Joss: Curtains, remove the eye sore

The next item on the list of boat fixes was for me, what it needed most. The most hideous curtains I have ever seen in my life! This curtain is not only falling apart, but it is weird to start with. I had vinyl "wood" strips aligned vertically. And the best part is, the darker colored horizontal strips are completely plastic, they feel like a plastic tablecloth or shower curtain. So weird!

I just had to go. Being that it was one of the first things that you see when you walk in, there was no avoiding it. There was another curtain only 3 feet away from where the horrible curtain hang that was not as bad, it had green vertical stripes, but the green was much different from the green in the rest of the boat. I thought it would be best if they both matched, so I decided to make two new ones.

So I pulled it off and headed to the fabric store. I didn't buy fabric at the fabric store, because the only fabrics I liked were $16/metre! There was no way Im paying that much for boat curtains. I went home sad until I remembered a post I saw on Pinterest about crafts with drop cloths. Now, I'm not the type of person to re-purpose a drop cloth for the fun of it, but since it was the color I was looking for, and $13 total, there was no better choice. I drove to Home Depot and bought a drop cloth.

Making curtains the way I was doing it was nearly the easiest sewing project I have ever done!.

Materials:

Hooks to hand your curtain

Drop Cloth (or any other heavy fabric)

Sewing Machine

Fabric Scissors 

Pencil

Measuring Tape

Iron/ironing board

What I did:

I started by measuring the original curtains I added 1 inch to the vertical measurement to account for seams, and 3 inches to the horizontal measurement to account for seams because I was screwing it to the wall on one side I needed extra thick seams(normally just add 1 inch per side for 1/2 inch seams). 

Lay the fabric out on the floor. Measure and mark points with a pencil the size of the new curtain, connect the points with a straight line if you are not a super straight cutter (like me). Cut out the new curtain with fabric scissors. One huge benefit if you are using a drop cloth is that the sides already have seams, so in my case I only needed to make seams on two sides!

Next Iron your fabric how you plan to sew it. I needed 1/2 inch seams on the top for the hooks I was using so I folded 1/2 inch over ironed, and folded another 1/2 inch over and ironed. Since the bottom was already heamed I only needed to add 1 inch to my length. Pin the ironed fabric in place. Ironing is VERY important. You might not believe me, but ironing before sewing makes an item look much more professional. If you iron you are more likely to be asked "where did you buy that," then if you don't iron. Don't skip this step!

Next Sew the seams. In this picture I am sewing a piece that I took from one of the curtains that was used to attach the hooks. It is very unlikely that you will have this same piece, bit it was fairly easy if you are interested (I have no idea what its called or where to buy it). 

Once it is sewn that is basically it. I had to attach the hooks onto the top of the other one (not shown in the sewing picture above). Finally hang the curtain and  admire your handy work. 

Ahhh so much better! I am really happy with how the turned out, but next time I have free time (never) I might paint some stripes on the bottom to add a bit more pizazz!

If you need a tutorial on how to make other types of curtains try one of these:

Top Tab Curtains-Stitched by Crystal

Easy Sew Curtains-Visual Eye Candy

Sore Bum: Stool pillow top

A log stool is just a log if you don't spruce it up!

My log stool was hard and not that exciting until I added a pillow top to it!

Materials:

Stiff Fabric

Foam or Round Pillow

Long screw

Washer the bigger the better

Big Button

Strong glue

First determine how big to make the pillow. I made mine 1" wider than my stump so that it had some overhang. I had some old foam lying around so I cut that to the right size. I wanted the seat to be soft, so I cut an additional circle slightly smaller to go on top for extra padding. If you are using a pillow skip this step.

Making a pillow, I quickly learned, is a very simple task and does not require a pattern. Measure the diameter of the foam and add 3" total to the measurement to account for the 1.5" seam on each side. Fold your fabric in half and cut a circle out of your fabric with the new diameter. To cut a circle I tied a pencil on one end of a string and cut the sting to be the correct length. Hold the sting in the middle and draw a circle with the pencil all the way around keeping the sting tight. It was not 100% accurate for me, but it should be close enough that it will correct when you sew it together. 

Next measure the distance around the outside of the newly cut circles Add a few inches for 'safety' this will be the side panel. Measure the height of your foam/pillow. Mine was 6" tall but I wanted it to squish down inside my pillow case so I only cut 6" total (3" + 1.5" seams on each side). 

Fold the side panel stip in half, and in half again. Pin the corners (3 pins and 4 even sections). Next fold the one circle in half and pin the edges (do this both ways so there are 4 pins dividing the quarters). Match the pins so that the side panel stip is evenly dispursed around the circle. Make sure you do this right side to right side (so when you flip it inside out you see the good side of the fabric). 

Sew the circle on to the side panel strip. Do it again for the other circle but only sew 3/4 of the way around. 

Put the pillow or foam pieces inside and hand sew the opening closed. 

Take a long screw. Mine was 5" but that might have been over kill. Place the washer on the screw. This gives extra security so the fabric doesn't rip and pop over top of the screw. Place the pillow on the stump just how you want it. Find the middle of the pillow (I eyeballed it) and screw down through the pillow into the stup. Go down almost as far as you can so that when you sit down the screw doesn't poke you. Finally glue a big button on top of the screw to hide it.

Finished!

Rustic Cabin: Stool and side table

I don't know if its because I'm Canadian, British Columbian, or if its just me, but there is something fantastic about that deep in the woods Cabin. The kind where the owner says, my grandfather built this cabin and everything in it from the trees on the property. Then you cook the fish you just caught for dinner over a wood burning stove. That to me, sounds delightful!

I have a friend with a cabin like the one I am describing. Its near Egan Lake in BC, which is 1.5 hours to the closest town of under 2000 residents. Its really in the boonies! My friends dad built the entire house, and all the furniture inside. Its probably close to 500 sqft which is very squishy in -15 C  with 8 other people inside...But I love it so much! Unfortunately I can't find a good picture of that cabin, so I will have to update this post next time I go up there.

That being said I made some wooden stools that are very log cabin-esk.

Materials:

Large log stump

Skinny log stump

Sand paper (palm sander if available)

Large circular saw or chainsaw

spray varnish

3 Dowel Screw

What I did:

I started with two big log stumps and two skinny stumps from the pile in our back yard. You can get your from anywhere, I often see free fire wood on craigslist.

Brush off the sides with a coarse broom to get rid of any groseness and any loose bark. Then sand the top and bottom to remove any slime and to level out the surface.

Varnish all sides. I used spray varnish because it was much quicker and easier to get in the cracks. Trust me on this one, when I discovered varnish came in a spray can...my life was very simplified!

Next cut three even pieces from the smaller log. Keep in mind that a chair is about 19" tall. I wanted mine 21" for a bit of a higher stool so we cut the feet to be 3" tall.

Clean up and varnish the feet the same way as the main stool. Use the dowel screws to screw the legs into the side you choose to be on the bottom. Dowel screws are also revolutionary. If you have never used them before. Grip the middle with a pliers while you twist it into the foot. Only twist 1/3 of the way into the foot. Then flip it over and twist it into the stump using the foot as your handle. Once the stump side is tight the foot side will tighten up as well.

If you want a side table or a hard top stool thats it your done!

Pillow Tutorial coming soon...

Earrings: The Shiny Gold Shirt

My Brother is one of those guys who is so cool he can get away with anything. Right now, for instance, he has a greasy short pony tail, and bobby pins back his bangs, but he is still the coolest kid. He is the kinda person that sets trends, though I hope others are smart enough not to follow the pony tail trend. If he starts wearing baggy cargo pants, so do all the kids in his fan club. I really like him, he is a really nice, caring, hilarious, fun guy, but he can be a bit odd at times. Right now he is a folk singer song writer. His group is called Bronson and the Angels. However, he was not always a musician.

My Brother used to be really into basketball. He was super good and played for our provincial team! During that time, being the high school jock that he was, he was invincible in his coolness factor. I think he was in grade 9 or 10 when he went on a summer tournament to San Francisco. He wanted to make a statement at this tournament. He found the most intense gold shiny shirt at Value Village (thrift store), so he decided to wear it...everyday. This shirt made a statement for sure! It was probably a really nice shirt wear to the disco if you were over the age of 50 20 years ago. But, in the 21st century, it was not popular amongst high school boys.

I'm not sure if he still has the shirt tucked away in a safe keeping box somewhere, but I have not seen it in the last 5 years. However, when I was looking through my mom's button box, I came across two buttons from the shirt that had the same fabric on them. Though I would not wear the shirt now, I think the fabric is nice in small button sized quantities. So I decided to make them into earrings.

What I did:

This project probably took me less than 5 min. The buttons were shank style buttons, so they had a loop on the back. I took my pliers and cut the loop off so they would lie flat, this left a messy hole in the back, but that didn't matter. I then took some craft earring studs, and glued them onto the back of the button. I let the glue dry over night to be sure it was good and secure. I wore them the next day! Presto!