THIS OLD HOUSE

Kim Kelly, Bella Rustica, and her St. Simons Island, Georgia cottage are in the October issue of This Old House magazine.  To get the entire story, go to her blog.  There are also outtakes and the story of what really happening when your home is photographed for a magazine.

Above is a slipcovered Parson's chair that I made.  The shot below shows what the inside back looks like.

The center picture below is the burlap roman shade I made.  Again, not a great shot (for my work) because of the hanging light that's in front of it.  

 This is a better angle to see what it really looks like.  Burlap is not my favorite fabric to work with, but it turned out pretty well in spite of all the 'issues' that sewing on burlap presents.

And last, but not least, the screened in back porch has a (barely visible, unless you happen to be looking for things you've done in someone's home) chaise that I also slipcovered. This is one of Scout's favorite places to lounge.  

The shot below is what it looks like not shot through a screen.

 I just love when work I've done ends up in a magazine.  I never get tired of it.

BEWARE OF CHENILLE -- IT GROWS!

Below are the new covers, but

 about three years ago, I made chenille covers for these chairs and ottoman.  Recently, my client decided she wanted new ones, partly because she wanted to lighten up the room and partly because they seemed to not fit properly.  Before I went to measure, I looked for and found the old measurements, and thought that would save time this go-around.   A funny thing happened, though, when I thought I'd compare measurements.  They were so far off that I couldn't believe it.  Now, I've been known to make things a little bigger, but 4" bigger?  I don't think so.

 My client liked the new covers so much, that with the extra fabric, I was able to make pillows for her red chairs.  The 1" pleated ruffle is in a contrast linen that I happened to have sitting around.  It matched perfectly and framed the pillows nicely.

 The 3 photos below are the original covers in the chenille that grew over time.  They look nice in these pictures because it is before the 'growth spurt.'  They definitely do not look like this anymore.

So if you decide to use chenille for something, be forewarned that it GROWS over time!

BACK FROM THE EDGE - LITERALLY

It has been nearly 9 months since my last post.  At the time, I had every intention of continuing to blog and carry on with my life like nothing had happened.  Trouble was, something very traumatic had happened,  and it was much harder to heal from and took far longer than I ever imagined it would.  In fact, I am still in the process.

On 24 September 2011, I was sexually assaulted.   This coming Monday, which is the one year anniversary of the attack, I am launching a new project called At Long Last Heard.  The statics say that every 45 seconds someone in the United States is sexual assaulted.  If this is correct, then that means that NO ONE I know has had that happen to them?  Seems impossible.  To me, this means that people simply do not talk about it.  (That has changed a little; I think maybe 5 women I know have told me of their ordeals.)  In our country, there are still two subjects that are very taboo:  sexual assault and suicide. I think the time has come to change this.  I am only one person, but I truly believe that the good that can come from my attack is to, at the very least, begin to change the attitudes and thinking about these subjects.

My new web site will tell the story of my journey this last year:  the good, the bad and the really ugly.  It is a little scary opening up my entire life so much, BUT I think it is very important.  If I can help even one woman understand the process she will go through or make someone feel like she isn't alone, then it will all be worth it.  Let me say right now that I understand sexual assault happens to both women and men, but as I am a woman, that will be my focus.  (If you are a man that has been sexually assaulted, I suggest you start your own web site to help other men.)

At Long Last Heard will launch at 12:01 am on Monday, 24 September.  I also have a Facebook page set up and next week, will set up a Twitter link.  If you, or anyone you know of, would benefit from this, please check it out.  And I would be forever grateful if you would copy this post and put it on your own site.  Or your Facebook wall.  If you would prefer to contact me directly, please write me at: atlonglastheard@gmail.com. 

As for A Little of This That and the Other, I am working again and have lots of new pictures to post.  It may be a lot juggling 2 sites, but this is my creative outlet and I think it is important to get back to sharing here.  Other than this post, I will not talk about my experience on this site.  I want to keep this blog as my 'happy place.'

A NEW JOURNEY BEGINS...

It's been quite a year and as 2011 comes to a close, I am just really grateful that I made it through!  The changes I spoke of several posts back are manifesting themselves nicely.  I am in the process of deciding on a new name for what will turn out to be, I think, the biggest project of my life.  I had hoped to continue to do it from this blog, but it is so radically different from what I am doing now that it really does not make sense to do that.  I am hopeful that I will still do posts here, too, though my track record of late isn't very good.  As I said before, I will continue to sew and create for my clients' homes AND I will be writing.  

Make 2012 the best year of your life!!!

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a 

Joyous New Year!!!

GIVE-A-WAYS AT BELLA RUSTICA

Treat yourself to a look at Bella Rustica Market - weekly give-a-ways through Christmas and her signature burlap pillows are two for one for another week. Limited to stock on hand so hurry...

WELCOME BABY

Just when I put it out into the 'world' that I intend to start doing more writing, I seem to have frozen up.  Oh, there's a reason for it and, I promise, I will get to it one of these days.  That day is not today, however. 

 Today, I'll post about the crib skirt and bumpers I did recently.  Of course, they took me far longer that I would ever have thought possible.  That would be due to the fact that my brain is on a bit of a holiday.  

(More on that in a future post.) 

 I had an existing crib set to copy, so I didn't have to truly figure out how to make it.  It was very clever the way it was done, though, and how the bumper ties on.  It was one long 'cushion' with two loops on one end and ties on the other to make the rectangular shape. The skirt, welting and ties are of the same contrasting fabric.

   I made the bumper with a zipper that runs the entire length so that the inside 'pillows' can be removed and the bumper washed.

With as much trouble as this job gave me, I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it all turned out.

Another close-up of the ties attaching the bumper to the crib rails.

My client is having a boy in January and his new room is ready and waiting his much anticipated arrival.

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR

 You may be wondering, why all the quotes?  Well, as the title of my post says, CHANGE IS IN THE AIR.  For several years now, I have been slightly (not a lot, just a little) dissatisfied with what I have been doing.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE what I do AND I've felt that something needed to change.  I just wasn't sure how to go about making the shift.  I am currently in the middle of making that shift.  Almost 7 weeks ago I went through an extremely traumatic event.  I am still dealing with it and, unfortunately, will be for some time to come.  I will continue to sew (for now) and will slowly transition to what I've been longing to do.  Actually, there are several things I will be pursuing:  photography (which will most likely involve custom fabrics) and writing.  Let's just say that I have a lot to say and leave it at that for now.  Since I will not be giving up what I have been doing for the last 20 years, I will continue to post about my various jobs.  I will also begin to have more varied posts.  I hope that those of you who have followed me for the last few years will continue to do so.  The subject matter I will be writing about is very personal and I am hopeful that while it helps me to deal with what has happened, it will also be helpful to many others.  I apologize for being somewhat cryptic here and I promise it will all become clear in the next several days.  The urge to share has become overwhelming, and I plan to listen more closely than I ever have before to what my mind, body and spirit are telling me to do.

In case any of you are not familiar with Pinterest, all of the preceding quotes came from there.  

A LA JOLLA FAMILY ROOM

Love seat slipcovered in red/white ticking.  Throw pillows that incorporate all the fabrics used in the room.  A great way to tie everything together.

Queen Anne's chair with yellow/white check.

 Notice how the slipcover follows the woodwork on the front of the seat.

One of two wings chairs slipcovered in this Ralph Lauren stripe w/ floral pattern.

 The whole room:  3 completely different fabrics and all go together beautifully.

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.

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.

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!

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.