Sew Easy: DIY Burp Cloths

Happy Monday!

Long time, no blog.

April and May were really busy. 

There was only one weekend when I wasn't traveling or hosting out of town company

and those are the busiest months at work.

So, needless to say, blogging wasn't at the top of my priority list.

Lately though, I've downshifted (and plan on staying that way until Baby Battles has made his debut). I'm done with work  (woo- hoo!) other than helping out at summer camp a couple weeks.

I'm hoping to blog more over the next couple of months as I definitely want to document this time in our lives.

Today, I wanted to share a little sewing project I just finished up,

DIY burp cloths.

I just took the standard Gerber cloth diapers and

sewed some cute fabric and trim down the center to dress them up. 

Easy peasy and I think they turned out pretty cute.

I'm in my last month of sewing classes now,

and working on a sweet day gown for my little man.

I'll be sure to share when I get it finished up.

Have a great week!

20 weeks

Like that skirt I'm wearing? I made it!

I've started taking sewing lessons again - this time garments instead of home decor - and it going great!

The maternity skirt was my first completed garment, now I'm working on a PJ top.

(Because otherwise it would be an unflattering maternity blouse - but it has some attributes my instructor wants me to learn next.)

After that I'm planning on doing a dress for me 

before moving on to some day gowns and jon -jons for the baby.

Now on to the bumpdate!

It's the halfway point!

We had our 20 week appointment today and the doctor said baby boy looks good and healthy!

We even got a good peek at his little face!

We are so in love already!

How Far Along? 20 weeks

Size of Baby? Length of a banana, 10 inches head to toe. At the ultrasound they said he weighed 14 ounces

Maternity Clothes? Yes, yes and yes. When my mother in law was in town she bought be a few things at the Pickles and Ice Cream here in Nashville that is going out of business. Coupled with things my mom bought me on my last Houston trip and clothes I'm borrowing from my sister in law, Angie, I'm almost exclusively in maternity clothes, except for the occasional top  can fit into. I'm so ready for the unending winter to be over to I can wear some comfortable dresses!

Weight gain? I'm up three pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.

Stretch Marks? Nope, still slathering on the moisturizer everyday

Gender?  BOY!!

Sleep? I've been sleeping hard with vivid dreams nightly thanks to my Snoogle.

Food Cravings? Chicken Salad. Random but true. I eat it almost everyday. Lovin' those sweets too.

What I miss? Still caffeine

Symptoms? Round ligament pain in my sides in the evenings

Belly Button? It's super shallow. I swear its going to be outie before long!

Best Moment of the Week? Seeing baby boys sweet face in 3D! Also, we've decided on a name, but I will most likely wait until he is born before I share it on the world wide web.

This weekend we are heading to Texas for a friends wedding and a quick visit with my Mom and Dad in Houston. I'm looking forward to getting out of town for a minute and heading for some warmer weather!

Pretty Piped Pillow

Hey y'all!

Today I'm back with a new sewing skill.

Piping!

I made a piped pillow to match my skirted bedside table.

It turned out great!

 So great, in fact, I might have to pipe all my sewing projects from here on out!

Here it is with a peek of the skirted side table.

I think it ties it all together and gives it a more custom look.

This definately won't be my last piped pillow!

This weekend, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew came in town to visit

and celebrate my other sister-in-law, Jenny's birthday.

We had a wonderful time getting to visit and 

I am looking forward to the next time we get together.

This coming weekend, we're headed to the Meditterranian!

I'll be back later this week with details. :)

xoxo- Bethany

Mess to Success :: Refashioned Tunic to Skirt

So awhile back I went to Forever 21 and bought some transitional items for fall 

and a couple of items for our upcoming Mediterranean vacation.

 I have a love/hate relationship with Forever 21, and have for some time.

I love them because their clothes are cheap.

And I hate them because their clothes are cheap.

Case in point:

  I bought this cute tunic for the cruise. 

I paid 13.50. Which is great...

Except the back was ripped. I'm not sure if this happened before I bought it and I just didn't notice, or if I bought it and brought it home and this happened when I tried it on.

Either way, it's ruined.

I couldn't return it because I threw away the receipt long before I noticed the rip.

(Forever 21 won't accept returns or exchanges without a receipt. 

At all. No store credit. Nothing, unless you have a receipt.)  

So I decided to make it into a skirt using this 

tutorial I found on Pinterest.

And here's how it turned out after some sewing and sweating and cussing from yours truly. 

 

It's my first garment. :)

It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination,

but it turned out!

I'm off to sew some more!

Thanks for reading!! :)

xoxo- Bethany

Breakfast Room Drapes

Howdy friends! I've been busy...

24 yards of fabric plus lots of sewing equals

new breakfast room drapes!

Because we all love a good before and after...

Excuse all the crap laying around in the before picture.

 I took it back in April when we were moving in.

I'm just keeping it real.

This project was so rewarding!

Mostly because this space was in bad need of some window treatments 

 and its in the heart of the home and can be seen from multiple rooms.

Now for the details...

I loosely based my curtains off of Miss Mustard Seed's curtain tutorial

(minus the ruffle and I used actual window treatment lining whereas she used a sheet).

 I love the fabric I used! I got it at Hancock's on sale for less than $8.00 a yard.

Can't beat that!

It's called Michelle Village on Blue and Natural Drapery Fabric.

I also love the drapery rods that were used. 

They are Allen and Roth from Lowe's.

You can find them here.

I would highly recommend them because you can pick out the finials separately.

Also, they're solid wood and thicker than most metal curtain rods, so they have a more custom feel.

Because they're wood, we bought 2 eight foot long ones and Jason cut them down to fit our bay windows.

Overall, I spent $230. 

I think that's awesome considering I bought 24 yards of fabric!

Not to mention to have the rod and drapes done professionally could have easily cost $1,000!

 Yay for custom on a budget!

-Bethany

More Pillows!

Hello friends!

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. I sure did!

My parents were in town and we had a great time visiting and grilling out.

Today, I'm posting about a few pillows I made a while ago that I've been meaning to blog about!

(bad blogger)

In our family room we've got some couches that are leather and dark and overstuffed.

Can you guess who made that purchase before we were married? :)

For which, I am very grateful. :)

They are in great condition, just not what I would have picked out had I'd had a say.

Also, notice the raggedy pillows that have seen better days.

Mostly due to a white terrier, who shall remain nameless, that likes to waller on them.

So I made new pillows to replace the worn out ones.

I made sure to use fabrics that would help lighten up the sofas.

Here's how they turned out:

The larger ones were made from a designer remnent, my mom bought me.

(Hi Mom! Thanks Mom!)

I found the dandilion fabric 40% off at Hancocks. 

The larger ones are envelope pillows...meaning two pieces of fabric overlap

 on the back with no fasteners required.

 

The small dandilion pillows I added a zipper under a fold!
This may not seem exciting to you...but in the world of a beginning sewer,

this is HUGE!

Here's one more look!

Make sure you check back later this week for the biggest sewing project yet!

I'll give you a hint...24 yards of fabric were involved!

Have a great day!

-Bethany

Master Bedroom Updates

So over the past couple of weeks I've made a couple of updates to our Master Bedroom.

This is what our bedroom looked like before...

The blue bedside table was mine from my childhood room that we painted with Aubusson Blue Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It turned out to be too deep for the room, so we dry brushed Old Ochre Chalk paint over it.


The other bedside table, finally got a skirt and a glass top!
I may never make another round table skirt because of the blood, sweat, tears, and curse words that went into it, but I am happy with how it turned out.


We also got a new headboard! We originally wanted the Raleigh headboard from Pottery Barn, but ended up getting the Carlton headboard from JCPenny because it was similar and several hundred dollars cheaper.  


I also decided that the bird duvet and shams were too busy even though I loved the print, so I broke up all the print by layering in the Fieldcrest Matelasse Coverlet from Target.

So here it is now...

Here is a close up of the Chalk Paint bedside table.

Before

After

And here is a close up of the finished table skirt.

So I feel like we're close to having this room finished. 
I have some leftover table skirt fabric to make a toss pillow or two for the bed to tie it together.
Also we need something over the bed and over the dresser at the other end of the room.

 
 I feel like I will know when I find the right thing. 
Until then I feel like we've made some great progress!


-Bethany

Sewing Project: More Pillows

Hello Everyone. Happy Friday!

We've been in the house a week now and its definitely beginning to feel like home.

I'm still going to the sewing classes and I'm really enjoying it.

I wanted to show y'all the two pillows I've just completed.

Drumroll please....

oooooo

ahhhhhh

 I made them with the master bedding in mind (pictured above) but am glad I went with something neutral enough that can be used almost anywhere. 

I'm currently working on a round table skirt for a 28" decorator table that I plan to use as my bedside table.

I've got tons of sewing projects rolling around in my head too:

Skirt for my sewing table

Cushion for the front porch bench

Envelope pillows for living room (with the beautiful fabric my mom bought me. Hi mom! Thanks mom!)

Also, next week I plan to do a mini house tour on what we've done throughout so far before we head off to New Orleans.

Check back for updates and have a great weekend!

-Bethany

Project Pillow

I did it! I finished my first ever pillow and I'm very proud of it!

(front)

(back)

I made it with the scraps from my placemats and table runner project.

Uh-Oh. Someone's jealous of all the attention the pillow is receiving.

(After leaving the room for approximately 2 minutes)

Who's in charge around here? Its kinda hard to tell sometimes.

Who's in charge at your house?

-Bethany

Sewing Projects: Placemats and Table Runner

I completed my first month of sewing classes, along with my first two projects! 

I made a set of 8 place mats and a table runner. Here are the finished products...

I love the way the place mats look with my china...

Here's a close up of the fabric. It reads as a solid but really has so many colors in it.

The runner fabric is pretty amazing too...

And it will cover up the fresh scratch in the table from my sewing machine...Kinda ironic that I created a need while creating it...

Overall, I am really pleased how it all turned out and am excited for a new month of classes with fresh projects...stay tuned!

-Bethany