oh phoebe

a couple of weeks ago i took a trip to south of market over by adac.  just around the corner from south of market is phoebe howard’s max & company store so i stopped in since i was in the area.  max & company is set up like a home, and each room is designed with a particular theme.  i fell in love with the top floor of the store which had a very european feel to it.. 

i loved all the architectural elements and special touches that make the space truly look like a real home…or even better than most homes. 

this zinc top table with nailhead details was for sure my favorite piece of furniture in the room.

close up of the nailhead detail.

i also liked this little reading nook that was tucked into a corner over by the bedroom area.  i wish i had a small area like this in my house to set up like a reading nook…one day, one day.

i would love to have windows like the ones behind this bed.  the light poured into the and lit the whole room.  natural light is so necessary in designing a home.

for some reason the image below is my favorite one that i took while i was there.  the symmetry of this vignette speaks to me. 

i didn’t get pictures of the rest of the store but if you want to look at some you can view them on the store website here.  if you’ve never looked at them before believe me you will be completely inspired.

LiveJournal Tags: phoebe howard,max & company,atlanta design stores

Easy-Sew T-Shirt Shrug Tutorial

So I never sew anything for myself these days.  Right now it is all about my girls, but I decided today was a new day, the sun was shining and it was time for the cottage mama to have something new to wear.  I saw this idea here and it looked SO easy that I had to give it a try. 

I know several of you have commented or emailed me about being new to sewing.  This is the perfect project for a beginner sewer.  Don't be intimidated by the fact that I am using knit here.......trust me......you can do it!

So let's begin.......

This was a long-sleeved t-shirt that I had been wearing this past winter.  Unfortunately it had gotten several small holes right in the center of the shirt and had a small little stain (as is with most of my white shirts).

There are the holes in the middle of the picture......see them......they are very tiny, but they are there.  But no worries, they will be hidden as I turn this t-shirt into a shrug.

I used my quilters ruler and drew with a regular pencil.

Make sure you just cut the top layer of the shirt and don't cut the back.

It was sad to cut off this beautiful trim, but I saved it and will use it for another one of my many projects.

Turn the shirt inside out and measure around the entire area that you have cut - up and around the neck-line.

Pin all the way around - please, please do not skip this step.  I know there are some who think that having to pin is a big pain in sewing, but trust me, it is the only way to achieve professional looking results.

When sewing with knits, I prefer to use a Singer "orange" needle that is especially designed for sewing with knit-like fabric.  You can use your regular needle, but I find the other needle to move through the fabric more smoothly.

Once you have sewn around the entire center and neck-line turn your shirt right-side out.  I don't know if you can see it very well, but we have created an opening all the way around the neck-line.  Ok, stay with me, we're almost done!

This was a really fun piece of trim that I got recently and I decided to use it for my shrug.  Any ribbon or string will work.  You can find bodkin's at all of your sewing shops - they are very inexpensive and I much prefer them to the safety pin.

You will use approximately a yard and a half of ribbon - give or take, depending on your size and how much gathering you do with your shrug.

 Completed T-Shirt Shrug

 (that's me taking a picture of myself)

Then pull your ribbon tight and tie it into a bow (pulling the ribbon on both ends will cause the shirt to gather).  You can wear the bow higher or lower on your chest.  Just play around with it and see what fits your personal style.

There are so many ways to personalize this shrug.  Use any kind of knit t-shirt - go edgy, punk-rock, preppy, laid-back........whatever your style, you can make it work with this look! 

Have fun and happy sewing!!

randomness

today i have two bits of randomness to post about. 

first bit of randomness…

i discovered angela(a picture of her from her blog is to the left – isn’t she beautiful) from the blog the painted house last week and was so excited to find out that she was working on a new blog design.  you’ll see when you take a look at her blog that she is an amazing artist and a very fun blogger.  she actually incorporated her own “doodles” into her new blog design.  to celebrate her new design she is offering a giveaway of one of her original oil paintings to a lucky reader.  no, you didn’t read it wrong, i did say an original oil and a very cool one at that.  head on over and check out her blog if you get a chance.  you’ll be glad you did. 

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second bit of randomness…

how to make the silhouette nursery artwork that i posted on yesterday. {this is for you amanda} 

i wasn’t planning on doing a “how to” on this artwork while i was making it so i’m sorry for the lack of pictures to go along with the directions.

things you need: quilting fabric, staple gun, acrylic paint, paint brushes, ribbon, paper, pencil

1) to make the silhouette artwork first i figured out the silhouette i wanted to use and i drew it out on paper.  this took a while because i had to play with the size and scale of each image.  after i got my image drawn then i cut it out.  you can use any image you like.  i suggest experimenting with different images.

2) then i took my fabric and wrapped it around the canvas.  i used my staple gun to attach the fabric to the back of the canvas.  i only attached it in a few spots in case i needed to move it later.  i used 2 different fabrics – a seersucker and a polka dot.

3) next i placed my silhouettes in the center of the first pair of fabric-wrapped canvases and i lightly traced around the edges of the silhouettes with a pencil.  then i flipped the images over and traced them on the second pair of canvases so i would have a mirror image.

4) once i had my silhouette traced i used my large paint brush to paint inside the silhouettes and i used a smaller paint brush in the areas that were small (like the bird’s legs and the owl’s legs.)  then i did the same thing to the second set but i painted around the image instead of inside. (repeat with 2-3 more coats of paint.)

5) after the paint was dry, i secured all edges of the fabric to the back of the canvas with the staple gun.  i used about 5 or 6 staples per each of the 4 sides of the canvas.

6) to give the art a more finished look i painted all of the edges a darker pink.

7) finally, i attached two strands of ribbon to the back of each canvas with my staple gun and tied the ribbons in a bow.

LiveJournal Tags: the painted house blog,giveaway,my art,how to,diy

silhouettes

over the weekend i went to my friend shelley’s baby shower.  for her shower gift i decided to diy it.  i made some silhouette art similar to the ones that i posted in my “loving…” post from last friday. 

i used quilting fabric, acrylic paints and ribbon in her nursery colors to make them.  i thought they turned out pretty cute if i do say so myself, and i can’t wait until she sends me a picture of them hanging in her nursery.

LiveJournal Tags: my art,nursery,silhouettes

loving…

i’ve found a couple of great stencil ideas lately so i thought i’d share them with you.

1.  this stenciled roller shade.  marianne over at haven & home posted it a couple of weeks ago and you can view the whole diy guide here at southernliving.com.  who knew a roller shade could look so good.

2.  this d.i.y. imperial trellis stencil project featured over at the blog hello gorgeous.  you have to have extreme patience for this project, but if you want imperial trellis wallpaper and don’t want to spend a small fortune then this is the way to go.

3.  this silhouette art for little harper’s room.  it’s not quite a stencil but how cute is it!  you can view the entire post over at grace happens.  if you head over there be sure to look at grace’s kitchen and bath renovations. 

4.  this slipcovered sofa from zentique.  i am completely in love with it.  luckily for me the showroom is right around the corner so i can drop by today on my way out of town.  i’m thinking about getting it for our family room.  i have to make sure that two people can lay on it comfortably though.

happy friday to ya!

LiveJournal Tags: loving...,haven & home,sothern living,imperial trellis,stencil,grace happens,children's rooms,zentique,slipcovered sofa

Spring May Finally Be Here - Time for Spring Fashion!

Here in the Midwest we have FINALLY thawed out from this cold winter.  As of right now, we have no snow on the ground and it was 63 degrees today - hooray!!  I don't mind the beginning of winter, but after months and months, it is so nice to finally be able to play outside with my girls.

Today I had a little nap-time project that I've been wanting to accomplish and I finally got around to it and thought I would share it with all of you.  Several months back my Mom sent me this skirt that she picked up at Goodwill:

My Mom saw this skirt and loved the fabric (she and I have similar taste).  This skirt is way too big for me, but she knew that I had been really into "upcycling" things lately so she thought I could use the yardage for something.  When I got this skirt in the mail, I was in love with the fabric - gorgeous, bright, and cheery!!  I instantly new this had to be made into a dress for my oldest daughter, Savannah Rose.

So in less than 30 minutes during nap-time this is what I came up with -

A cute spring/summer dress for my sweet Savannah Rose.  I took in about 8-10 inches on each side of the skirt to make it fit my daughters chest measurement (21 inches).  No hemming was required because the hem was already in place.  I folded over the waistband about two inches on the top in order to get the desired length.  I decided to leave it longer for now so it will grow with my daughter.

The side of the skirt had a zipper closure, but I just decided to use that as the back of the dress.  How easy was that?  I didn't even have to put in a zipper!!  I did two additional tucks/darts in the back of the dress (about two inches from the zipper on either side), that way as my daughter grows, I can easily seam rip the darts out (which are just sewn at the top) and the chest size will expand.

I used two pieces of polka-dot bias tape for the straps and simply sewed them into place.

For the front detail I sewed two fabric yo-yo's in coordinating fabrics layered on top of one another and stitched them together.

I then covered a button with fabric, using additional yardage from the skirt and stitched it on top of the two yo-yo's.  I think I may be addicted to yo-yo's - they are so cute and add vintage charm to just about anything!

Happy Start of Spring!

Cottage Mama's Note:  If you would like any further explanation on how this dress came together, feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email and I can answer any questions you may have.

som

i thought i’d give you guys a break from my guest room.  i’ll do the post on the crown moulding a little later.

kay doglass’ home {atlanta homes and lifestyle} 

last week i took a little trip over to south of market (som) in buckhead.  it’s located right next door to adac.  south of market is one of my FAVORITE design stores here in atlanta.  kay douglass has filled it with antiques from belgium and france as well as unique re-purposed industrial artifacts.  they have amazing upholstery and lighting too.  the prices are a little more than i can personally afford but the inspiration is priceless.

i won’t say much of anything else.  i’ll just let the my pictures speak for themselves.  swoon with me, won’t you??

 

south of market has recently started a blog.  so welcome them to the blog world and give them some bloggy love by checking it out.  click here for their blog.

LiveJournal Tags: south of market,adac,kay douglass,antiques