Friday, October 28, 2011

PILLOWS GALORE

My client needed these pillows in a hurry.  Her client's home was to be photographed and the original date was moved up, which meant I had to sew fast.  There were 7 total pillows and I knew that I could easily make them all in one day if I absolutely had to.  Turned out I had to!
 I decided to make these two first as they were much more complicated than the others.  As I was working on them, I kept thinking, why does she want them this way?  They were a pain and I thought the fabric was interesting enough without adding a band of fabric with another trim on top.  Well, when I finished them, I understood.  They turned out really nicely and looked much better than I thought they would.  Perhaps this is why I am the seamstress and not the designer?  I think they turned out even better than the designer thought they would.  Funny how that works.
These 4 were pretty easy, just brush fringe and zipper closure.


 One side was blue tweed and the other was blue silk.


And last, but not least, one in a gold tweed with brush fringe.

Close up of fringe.

Don't know when the photos will be in the magazine, or, for that matter, what magazine they will be in.  I forgot to ask.  I was just happy to get them done in time.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

A VERY ROMANTIC BEDROOM

I looked through ALL 354 previous posts to make sure I never posted these pictures before.  I couldn't find that I had, but, if for some reason I did, please forgive me.  This bedroom, well, at least the bed, was so pretty it deserves a second look.
 As pretty as it is and as nice as it turned out, the process of getting it to this point was not so fun.  The fabric for the panels is sheer, my least favorite kind of fabric to work with.  And as if that wasn't enough, the tabs had to actually work.  The canopy was permanently together, so faking it wasn't an option.
 The funny thing is when I measured and figured out how much fabric we would need and how many buttons and tabs (96!) there would be, I somehow 'forgot' that if I needed 96 buttons, that meant I would have to make 96 buttonholes!  Yikes, that's a whole lot of buttonholes!  Not to mention 96 buttons to sew on.
The end result was worth it.  It gave a romantic feel to an otherwise not-so-romantic bedroom, which is why I have only pictures of the bed.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

A FITTED BEDSPREAD

 Okay, I know this is not the most exciting thing I ever posted.  And with everything being the same color, well, that doesn't help it either.  Still, I was very happy with how it all turned out.  As was the client, which is even more important!
 Flanged pillow shams and a pillow tuck.
The split AND fitted corners gave me trouble.  That is, until I realized I could treat it as a giant ottoman with corners that were only sewn part of the way down.  Once I figured it out, I couldn't understand why I thought it was so difficult.  I was making it harder that it actually was.

I promise next post will be more exciting!

Friday, October 7, 2011

WHITE LINEN WING CHAIR SLIPCOVER

 White linen slipcovers never go out of style!  With the short, gathered skirt, this wing chair is updated and ready for anything.  
 This time, instead of covering buttons with the linen, my client wanted abalone buttons.  It makes a nice change and adds interest to the back of the chair.
 Close-up of shell buttons.
The 'man' of the house, Bailey, on 'his' new, luckily washable, throne.