Bolster Pillow Fiasco

Why do I keep going on hiatus all the time?  This time I have a very good excuse.  Steve and I are no longer together as of about 2 weeks ago.  It was very hard at first, but it is getting easier.  I have been spending time with my kids and working.  My well meaning friends have been introducing me to new people.  Heck, I even have a new friend who works for Folger's coffee.  So, I have been getting free coffee now!  Woot! Woot!  I have found one I love Coconut Cream Pie.  I add a little vanilla creamer and I am set. Lol.  Anyway, I just haven't been feeling like crafting much as I adjust to it just being me with the kids. 

That being said... I bought some actual vintage blue and white striped mattress ticking awhile back while on a shopping excursion with a good friend of mine.  It was a really long piece but odd shaped.  I wasn't sure at first what I wanted to do with it until recently.  There were some stained parts on it and I don't even want to think about what it is.  LOL So, I looked to make sure I had enough good parts to make a bolster pillow case.

 

At first, I wasn't sure whether to make 2 pillow shams or a bolster. For a very long time I have used pillow shams and now they are falling apart.  So I went to my trusty Facebook friends and I decided on one single long pillowcase.   One of my friends told me that she had bought one from Family Heirloom Weavers and just went and bought a cheap body pillow to stuff it with. Bing! The light bulb went on.  Of to their website I went hoping to find the dimensions of theirs.  I found that it was 21" X 57".  That gave me some direction.  Off to the cutting board I went.  I have no idea why this measurement threw me off so much.  I had to keep measuring and remeasuring.   When I cut I always give myself extra fabric because I always mess up something.  I cut my pieces matched it all up and sewed around the case.  Easy Peasy! I thought this is going great!  Well, you know I should probably wash this now that it is done before I put my head or body near it. Into to the washer it went.  What? Wait why are there so many strings. I shrugged it off and threw it into the dryer.  Ahhh yes it's finished.  Let's get it out and put it on the pillow.  I take it out of the dryer only to find...

None of the seams held!!!!! They all pulled out because mattress ticking ravels as you can see. All of my seams were now gone.  GRRRRRRRR!!!!! Now what?!?!!? Well, I threw it on my sewing table and walked away. I was so upset it didn't work that I didn't even want to see it for a few days.  Plus I was trying to figure out how I was going to fix it. I am NOT going to waste this fabric!  Today, finally, I went downstairs and attempted to fix it.  What I ended up doing to it is folding over the edges and sewing through all 4 layers instead of 2 like normal.  Unfortunately, I did had to shorten the overall width on both sides.  The length was still ok though.  So, here it is all finished.

I really like it.  It is an awesome addition to MY bed.  It's awesome creating things just for me and not having to think if someone else will like it. :-) 

Have a great weekend my friends.

Cabinet Makeover

While I was absent from blog land last year Steve and I did a little picking.  One day I happened to be on Craigslist and saw an ad for a used furniture store in Danville Ohio.  They had posted some pictures of some really great furniture.  Yeah, yeah, I know I have enough as it is, but I still wanted to go check it out.  The pictures were very enticing.  A girl can never have enough primitive furniture. LOL.  Though I have quite a few things in my garage at the moment that aren't being used. Again I say you can never have enough prim furniture.  I'm always changing things out.  Anyway,  one of the things I picked was this cabinet.

You all know I don't use too many white things in my décor.  It's just not me. But I knew as soon as I saw it I HAD to have it because the price was awesome.  I figured I could always change the color of it or wipe some stain on it to tone it down.  Of course I had no idea where I would use it but you know how the rest goes.  Well, it sat in my garage for a few days before I figured out what to do.  If I painted it the only color I could come up with was black.  I am really trying to get away from newly painted furniture and go with either old chippy paint or wood tone.  So I decided....

 

to strip it.  As you can see I did take the doors off the cabinet.  I like doors but these were going to be a bear to try and strip.  Lucky for me it was a two piece cabinet.  Unlucky for me the two pieces wood did NOT match once they were both stripped!  It was a married couple that someone painted the same color to match.  So, remember that tid bit of info.  If you have two different pieces and want to use them together and want them to look the same paint them the same color.  So after several days of stripping and sanding this is how they look now...

 

Yes, there is till some white on them.  I don't mind it though because I think it gives it character.  I like using them separately.  I tried stacking them together but it was just too big in my living room. I know the picture below is hard to see with all the furniture in front of it and it really is not red like in the picture.  I had to use a flash on my camera today because it is a little overcast.   It really is a dried out wood look.

 

 

Remember, when you are out picking, that paint colors can always be changed if you don't like it.  That being said if it is original paint or milkpaint I would never think of painting or stripping a piece.  But if you find a great deal all it takes is a little elbow grease to turn it into something you'll love.