me and my fabric

Stained to Sassy

2012-02-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

well here i am again! it's been a while...jobs have been slow since i got a job, but i still do this on the side when the opportunity rises. who can't use some extra money??

yet again, i dug out my heavy machinery

what was on the agenda this time? 4 round bar stools. easy! these stools were actually from the same woman i did my previous job for. when she first gave them to me, they were covered in leopard microfiber, full of wear marks and stains. (i forgot to photograph that part). and underneath, was even dirtier tan microfiber

so, we went shopping for some new fabric together. here is what she picked out

pretty hu? she wanted the big medallions centered on the cushions. (we bought extra for some throw pillows i will be making at a later date.) once i carefully mapped out where each cushion would go, i cut the pieces out, and began stapling. next step: trimming the excess

and voila!

stay tuned for the throw pillows!

Barrel Of Fun

2011-11-13T16:33:00.001-08:00

It has been quite a long while since i have posted any upholstering projects. after the bird chair (last post shown) i took a bit of a hiatus from upholstering to focus on my new job at the fabric store.

i did just finish 7 white dining chair covers, but i didn't document that. either way...i DID just finish a barrel chair for a friend. here is how the story went

it was a tired chair, but a family favorite

oddly enough, this was the easiest un-stapling i've ever had to do for upholstering

it also turned out to be a secret piggy bank, as i found $5.37 inside...

once i took it apart, i began draping the fabric, and also sewing a middle panel to the arms for the inside back

sewing the cushion was a bit of a challenge since it went into a semi-circle in the back, but i managed. here is the end result...much better i think...

Crazy 'Ol Bird

2011-07-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

this latest project was by far my most challenging. An arm chair with back and seat cushions sewn! after examining the pictures i was proposed with, i decided that i was up for the challenge. Here's the before:

the fabric that she chose was a print called 'crazy 'ol bird'. she also wanted contrasting cording to go with it. she brought over a bolt of 7 yards, but i had to go and fetch the rust color to make the cording still. i was excited to do a different and more colorful piece. however, i knew that this was going to be a lot of work...custom cording, sewing, learning, upholstering. so i began to shed the old fabric

once that was done, i started on cutting out the fabric

i took a break from the upholstery part, and decided to take on the part that i was fearing...the cushions. i also happened to have gotten this job the same week that i started a new job, and had to dog sit at a different location than where i was keeping the chair. at the time, it felt like this was never going to get done. but with a little determination, i pressed on. after watching some detailed how to videos, i learned the process to make zippered couch cushions. i went to steve's mom once again to use her amazing bernina sewing machine to zip through this.

VOILA!!!!!!!!!! mission accomplished. one of my biggest upholstery fears has been conquered:

check out that fancy hidden zipper

in the mean time, i decided that the waterfall skirt on the chair looked outdated, and i also realized that there wouldn't be enough fabric for one. luckily, i emailed her to see if she really wanted that skirt, and she said new feet instead would be more exciting. YES!!! now i get to go shopping...my favorite part. i took a picture of about 8 different feet for her, and we decided on this one:

OKAY...now it's back to upholstering. this was probably a record for how fast i got this chair done...a few hours one evening, and a few hours the next afternoon. i started with the arm

then onto the back

once i finished the arms and back i moved on to the backside of the chair

then i finished up the underside of the arms and the cording

once i finished the cording, i finished off the arms, flipped it over, and THE BEST PART:

put the black cover on the bottom...the tell tale sign of BEING FINISHED. i was pretty excited about attaching the legs...here it goes...

they look awesome....and so does the chair! the back cushion was a triumph as it took about 1/4 of the time that the bottom cushion took. here is the end result:

Chaise Me

2011-06-17T23:26:00.000-07:00

my latest contract job/venture was a chaise lounge chair. i took this on, cautiously, as there were some things that scared me....such as upholstered buttons, AND cording. but, alas...i knew that i could figure it out. here is how she was proposed to me:

she arrived at the house last friday, much in need of new clothes, with a fresh bolt of white fabric. saturday, i began taking it apart.

look how crazy the inside of this thing looked...all of these colors, and i am using white fabric. this should be fun!

here she is in her underwear, ready to be re-covered.

the orange arms were pretty inconvenient, as the fabric was a not-so-thick white. i had to double up the fabric on the arms which made it a little more work. there was also purple hanging out in there too. the cotton suggests that this chair is pretty old...no foam. i could have replaced it...but, A. i don't know how and B. that would have cost her more money. the cotton was incredibly soft and comfy too.

now, i was so enthralled by this project that i forgot to take pictures of cutting out the fabric, and sewing the cording. BUT...first i traced new pieces from the old ones. much to my delight, most of the chair was stapled, so i had to shimmy everything in place...push, pull, staple. (it was a little harder than it sounds)...here is how she came together:

Once that was done, it was time to sew, and staple on the cording and 'curve-ease':

did i make a big enough mess?

the metal curve ease was one of the trickiest parts, and left me with a little bit of sewing to do at the end. after that, it was time to make the buttons:

aren't they cute? after a little more stapling, she was ready for the buttons

when i first started trying to attach the buttons, NONE of my needles were working. it turns out that while plush, cotton is really dense...the needles would only go so far into it and would just stop. so, check out my big momma needle that i got. 8 inches long, worked like a charm, but even with that i still needed to hammer the needle through the cotton

some finishing touches along to arms and top cording

and she's DONE...what a project this was.

Reversible Makeover

2011-05-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

another one of my contract jobs from craigslist was to reupholster the back cushions and seat cushions of a lovely girl's dining room set. here are the pictures she emailed me:

i was pretty excited to take on this 12 piece project...it was a challenge! she already had the fabric handy, a bolt of 5 yards. the fun part was that the fabric was reversible, so she wanted every other chair to be done in reverse. very creative! and i think a great choice.

then comes the dreaded staple pulling. despite the strenuous nature of this, i prefer to never upholster fabric on top of existing fabric. I think it is tacky, and i would feel like i wasn't offering the best craftsmanship that i could. so it began

that is about half of the staples from one cushion...maybe a little more. each cushion believe it or not took about 45 minutes to an hour to remove all of the staples. i even recruited my darling to do one cushion!

he actually enjoyed the task...but only ended up helping me with one. what a tease. anyway...here they are naked, minus the seat cushions...i was too enthusiastic to recover them as soon as i took them apart:

now they are ready. the fabric was so so fabulous, however the warp (the string that offers the base for weaving) was very thin, and the weft (the material that is woven into the warp) was very thick and...well...fuzzy? (MAN would my weaving teacher be proud). since there was that issue, the weft would unravel very easily, leaving the cut ends very fragile to the touch, and a bit hard to stretch for upholstering, particularly around the pegs of the chair backs.

luckily it didn't pose a huge problem. here they are!

TA-DAA! i am going to ask her to take a picture of them put together, so that i can post it!

Leather Coats

2011-05-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

recently i have been putting up posts on craigslist offering upholstering service. i figure, i LOVE! fabric, and i am okay at upholstering, so why not make a little money? i do however state that i don't do couches, love seats, or full covered arm chairs as of yet. i still have a lot of learning to do as far as sewing+upholstering is concerned. ANYWHO i got a small project for some bar stools.

i was a little worried that they would be difficult, seeing that they were round. i was envisioning a lot of folds, which is never pretty.

leather was requested, and i had the "task" of locating the material. let me tell you, i had so much fun with that "chore"! i found some genuine leather, but it would have been $129 as you had to buy the whole hyde, or $49 a sq. yard at the other location i went to which was out of his budget. so vinyl it was. i bought a piece at SAS, my favorite discount fabric store, but ended up using a more expensive (but still in expensive) piece that i found at a local upholstery store that i just discovered, that was much better quality. the vinyl had a bit of stretch, so it made the fold situation effortless!

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

i must say they do look a lot better! the challenging part (besides trying to avoid folds) was locating the holes so that he can screw them back in. either way, i hope he is satisfied with the new faux leather jackets

Fiesta Chairs!

2011-05-05T00:37:00.000-07:00

finally! after 7 weeks of waiting for this fabric to arrive, i can show off my red bar stools.

it all started at a garage sale right across the street...i got these babies as a set for $20.

as if they couldn't be more of a blank canvas, the wood was even raw, so there wasn't even a need for sanding! when i took off the cushions to spray paint them....black originally....i saw this on the bottom of each cushion:

MADE IN MEXICO! SI! how do i NOT paint them red??? so i returned my black, and got a few cans of banner red spray paint.

what was fun about them, was that the knots and grains came through some of the red, and ended up making a pretty fun effect. other than that, i decided that these festive red stools needed a bright, mexican tile print. i immediately thought of the bright, fun plate that i got in mexico

so i started sketching, and came up with a tile and put it in a simple repeat, just like tiles

after that long wait, she came in the mail all ready for the patiently waiting stools:

now it's time to rip off the old fabric, cut out the new, and staple away

the hardest part by far, was this tricky corner where the cushion meets the back of the stool

and here they are!

New Dining Room Clothes

2011-05-01T22:39:00.000-07:00

i got the exciting news a few days ago that my boyfriend's mom wanted her 6 dining room chairs recovered! of course i was there to the rescue. these dining room chairs really needed the help, as their seats were covered in an itchy, thick tweed like carpet-y-ish sort of thing. she got a great deal on several yards of a nice gold and burgundy floral, that would accent well with the adjoining sitting room that has a tan couch and two burgundy chairs. here's what they looked like earlier today:

Just after this step, i measured out some batting for each cushion. the seats weren't very thick, so we decided to keep the original fabric, and cover it with batting to add some more cushion and also to mask the texture of the old fabric. i forgot to take a picture of this step...woops...

anywho...next it was time to cut out the fabric. the tricky part was that i had to line up the fabric so that all of the seats looked uniform. good thing there was so much fabric...i had a lot of room to play with, and the print ended up working perfectly.

Once everything was cut out, i busted out my favorite air-powered stable gun and started firing away. here they are!

notice the fab job i did matching up the pattern??!!?!?!?! um, not to pat myself on the back or anything.

Think Pink

2011-04-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

so, i have this odd obsession with my incredibly matching bathroom, and i'd love to share some pics. i bought all of this before moving into my first apartment, so i was obviously pretty excited to decorate something of my own. what you can't see in these pictures, is the matching pink rug/toilet lid cover set that also is a part of this cheery ensemble.

i think that the towel display needs to be shown first, as it is my pride and joy:

i hot glued that pink ribbon to the mirror as an instant frame!

Lamp Revamp

2011-04-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

it is sad to me that it has been a month since i have last blogged! i have been patiently waiting for my fabric to arrive (STILL!!!) for the red bar stools i refinished 6 weeks ago. my fabric source boomed with unexpected business, and therefore it has been back ordered. i am hoping to post them within the next week or two! in the mean time:

i found this lamp for $3.99, without a shade.

i happened to have an extra lamp shade that fit PERFECT with the lamp. i thought that orange would be a fun color for this brown lamp.

my bed looks a little messy, sorry! but the orange went perfect with the african fabrics in my room as well as my cute IKEA pillow you can see!

Goodwill Project #2

2011-03-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm extremely excited about THIS re-do! i found this ugly-ish looking thing on a shelf by all the candle stuff and i HAD to have him.

it was so unique looking, that i thought i could bring it to life with a little spray paint. at first i dreamt of spraying it a bright color...like a glossy bright orange, or yellow. but when i put white primer on it, i LOVED how it looked white.
SOOOO...here he is!

Good Will Project #1

2011-03-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

today was 50% day at Goodwill.. it's really the only time i would go. i hit up three of them.... i got this cute little plant last night, and decided that 50% off day was the best time to find a little flower pot for him!

here is what i found for $.85!

a good 'ol terra cotta pot. i was just pondering the other day if i could lacquer a flower pot to give it the 'fired in a kiln' glazed look. so i took some house primer, and put a base since terra cotta is porous.

then, whipped out some spray paint i had left over

added a little fabric border, and voila!

not bad for $.85! stay tuned for project #2 (the last of this goodwill visit treasure hunt)

Finished Curtains...Finally!!!

2011-03-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

i thought these curtains were going to be the death of me! at the time of purchase, i didn't realize that there was a slight bit of stretch in them. for a novice sewer, that made things extremely complicated, to say the least. after a couple weeks of avoidance, i finally sat down and got 'er done.

even though i claimed that if they were gong to be plain black, i would not do them...alas, i agreed. they are a pin stripe

the dog sure loved them

before:

after:

meanwhile...i love going to the dollar store and getting the cheesiest holiday decor POSSIBLE. here is my easter ensemble:

how hilarious is this cardboard flower arrangement?? how do i NOT buy this?

and how do we forget this crafty wreath i made?

not bad for $10 and some change. gotta love the holidays

Progress

2011-03-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

i have taken a while to update my blog because i've been in the middle of so many projects! between furniture, and the wedding invitations, freelance work, and curtains i feel overwhelmed. the curtains should be done at the end of this week for me to show. the red bar stools are just waiting on their fabric to arrive in the mail.

yesterday i was browsing around on the "Free" section on Craigslist....only the BEST treasure hunt out there. it's usually really hard to snag anything, but i found this post 6 minutes after it was put up. i scored a large oak table and 4 parsons chairs!!!

i was just dying to take one of these apart. i'm planning on leaving the legs and sides bare, and refinishing them..i'm not a fan of the full covered look

Open chair surgery:

though i'm ripping off fabric on those (mainly because it's pretty dirty), my next project will be this guy:

Workin' Hard

2011-03-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

i haven't written in a while because i've been working on some new projects...making some curtains, working on designing some invitations for my future sister-inlaw and also in the middle of a 3-stool project! my print is underway for the stools as well, so there will be a fresh before and after, original printed, refinished set!

oh and did i mention i made some mini red pillows as well?

here are a couple teasers!

the curtains will not be my fabric, they are black pinstripe. but it is a big project indeed...68 inch panels, 3 windows...and no big table for measuring or cutting. yea. BUT i'm making great use out of my christmas present. better pictures of this project when i finish. (1 panel 80% done, 5 more to go)

meanwhile, i'm doing what i love most, which is my furniture. here is a preview!

between those kitchen curtains, the red pillows, and these chairs...it sure seems like i'm on a red kick!

A Splash of Color

2011-02-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

one of my all time favorite sources of inspiration is african fabrics, as i've probably mentioned. i love the bright colors, the big/fun patterns, and pretty much everything there is to like about it. they have a sort of free-spirt quality that other fabrics don't posses.

with that being said, i was very excited to see the amazing collection of authentic african fabrics that the fabric store had the other day. i decided to help out with a kitchen spruce up!

isn't this great!

before:

after:

YouTube

2011-02-26T22:24:00.000-08:00

hooray! i didn't get many professional photographs from the RAW event like I was hoping, but this video is pretty fun! It keeps deleting for some reason, so if it doesn't play, just type in "Rachel Wines" in YouTube

here are the two pictures i did manage to get done of my paintings

A Lovely Yard

2011-02-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

today i brought my darling to my heaven place....SAS Fabric...only the most amazing *DISCOUNT!* fabric store i've ever seen, to finally make curtains for his empty windows. at SAS, you can find everything from fabric to tiaras..from sequin and lace trims to buttons, appliques, etc. it's giant. i'm not sure if it's just an arizona place, but here is the site
http://www.sasfabricssuperstore.com/

i came across this beautiful piece of fabric, and realized...i guess i don't have to upholster ALL of my chairs in my own fabric designs. that would stop me from searching for cool fabric. check it out....$4.99/yard!

the picture doesn't show it well, but it's a navy blue, with black velvet leaves. i can't wait to play with it. here is my collection of chairs i get to choose from:

Etsy

2011-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

well, i finally did it. i set up my pillows in an etsy store. i'm sad that i don't own an amazing camera, so the prints look muddy...but here's to hoping i get some luck out of it!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/itsrachel25

The Pillows

2011-02-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

The pillow project was the second time, besides the chair, that i got the supreme satisfaction of seeing my prints on a piece of fabric. something to me, that is just as satisfying as eating your favorite chocolate. i felt like i could run around the block, which says a lot for someone like me who prefers sitting as much as possible.

how fun is that???
my camera, nor my camera phone did these colors any justice, but here are some in yardage form:

then it dawned on me: i was never taught to sew. i have 8 pillows to make in less than a week...my supportive boyfriend bought me a great sewing machine for christmas, and his mom (who owns "THE CADILLAC" of sewing machines, and did the alterations to my giant bridesmaid gown flawlessly) bought me the go-alongs...like scissors, pins, pin tomato, etc. SO what's the best thing to do? haul everything, including the big dog who panics in cars, over to her house.

then...she introduced a magical thing to me....A SERGER.

i was NUTS about it. i zipped through all the pillow cases in about 3 hours or less, while slamming chips-ahoys, looking like i've been doing this for YEARS. and voila:

i wonder what my next project should be?

Oldies but Goodies

2011-02-16T17:03:00.000-08:00

so, when i was a kid, my mom used to pick the trash. literally. on the way to school, if it was trash day, it was christmas day. she would pick up antiques, furniture, things of that nature that no one felt like selling, and would shove them in the car, and drive away while i was mortified and disgusted. i swore for years that i would NEVER do such a repulsive thing. now, here i am...making over sad, old, forgotten things into new treasures.

my fun Goodwill finds!

Got this set from Craigslist...one of my favorite treasure chests, for $35. no, sadly this isn't my fabric..this was before i started printing my own. THIS is an IKEA fabric special:

Evolution of a chair!

2011-02-15T09:58:00.001-08:00

i am currently working on making this page look amazing, so please be patient =)

so here it is...i finally made my fun dream come true...to see my print in production, and used on a piece of furniture. who needs to hide behind some brand name label? my style is too bold for most as it is... i've decided to go independent

the first photo (which is the last one on the post) is of the quirky inspiration I had for this print...an amazing design that my olive oil made in the pan right before making some yummy chicken tacos. I decided to take it and run with it, and here we are, with my very first (of many) chairs. let the dream come true begin

after many, many hours of sanding, pulling staples, sanding, pulling staples, being scared to death of my air powered staple gun:

stretching fabric, giving up, then pulling it together, she's finally done!

RAW artists, Phoenix

2011-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

so i got invited to be a part of "RAW"...an organization that supports starving artists, such as myself to get out there.
http://www.rawartists.org/

what was so great about it, was that it was the first time i saw a small collection of artists, and an enormous crowd of visitors in AZ that weren't sipping on wine and inspecting paintings of cowboys, running horses, mountainous terrains, or anything else western for that fact. sure, all of that is dandy, but enough is enough already. let's see some style!

i only had 3 weeks to prepare for this. i designed 5 new prints, refurbished 3 older prints, ordered them, bought pillow forms, sewed pillow covers, whipped up a small painting, a block printed piece of fabric, and went for it. despite the large (and some literally) groups of people that decided to sit on my display/pillows/ etc...it was still a rewarding experience, and refreshing to be around people who have the same passion as i do.

here is the fabulous dress that i wore, that i read a review on a blog saying it was 'disturbing' and something pebbles flinstone would wear. here is my blog, objecting:

i didn't get many photos, because there were professional photographers there which i am still waiting on. but here are some snips, at the end of the night...so excuse any wild, unruly pieces of hair, or crooked paintings:

here is the spot i got to transform

and voila...i had both couches, but at the end, i moved everything to the one...oh, and people had already sat on the other couch so much that the pinned fabric had fallen off =)

i am also really into stenciling, as you can see in the orange painting behind the chair, and these:

Homeless in Hawaii?

2009-04-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

so what is all this blog stuff all about? in the midst of my job search, i figured i would give it a try instead of doing something productive...like laundry, clean my closet, laundry, make food, etc.

so here i am, at 4:00 in the afternoon still in bed. for someone that has been working since the age of 15 (at the ancient age of 23) i feel like a big 'ol bag of whatever you'd like. upon my layoff 2 months ago, i decided to visit my fun/fabulous aunt in france, and then drive across country to arizona to search for a purpose amongst sun and palm trees. 103+ online job applications and i am still lounging. let me tell you, my tan looks amazing, as well as my new unemployed diet results!

a friend i miss dearly back home is in the same exact spot as me. here is where our brilliant idea of homeless in hawaii comes in. let's invest in a few tarps for cover, a plane ticket, and be one with mother nature on a beautiful island. after all, they do say make lemonade with lemons, right?