery length, so I realize this is ultimately a matter of opinion.  However, I can't decide if I should change these or not.  Should I lengthen them or leave them??

I have some white fabric already that I will use to add material to the bottom, if I go the route of lengthening, so it won't cost me anything, just some time.  I'll need to move the hardware up a few inches above in order to do this.  What do you think?

Thanks for your help!

Easy Drapery Panels

The window treatments for every room in the downstairs of our home are now hanging and I am thrilled!  Two adjustments need to be made, but I'm happy to say that it's coming together.  And, now that we have neighbors, I have to add some mini-blinds to the kitchen, so hopefully we'll be getting those this week.

Drapes are my absolute favorite window treatments, so with the exception of faux roman shades in the kitchen, every room downstairs has some form of drapery panels.  (I'll be sharing the others with you soon).  The Dining Room, as you probably know, has been my big project, of late, and Friday night, literally 10 minutes before our dinner guests arrived, my husband hung the drapes.  I went back and forth on the fabric choice, but ended up with a Waverly pattern that I love.  Our fabric outlet in town had one remnant piece that was a little less than 3 yards, so I did have to order another cut, but I still saved a ton of money (I even found some blackout lining--pre-hemmed--for $1/yard, so I snatched up everything they had) and I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

I like to be able to fit the vacuum cleaner under my drapes without having to push them to the side.

Because drapery panels are my favorite, I thought I would do a semi-tutorial on how to make them.  I guess you could call these 'lazy girl' drapery panels.  There are more sophisticated ways to make drapes, but these are just your plain old simple ones that require minimal cutting and simple hardware.  You see, no matter how hard I try, cutting a straight line is just really complicated for me, so the less cutting involved, the better!  Plus, having two little ones running around demands sewing projects that take up as little brain power as possible (I'm a novice with the sewing machine).

First, measure your windows and determine the finished length of your drapes (i.e. distance from where it will hang on the hardware to where you want it to fall on or near the ground).  To that finished length, add 8 inches for a 2-inch bottom hem, or 10 inches for a 3-inch bottom hem.   Cut the fabric to this length.

Next, determine the finished width of your panel, and add 3 inches to that measurement.  Cut the fabric to this size.

*My dining room window is actually two windows that are separated by a 4-inch strip of dry-wall.  I'm not really sure why they did it this way, but I decided to treat it as if it was one window.  Since I absolutely hate cutting fabric, I made my panels each the width of the fabric (54"), and I didn't even cut off the selvage!*

Once your fabric panels have been cut, cut the drapery lining (lining protects the fabric from becoming faded and provides a more sophisticated look from the outside.  No one wants to see what color your drapes are from the outside of your home).   The lining should be 3 inches narrower than the fabric panel width, and 2 inches shorter.

Next, make the hem on the fabric panel.  This is done by folding fabric to the wrong side 6 inches (for a 3-inch hem) or 4 inches (for a 2-inch hem).

Iron the fold so you have a nice crisp edge.

Then, bring the raw end of this fold and tuck it against the pressed edge.  Press again.

Pin in place.

Stitch close to the folded edge of the seam, creating the bottom hem for your panel.

Repeat this process for the lining fabric, creating the hem on the lining.

Lay the fabric panel and lining panel right sides together, lining the top edges together, and centering the lining on the fabric.

Pin the fabric to the lining on each side of the panel (do not sew the tops or bottoms together), being careful to keep the fabric from shifting.  If you're worried about the fabric shifting you can always pin the top edges together while you work, to ensure that the lining will be pinned straight to the fabric. Sew sides using a 1/2-inch or 5/8-inch seam allowance.  Since I left the selvage on mine, I just used the selvage line as my stitching line which made it pretty easy.

(Sorry I don't have a picture of this one, but I think you get the idea).

Turn the panel right side out, making sure that an equal amount of fabric is on each side of the lining and press.

To finish the top and create a rod pocket, fold the top over 4 inches to the wrong side.  Press, then bring the raw end in to the pressed edge, press again and pin. (This is the same process as used for the bottom hem).

*I was working with less fabric than I should have had on my remnant piece, so I had to make the rod pocket a bit skimpier than I wanted, which is why you see in the picture below that I only folded 2 1/2-inches to the wrong side.  If you're skimping like I did, follow these next few bits, otherwise skip to the part where it says, "stitch rod pocket in place, stitching close to the top folded edge".

Turn the raw edge under 1/2-inch, press and pin in place. 

This hole will become the rod pocket

If you're going to 'cheat' like I did, you can take that raw edge that you turned in, and simply fold the end at an angle so it looks a bit cleaner from the outside.

Stitch rod pocket in place, stitching close to the top folded edge.

Now, you can either hang using the rod pocket, or you can clip on some rings and slide those onto your rod.  It's nice to have an option.  Just be sure that you measured correctly from the beginning because the length will be different depending on how you hang your drapes.

You can be done here, but if you left the selvage on like I did, you may want to do this next little step. 


The bottom of my panels looked like this:

You can see here how the lining is shorter than the fabric.

I didn't want this much of the selvage to show on the inside of my panel, so I decided to do one small stitch and hide it a bit.

Starting at the bottom corner of that selvage, fold in to the side edge, at a 45 degree angle.

Stitch at an angle, close to folded edge.

It will look like this when you're done:

Be sure to clip your threads!

It's not necessary, but if you hate cutting fabric as much as I do and want to leave the selvages on, this is a way to make it look a bit better.

There you have it, some simple drapery panels!

Here are some other links for ways people sew their drapes.  Enjoy!
No Sew Panels  by In My Own Style 

Drapery Panels Lining made Kind of Easy by Isabella & Max Rooms (there is a series on this blog, which you'll find if you go to this link).

How I Sew Drapes by Scissors and Spatulas

I'll be linking this to:
Making the World Cuter Monday
Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou
Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A to Z
Strictly Homemade Tuesday at Strictly Homemade
Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife
Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Laugh, Love, and Craft

Slipcovered Parsons Chairs for the Dining Room

There have been tears, sweat, and yes, even some blood, while working on this project.  I am happy to report that my dining room chairs are complete!

After

Before

I've wanted parsons chairs for about a year now, and have been perusing Pottery Barn, World Market, and Ballard Designs to find my favorites.  When I realized I couldn't afford something brand new, I began scouring Craigslist for the right thing.  You can read about the ones I ended up finding here.  Six chairs needed some serious work!  Having little children and knowing that even grownups can sometimes make messes, I decided that slipcovers would be the most practical way to go.  But, I'd never made one before, so the task was a bit daunting.

Janell, over at Isabella and Max Rooms, had a post about her dining room chair re-do, and she used drop cloths to slipcover some chairs.  What a great idea!  The reason she used that convinced me was that drop cloths are pretty durable and could withstand lots of washing (which they would most likely need), so I decided to go that route.  And, I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

I have two different types of chairs, so I decided to make skirts for the four matching ones, and leave the other two with a simple hem for now.  I may decide to make skirts for those later on, but for now, it helps me keep them set apart, as the slipcovers are different sizes.

One thing I found interesting when I removed the fabric from the old chairs, was that each one had what looked like a plastic bag over the cushion/padding.  Having that does make putting the slipcover on easier, but I think it might have also been there to protect the padding from any spills.  I didn't really want trash bags on my chairs, so I purchased a vinyl tablecloth, cut it to size, and wrapped it around the seat of each chair, stapling it in place.  Hopefully, this will help in protecting the padding from unwanted spills and stains.

The only trouble with the vinyl is that sometimes the slipcover shifts when sitting in the chair.  Any suggestions?

I'm not giving a tutorial here on how to do this, because there's no way I could, but I will recommend two sources that were extremely helpful to me in this process:

First, Ana, from Ana White Homemaker, has a great tutorial on how to make slipcovers for a parsons chair (she also has designs for making the chair).  My chairs were different dimensions than hers, but the principles there were great to follow.

Secondly, Krisi from, Pink and Polka Dot, has a fabulous tutorial for making knife pleats, which I used for the skirt of these chairs.  Her tutorial is so simple to follow!  And, if you think you might be making a lot of slipcovers, there is also an e-book for sale that Krisi wrote, which you can find here.

Instead of a tutorial,  here are some 'hindsights' from this project.  Hopefully, this will be helpful for any who might try to tackle this kind of project.

1. Drop cloths come in different shades of color. Yes, even the same brand, same size, from the same store.  I purchased the largest drop cloth I could find and when I got through several of the chairs, realized I would need another one.  So, I bought it, washed it and when I laid it out to start cutting, realized that it was a different color.  Ugh!  It's not noticeable from a distance, but there was no way I could use that fabric for the skirts of the chairs I'd already completed.  Thankfully, I found the right shade after a few trips back to the store.  Just be sure you check before you purchase multiples.

2. Measure exact dimensions and cut to size.  Some people recommend draping the fabric over the chair, pinning and marking, allowing ample amounts of extra fabric.  This technique works for pieces with rounded arms and high backs, but with straight lines like a parsons chair, I found this to be more frustrating than anything, and it caused me to rip out the seams from at least 4 of the 6 slipcovers.  It was much easier to figure on 1/2-inch seam allowances for every seam, and measure my pieces 1-inch larger on all sides than the dimensions of my chair.  The sewing was simple then, and the slipcovers fit snugly around the seats.

3. Figure that it will take a long time.  I thought for sure I would be done with this project in a day or two.  WRONG!  The only thing I have to say for this tip is something my dad used to tell me when I was a little girl and wanted so badly to help him with projects.  He would smile at me, shake his head and say, "You can help, but it's harder than it looks."  So true!  Don't get frustrated with yourself if making a slipcover (especially if you're making 6 of them) takes more than a couple of days to complete.  Eventually it will be finished!

4.  Buy lots of thread.  Several times I ran out during this process, and it's not possible to run to the store while my children are napping.  I think I used 5 spools of heavy duty thread for this project.  (This might not have been necessary if I hadn't ripped 4 slipcovers apart to re-do.  Ha!).

Now we're ready for company and no one has to sit in a broken chair!  Let me know if you'd like to come for dinner!

Someone asked to see the new dining room light fixture lit up.  Here you go!  You can read about my $6 Knock off Pottery Barn chandelier here.

I'll be linking up to these parties:
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Fridays
Feathered Nest Friday, over at French Country Cottage
Show Me What Ya Got, at Not Just a Housewife

$6 Knock off Pottery Barn Chandelier

Shopping at thrift stores is becoming a habit of mine, and I'm finding that in order to find something I can use, I need to do it on a regular basis.  During my last shopping trip to Goodwill, I found six small lamp shades, perfect for my dining room light fixture!  I mentioned in a previous post, which you can find here, that I was looking at several different options to change these shades up to fit the room.  The burlap shades won, so here is my new knock-off chandelier:

And, the inspiration:

source

Here's how I did it:

Supplies:
burlap
adhesive spray
burlap trim
hot glue gun and glue sticks
scissors

First, I cut the burlap in a curved shape, following the shape of the shade.  Because of the slant of the shade, this made the application much easier than simply cutting in a straight line.

Then, starting at the original seam, I sprayed a bit of adhesive spray and then placed the burlap on top, smoothing out the fabric.

I continued spraying, placing and smoothing, until I reached the starting point.

I then cut the excess fabric off right at the top and bottom edges of the shade, so that my trim would lie exactly on the edges. 

Next, I folded over the burlap (to hide the cut edge) and using my hot glue gun, placed a thin line of hot glue to hold the end in place.

Using the hot glue gun again, I attached the burlap trim around the top and bottom edges, pressing down after each application so that the trim would be straight.

I allowed it to dry for a few hours before attaching the shades to the bulbs.

The look is perfect for what I wanted and I'm thrilled that I now have a 'new' chandelier for only $6!

I'll be linking this up to these parties this week:

Between Naps on the Porch
Southern Hospitality
Home Stories A to Z

The burlap, trim, glue, and adhesive spray I already had on hand, so my only cost at this time was $6 for the shades.