A Little Spring Finishing

The finishing Saga Continues! I have a another chair that I've had for over a year that I've wanted to make over. I FINALLY bought the cushion and fabric to finish the danged thing. I want to repaint the chair too, so I'll share a before and after photo next week...... I just realized that this is the first photo of me on the blog...... I bet ya'll were wondering who this crazy girl was!!! Haha

Anyway, I thought you might like a little print out on how to do cording. It's not as hard as it looks and it really makes a cushion or pillow look finished. You can find cording at any ol' craft store too. 

By Cassie Grace

Ps. How is your "Finishing Saga" going?

Fixer-Upper

When I was working in the store last week, I got to watch Valli embroider some fabric for her famous pillows and I got inspired. 

The husband helping me sand! He's so nice!

It had some splitting so we used a bit of glue
 and clamps to remedy the problem

All done! 

I've had this yellow chair for a while. It was painted black, then poorly painted yellow. My darling husband helped me sand the sucker down and patch up the rough spots. We spray painted it a bronze color (not super exciting, but it'll go anywhere in my house now). I decided to let the pillow do the talking color-wise.

Guten TAG! Hello in German.

These are just straight stitches on canvas to give
it a little more interest. 

I gathered the tulle, then fabric.
Then I sewed them together on to the red fabric.
 I used the ribbon to accent,
but mostly to cover the gathering stitching.

I embroidered one side and did ruffles on the other like some of the pillows I'd seen on pinterest.com. All in all, a stylish new addition to the art cave (aka craft room). 

Do you recognize the curtain fabric? Yep Valli &Kim's!

Bring Style to the Outdoors

I've been thinking about those cool laminate fabrics we have in those silver cans and all the awesome things people are doing with them!  Valli & Kim have some good examples, of course. There is the Pillow:

I like the idea of having bright color and modern design outside. Some people use this fabric to make seat cushions for their patio chairs and benches. Which of course makes me with I had a backyard and patio furniture, but that's okay because I can make other things like... Rain Coats:

 Clothing is another option with this fabric. I know I don't have lots of opportunity to wear a rain coat here in Austin, at least not this year. BUT I have family in the Seattle, WA area! You could also make make-up bags or even purses. I was thinking about making a reusable lunch bag with the laminate fabric because If something exploded or spilled, the clean up would be LOADS easier!

Ps. Don't Iron it!!!! It'll melt.

How would you use Laminated Fabric?

By Cassie Grace

Pillows, Pillows, Pillows....

I don't know about you kids, but I LOOOOOVE looking at Pinterest.com and a few Interior Design blogs after a long day. I like seeing all the different designs and colors to inspire me at home. A pillow is an easy way to add a splash of color and personality to a room with out the time investment (or mess) of…say… painting said room.

Luckily for us, Valli & Kim have a Boxed Cushion (pillows) Class February 21st at 10am! You can learn some of the basics then run with it. I hope I see you and all your ideas there! 

For more info:

http://www.valliandkim.com/module/class

Soon, you could start making stuff like this!

Customer Spotlight: Linda Myers

Linda is a longtime customer, and now friend and teacher at Valli & Kim. Linda, like many of you, started sewing early at the age of 10 or so with Barbie clothes and she sewed her own clothes all the way up until high school (until she couldn't stand using her mom's old machine!). Then she picked up needlepoint, knitting and decorative painting. Linda's job (in software development) took her traveling quite a bit and so she got the grand idea to create a slip-cover for those germ-y airplane pillows. This idea spawned her etsy shop. If you're thinking about starting or have an etsy shop, she is the gal to talk to! If fact, her shop kept her so busy for a while that she had to quit her part time job! She's been featured on other blogs like Apartment Therapy for her pillow designs. How cool is that!?  When I asked her what tips she had for etsy shop beginners like me, she said to always look for something new. Linda said that good ideas get copied fast, so with in a few weeks to a few months, your product gets buried by all your copycats. If you want to see more of Linda's work go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/lindylou2 !

Fun Facts

- Current projects include designing new patterns of embroidery and sewing for her etsy shop. 

- Anthropology is a big inspiration for her. Linda likes to drive downtown to the local Anthropology to look at the color of the clothing to get ideas. 

 - Linda is a beginner quilter.