A Marigold Peplum

It’s Thanksgiving week here in the United States and per tradition we’re in Texas visiting Edwin, Samantha and baby Timothy.

This trip I packed more fabric to become garments then actual, wearable, finished garments! ...I think that means I am a true sewist. lol 

Between sewing and napping (mine and Timothy’s) there has been plenty of time to cuddle and play with my nine month old nephew.

Why do I look so weird in this picture?? o_O

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This is the same pattern I used for this dress HERE but the peplum option. 

I’ve been learning so much about fitting the last couple of months (...even weeks!) that I realized there are some fitting adjustments that need to be made before the next make.

The bodice (above the elastic) needs to be lengthened about an inch and I need some more room in the shoulders, upper back and arms for a comfier wear. 

One vacation make done! I wonder how many more I can do??

-'- Jewel

Pattern: Marigold by Blank Slate Patterns / Fabric: Stash / Fabric used on project: 2 ⅜ yards / Buttons: Stash 

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Awkward Sink Light to Amazing Kitchen Light

This is such a beautiful light and picture! Now, I'll show what was there before...

I don't really know the builders/previous owners thoughts on the one light over the sink was. I think it's just plain weird and off centered. For some reason it reminds me of a doctors office. lol

It's amazing what a trip to Lowe's and Dad switching the lights out can do!

-'- Jewel

Office Chair Refashion vol. 2

Yay! Samantha's office finally has another chair!

This time around we actually used spray adhesive and it works so much better then carpet tape. lol 

(If you are confused, go read "Office Chair ReFashion vol. 1" :)) 

Can you believe this was a $5 garage sale find??

I love the way they look!

Click here to see "Office Chair ReFashion vol. 1"

Happy weekend,

-'- Jewel

Photography: Jewel

Bland Gold to Bold Black (A Light Refashion)

We went down to Samantha and Edwin's at Thanksgiving! 

We always do some DIY/refashion projects while visiting and this was no exception.

First up: A Light Refashion

Samantha found the tutorial on Pinterest and Dad wired the light up into the tree for super easy access.

The mirror is another DIY project of Samantha's she used the same black paint as the chandelier.

It looks fabulous! 

-'- Jewel

Texas {Travel Tidbits}

We went down to Texas the weekend of August 3rd and dropped Kimberly off at college. Here's some tidbits:

While in Texas; Edwin, Samantha, TaMera and I went to Inks Lake State Park!

Edwin showing TaMera how it's done!

No, these aren't TaMera's only shorts, she just loves wearing them. :)

After Edwin showed TaMera how to fish, he went to work. Isn't technology cool! He was able to work from his phone and iPad at the lake!

If you are ever in the Burnet, Texas area go to Inks Lake State Park! They have free fishing!...which may be another factor why the fish were able to nibble our worm off the hook without biting it (spoiled fish), resulting in us not catching anything. It was a fun experience anyway!

-'- Jewel

Mounting the Television

This post was supposed to be posted the week of the 15th. Better late than never I guess! :)

 

Another project from Thanksgiving at Samantha & Edwin's!

  

Having your TV on the floor in front of the fireplace in your home can be quite annoying. The time had come to give it a permanent place to live. 

Before we came down, Samantha "mapped out" where they wanted it mounted.

Removing the mantle (and a lot of glue that came with it) was the first step!

Drilling the holes where the bracket for the TV was the was second! (Dad is working so hard!)

 

We put the bracket on the bolts and mounted the TV! (There are more steps to this project but Dad did most of it without my knowledge.)

 

 

It looks marvelous! I love the fireplace! Samantha worked hard cleaning it and decorating it!

 

Hope you enjoyed that little peek into the project!

 

-'- Jewel

 

Momma's Moment

The project for Mom on Samantha's list was to sew Christmas costumes for the Children Church's Christmas program. Mom was able to finish 9 angels, 3 shepherds and 2 wise men. (One shepherd is also a wise man, that's why she made only two ;))

Mom finished the three shepherds costumes, she wasn't able to get done while we were down there and mailed them down to Samantha!

I think that's all of the projects we did while we were in Texas...I honestly don't remember :)

Until next time... Have a wonderful week!

-'- Jewel

Chair Recover

 

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we were in Texas at Edwin & Samantha's we had a great time!...and of course she had a list for us to do. ;) One of the projects was her dining room chairs...

 

 

Her Kitchen colors are red, black and cream. When Samantha purchased the dining room set from the previous owners they went with her theme; unfortunately they are stained, discoloring and starting to look kind of shabby. Time for an upgrade!

 

 

(Apparently this is what the chairs looked like before the cream?)

 

 

She chose to use red fabric because it will not show stains as well as cream and won't look really dark (like black) against her chairs. And...the material she found was marked down from $29.99 to $4.99 a yard! *Score!*

 

 

(Disclaimer to my fellow Nebraskans: The K-State shirt I found in a hotel room. So don't get upset ;) )

 

 

Yes, I did help Dad, I wasn't just posing...

 

 

Before                   Original?               After      

 

 

Samantha and Edwin loved the result! Which makes it a job well done!

 

-'- Jewel

 

Office Chair Refashion

 

While we were visiting Samantha & Edwin a while back we had the opportunity re-upholster the office chair, it looks so much better!

 

Think about what the poor chair is thinking: "They paid $5 for me at a garage sale four years ago. I have lived through 2 moves with this owner...please, I just need a little boost!" ;)

 

 We didn't have any adhesive spray...so we had to used carpet tape!

Which worked pretty well, the reason we weren't able to go and get any is this was the last day we were going to be there and had to hurry a little. :(

 



Would you believe that this is the same chair!

And as Paco in "Herbie Goes Bananas" says "Lookin' good ocho!" (One of my favorite movies)

 

Until next time!

-'- Jewel

 

 



3 "Big" jobs we did in Texas at our sister's!

1. - Brick By Brick

At our oldest sister's house there was a LOT of bricks laying around left over from building the house (though it was built in the 90s) we decided to put those to good use! ...and get them out of the way. :)

We started clearing the area where we wanted the bricks to be...

Laid the fabric down, laid some bricks and dug in little increments because we had a limited number of bricks...

We thought it was going to be really disappointing because we ran out of bricks. Then we found a pile of brand-new bricks in a corner of the garage!

Didn't turn out so bad after all...

2. - Rockin' Out

With the dirt we dug out to level the brick walk, we built up dirt to the house to create a bit of drainage for water. Laid down more fabric and put down rocks.

Ta da!

Above: How we connected the rocks to the brick "path"

3. - Cedar Catastrophe

We took out two dead cedar trees, some oddly placed over-grown bushes [trees?] and trimmed all the others. It looks a little bare after but with some grass seed, maybe a hammock, one of those reflective garden spheres? It'll fit right in their suburban Austin neighborhood!

Before...

During...

And DONE!

That is some of what we did while visiting our sister! I still can't believe we did it all in 4, ninety-seven degree days! Now we did do a few little 'odd' jobs...but who really wants to hear about fixing the washer, raking the yard and hanging laundry room doors straight?? ;)

Till next time, peeps!

~J