DIY: Ruffled Lamp Shade

I've seen several tutorials on ruffled lamp shades around the blogger world, so if my version is confusing, do some googling and I'm sure you'll find someone much more descriptive and eloquent than me.  Warning: You're going to want to ruffle all of the lampshades in your home after this.  Assuming, of course, that you're a ruffleholic like me.

At the time of creating the lamp shades in our master bedroom (shown above), I wasn't keeping up on the blog, and therefore didn't take step-by-step photos.  Lucky for you, I couldn't resist doing more ruffled lamp shades and recently created another one for an owl lamp in the baby's room.  See?  I'm in love.

Materials

Old lamp shade

Fabric

Cutting & measuring tools

Sewing machine, thread that matches fabric

Hot glue gun

Step 1: Find an old lamp shade, preferably in a color similar to the fabric you will be using.  Measure the circumference of the largest part of the lamp.

Step 2: Wash and iron your fabric.  Cut into long strips.  My strips for the owl lamp are 4" wide.  Each strip will need to be at least twice the length of the circumference of the lamp.  If your lamp is 30" in circumference, then the longest strip should be 4" x 60".

Yeah, my fabric isn't ironed.   I hate ironing.  It still turned out okay.  You should definitely wash it though.  It makes the fabric more soft and ruffleable.  Ruffleable is totally a word.  Also, I don't do anything to keep the edges of the fabric from fraying.  I think it adds to the whole look.  If you want your lamp shade to be tailored and neat with hemmed edges, you might want to rethink the whole ruffles thing in the first place.

Step 3: Sew a single length of thread down the center of each strip.  Do NOT back stitch at the end of each strip.  You will then pull on the thread from each end, and ruffle up the fabric along the length of the thread.  Or use a ruffling foot on your sewing machine and skip all of that.

Step 4: Using a ruler and pencil, mark where you want each ruffle to go on the shade.  This is where you will be placing the hot glue, so space the markings appropriately.  For the owl lamp, I used 4 rows of ruffles.  Make sure that the top and bottom ruffle will adequately cover the edges of the original shade.  And make sure that the ruffles are close enough together so that the original shade won't show through in between the ruffles.

Step 5: Start gluing on the ruffles!  I place a glue bead of 4-5" long at a time, and then work quickly to smoosh the center of the ruffle into the glue.  At the seam of the ruffles (matched to the seam of the lamp shade of course), I overlap by about 1/4" inch and then trim off the extra fabric.

Step 6: Add each ruffle layer until the shade is covered.  Here is my masterpiece in the baby room.

Those Anthropologie inspired curtains?  I used the tutorial from Besserina.  That side table?  A total score from my local antique shop.  That awesome awesome rockin glider and ottoman?  50% off deal from Guilt Groupe.

DIY: Upholstered Headboard Redux

Remember this DIY upholstered headboard that I did for our master bedroom?  Here it is in our new place.

But after a year or so of floral and pink and red and uber girliness, I got really tired of it all.  Okay, I'm lying.  I'm still totally all about girliness.  But the floral headboard was really hard to decorate around without turning the bedroom into a Laura Ashley style theme, which isn't my style at all.  And I think the hubby really appreciates me toning the whole pink flower thing down a bit.

So...I redid it and ended up with this.

I tore off the existing fabric, replaced it with micro suede, and replaced the crystal buttons with oiled bronze buttons.  This is much more the look I'm going for in the room.  And now I can do drapes and furniture paint colors and wall decorations without the place turning into a pre-teen girls room.

Those ruffled lamp shades and ruffled bed sheet?  So easy!  I'll be doing tutorials in upcoming blog posts.

DIY: Upholstered Headboard

I've been hating our bedroom decor for awhile now.  The items on the wall looked great when we had a different color scheme going on with the bed.  But it had all evolved into something that definitely didn't work.  See?  The silver frames and the wood on the lamps and the warm colors on the bed.  No good.

So, inspired by some cute dresser pulls from Anthropologie and the hand-made quilt from my Mom, I decided to go with....PINK!  and RED!  Keep your opinions to yourself.  Okay, no, don't.  Because I still need help with ideas.  But the pink and red is staying.  It makes me happy.

The first part of the transition was to do something different above the bed.  I've always wanted an upholstered headboard like they have in my favorite hotels.  How hard could it be?  It turns out, not that dang hard.  If you don't mind really really sore arms and bleeding fingers.  Meh, that all disappeared after a day or so.

The redecorating of the rest of the bedroom will be documented in later blog posts.  Disclaimer: I'm an engineer, not a decorator or designer.  So if I'm way off-the-mark, I'm open to comments.

Supplies
- Plywood.  Since they don't make sheets large enough for the space I needed, I made 2 separate panels with the intent to just place them side-by-side.  It worked great.  And was perhaps easier than making one large one.
- Staple gun, staples
- Fabric, batting (enough for 2 layers)
- If you want to tuft the headboard - drill, buttons, upholstery thread, needle
- Something to secure the buttons to the back of the headboard.  I used wire stapled to the back.

Step 1:

Cut the plywood to the correct size.  Or have the store do it for you.  Some will, some won't.  I wanted mine to free-stand from the floor, so I used 2.5' x 6.5'.

If you are planning on tufting your headboard, drill the holes for the buttons at this point.  Just decide how frequently you want a button, measure, and drill.  You can't tell from this photo, but the holes are there.  I did 5 rows of buttons on each panel, alternating between 2 holes and 3 holes each row.

Step 2:

Drape the batting over the panels, cut off the excess, and secure by stapling on the back side of the plywood.  Don't pull too hard!  Repeat with the second layer of batting.  If you want a really cushy headboard (hehehe), use three layers.  I was too cheap to buy a third layer.  That stuffs expensive, yo!  In the photo on the left you can see the wire across the back to tie off the buttons.

Step 3:

Repeat Step 2, but this time with the actual fabric.  Go slower this time and take the time to make sure it's lined up evenly and that you are pulling the fabric tight enough, but without stretching it.  The corners are a bitch, and I have no good advice here.  Other than trim off the excess batting and fabric, and then staple the hell out of it.  Whew, lots of cursing in this post.  Please don't send me emails about it, thanks.

I forgot to take a photo of this step, so here's one with the buttons already on.

Step 4:

Step back and admire your work.  Resist the urge to stop here.  It really does look so much better after it's all tufted.  Okay, deep breath.  And maybe a shot of tequila with a beer chaser.  This next step takes some patience and lots of reaching and stooping and swearing.  Ready?  Add buttons.  Sorry, that's all I got for ya.  My method took forever and I was hating life for the entire time.  Maybe you will come up with something much more efficient.

I used beautiful vintage buttons that I've been collecting for years.  Mismatched crystal, pearl, and fabric buttons in various shades of clear and white.

Step 5:

Either hang the panels on the wall, or lean them on the floor.  Stare for a really long time.  With a stiff drink in your bleeding hands.

Knit: Hat

This was meant to be a slouchy hat, but it is sort of in-between.  No matter to me, it's super cozy and I love the color (rather, the non-color).  Mushroom-grayish-brown is one of my new favorite non-colors.  And it's plenty long, so it covers my mass of crazy hair without me having to keep stretching it down.

 Supplies:

• Worsted weight yarn - I used Rowan Cocoon 80% merino 20% kid mohair...I think.  I usually have multiple projects going on simultaneously and I'm notorious for losing and/or mixing up the yarn labels.  Regardless, pick a yarn that you like and use the measurements on the label to figure out how many stitches to fit your noggin.
• Size 6 double point needles - Again...I think.  I measured my head and used the stitches/inch guide and the recommended needle size on the label.  You could probably use a circular needle, but I always work with dp needles, so I can't help you out there.

Instructions:

1) Cast on the desired number of stitches, taking care not to twist the needles.

2) Knit in single rib (k1, p1) until the piece measures about 1 inch.  If I knit this again, I would make it 2 inches.

3) Knit every row until the piece measures as long as you need it to be.  Mine ended up 10 inches.

4) Now the tricky part...  split your work evenly across 4 needles.  So, if you cast on 100 stitches, make sure you have 25 on each needle.

Needle 1 (w/ 25 stitches)

Needle 2 (w/ 25 stitches)                                             Needle 3 (w/ 25 stitches)

Needle 4 (w/ 25 stitches)

5) Bind off needle 1 and needle 4 together using a 3rd needle.  So, treat needle 1 and needle 4 as 1 needle, like you are knitting with 2 strings of yarn held together.  You will end up with yarn on 3 needles.

6) Now, just work with needle 2 back and forth, until it is 2 inches longer.

7) Bind off needle 2 and needle 3 together.

8) Weave in the ends, and wash/block.

Need help washing/blocking?  Fill a clean sink with lukewarm water and a few drops of Dreft detergent (It's gentle and smells soooo much better than Woolite.  Sort of like fresh babies.  Instead of wet dog.).  Gently push the hat through the soapy water, but don't twist or scrunch or ball up.  Drain the sink and use cool water to rinse all of the soap out.  Gently squeeze the excess water out and lay on a dry towel.  Gently (notice the repetitive use of "gently"?) roll the hat up with the towel, getting the rest of the water out.  Lay the piece out on another dry towel, and shape how you want it.  You can even use stainless safety pins to pin into place as it dries.

Flower Pins

Last fall I purchased a couple of silk flower hair clips.  For like $7 a piece.  I used them in my hair, on the lapels of jackets, as a pin to hold the ends of my scarf together, and as a decoration on my purse.  And then it occurred to me that I can actually make these things myself.  For like $0.07 a pice.

Supplies:

- Fake flowers.  I like silk ones, but anything that isn't too stiff would work equally well.

- Hair clip or button pin thingy.  I've used about 5 different types, so play with some and see what you like best.

- Beads (for the center of the flower).

- Wire for attaching the flower to the clips.

- Felt for covering the back of the pin.

Tools:

- Hot glue gun and glue

- Scissors

Directions:

- Pull the fake flowers off the stems.

- Thread a bead onto a piece of wire and fold the wire in half (so that the bead stays on).

- Thread wire through the center of the flower petals.  Play with different color combinations and styles.

- Thread the wire around the pin or clip.  Different clips will require different methods of attaching.

- Cut the felt into small ovals or circles, in a size that will fit onto the back of the clip/pin.  I use zig-zag shears.

- Cut a slit in the felt to slide the clip through, and then place onto the clip.  So you have, in this order: bead, flower petals, clip/pin, felt.

- Hot-glue inbetween the flower and felt, which will then secure the clip in between the two.

- Let dry and now you have a beautiful, and cheap, flower pin!

Here's my Mom wearing one of my creations on her dress for my brother's wedding:

Framed Jewelry Holder

I am blessed with lots of cute earrings, but plagued with no good organizing system for them. So I crafted this awesome jewelry holder from an old picture frame and a few supplies from the local craft store.  I love it so much that I got up in the middle of the night and turned the light on just to look at it again.  But I'm neurotic like that.

Purchased supplies:

Picture frame (minus the glass) - $15 at my local antique shop
Foam board - $3
Batting - $4
Fabric - $3
Push pins - $3
Total cost = $28 (with batting, fabric, and pins left over)

Other tools you'll need:
Scissors
Hot glue gun, glue
Something to secure the board to the frame
Lots of cute earrings to hang up!

Steps:

1) Remove glass and backing board from your frame.

2) Cut the foam board to fit inside the frame.  Leave a little extra space to account for the batting and fabric that will be wrapped around the edges.

3) Cut the batting and fabric to the size of the foam board, leaving 1-2 inches around the edges.  Washing and ironing the fabric gives the best results, but I'm lazy, so I just ironed it.

4) Starting with one edge at a time, hot glue the batting and fabric to the edges of the foam board.  Make sure you have the fabric facing the correct direction.  Not that I've ever done it wrong...

5) Admire your work.

6) Place the covered board inside the frame.  Secure it to the frame.  My piece was old and didn't have any clasps on the back that most modern-day frames come with.  So I used a handful of screws to keep it in place.

7) Admire your work again.

8) Hang on the wall.  Push the pins randomly on the board and hang up your beautiful jewelry.  Voila!