Vintage Chairs Re-covered!

I've had these old vintage chairs for years. When we first got them, they were in decent condition, but through the years got tons of holes. I procrastinated on redoing them for so long. I was always afraid and unsure on how to do it! Finally, after moving back I had enough. No more sitting on duct tape and getting a sticky butt! I found beautiful laminated cotton on etsy and upholstery tacks on ebay and was on my way. I am SO SO SO pleased with the results. The chairs are so fun and totally me!

 

Before and after.

 

 

 

I made a little template to help with the back of the chair.

I just cut the fabric out a little bigger than the template so I could fold it under. 

 

I was always scared of the upholstery tacks. I don't know why. 

I guess I didn't know how they worked or how hard it was to use them.

Well, it's super easy! I didn't really measure the distance between them.

I just sort of eyeballed it and it looks great! 

   

All though this project turned out awesome and was moderately easy to do, it was physically hard. HA! So much pulling, stretching and hammering. I definitely broke a sweat a few times, had some sore muscles and smashed my fingers a couple of times. Totally worth it! 

Neko approves!

Repurposed Record Player Cabinet!

This is a little overdue, since I actually did this over the summer. . . but I'm still so happy about it! We got this old record player cabinet from a friend, and I instantly thought it would look GREAT yellow!  Anyway, it turned out great, and looks fabulous in our new apartment.

 

(Ugh! I forgot to take a picture before we took out the speakers!)

shirt surgery!

The other day I bought this terribly large and ugly shirt at the thrift store. The floral pattern was really cute...but the shirt was not. So, I decided to try and  make it into a dress!

I don't have a step by step tutorial, because I really didn't know what I was doing.

Basically, I just found some other dresses I had, and used them as templates! 

Ugly shirt:

Cute pattern:

 

Using another dress that fit me well, I just used it as a template and cut around it.

I cut it slightly bigger for seam allowance. 

 

Next I finished off the edges.

 

 I realized I would never wear a dress with a button up collar top, so I decided to cut that off too!

I found another dress I had to use as a template. 

Trust me, I did not know what I was doing.

I just took those two dresses, and tried to duplicate them.

Cut, and finish off edges.
I added some elastic in the back of the dress...just like the template. 

Next, I took the left over sleeves, and made the straps!

Attach straps!

So, after I constructed it...I think I tried it on, and did revisions at least 10 times.

Mostly around the top, so it looked and fit right.

I also ended up sewing the entire dress shut where buttons were. It's just safer that way! Haha!

Add belt, and there you have it!

 

Dustin took the pictures for me...so he wanted to show what he was wearing too. ^_^

Monday Inspiration - Roadside Recycling

I've been loading all my old pictures into iPhoto since we got the new computer. Thousands and thousands of pictures since 2002! I ran across these that I took in 2006. A collaborative effort between PennDOT Employees, and art students from Allegheny College; made giant flowers out of old road signs! It's along Route 322 in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

How cool is that? I want some for my flowerbeds.

I'd probably be able to manage these a lot better than my real ones. :p