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So sorry we missed you yesterday.  We are just about ready to start making those drapery panels with the lining.  Once you have decided on how long you want your curtain to be and how much fullness you want for gather, you are ready to shop for fabric.  A great place to begin is at In-Weave in Hawarden, Iowa.  They carry a huge selection of drapery fabric and there are many options for you to choose from.  We will begin sewing here shortly.  Remember that we are going to be lining these panels.  Some fabrics are heavy enough that you do not need to line them.  This is your preference on what you want.  There is no right or wrong.  Get the sewing machines ready.   Have a great evening.

Good evening and sorry we missed you yesterday.  Last week we discussed the amount of gather that you would want for your drapery.  Today we are going to discuss how you are going to hang your drapery.  Are you going to go with a pocket casing, tabs, grommets, or something else?  This is where you will need to know especially if your fabric has certain restrictions.  Your fabric may be too heavy or maybe it is too lightweight.  For example, you would not want to put grommets in a lace fabric.  Before we start, you will need to decide on the fabric that you want for your drapery.  There are many options available such as lace, sheers, taffetas, burnout sheers, jacquard drapery and more.  You will also need to consider if you are hanging your fabric right below the window edge or are you going to the floor with it.  These are all things to be considered when picking out your drapery.  Remember that some have a specific pattern that need to be followed.  If it does, it may require extra yardage.  Be back tomorrow.

Good evening to all.  Yesterday we blogged about the process of beginning a project and what steps you need to consider.  Next week we will be starting our project of sewing lined drapery panels.  To begin, you will need to measure your window and then decide how much gather you want.  If you wish to have a lot of gather, it is recommended to do 2 to 2 1/2 times the width of your window.  If you want less, then consider 1 1/2 to 2 times the width.  It will depend on your preference.  Whatever amount of fabric you choose, you will need the same amount of lining.  As for the lining, direction of where your window is will be a big factor.  If it is on the South or West side, then you may want to line your drapery.  These two directions have the most light so you will need to decide if you want less light in or if you want black out.  We will be starting this next week, so get yourself ready to join in the fun.

Good evening.  Hope you have all had a wonderful day.  We will soon be posting an upcoming project.  For now, we will continue to talk a little about sewing.  When you pick a project that you are interested in doing, whether it be from our blog or somewhere else, the first thing that you need to do is to determine what type of fabric will be required.  There are cottons, knits, polyester, lace, sheers and more.  You will also need to determine if you are going to want to wash it or if it's meant to be an heirloom down the road.  Quilting falls into this category, for example.  After you have determined which route you are going to go with, then it's time to either find a pattern or make your own.  You are now at that point in which you need to determine how much fabric to purchase.  Remember that there are many steps to starting a project but as you near the end of your project, it is always rewarding. 

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Good evening and today we are going to cover some sewing.  If you love to sew, what a wonderful thing.  There is so much that you can do when you love to sew.  All the way from blankets, draperies, clothing, quilting, weddings, and so much more.  Sewing is a great pastime and opens the door to so many things.  If you know someone who would like to learn, be sure to open your home to teaching someone what you know.  A lot of sewing is just knowing the basics and the going from there. 

If you are someone who sews just a little, you are so fortunate to have this ability.  By pushing yourself a little more, you can open your world to so much more.  Don't be afraid to try new projects especially if they are a little more difficult.  Take your time and will find out that "yes" you can do it. 

If you are a person who is wanting to learn, do not be afraid to ask for help.  There are many out there that do not mind giving personal lessons.  They just need to be asked. 

As we are now back, it's time to get going on new projects.  We will be posting a new project next week but until then, we are going to be blogging on upholstering and sewing.  Both of these are not difficult to do.  It takes time and patience.  For instance, on our last project, we upholstered an old chair and made it look like new again.

It went from this;

to looking like this!

What a difference it can make when putting a little extra effort into fixing up a piece of old furniture.  It is great to take something and fix it and knowing that we are not filling up our sanitation sites with items that still have use in them. 

If you do not like to refinish a piece of furniture before upholstering, you can paint it as we did.  You can make it looked distressed by sanding lightly on the edges.  Putting new fabric on makes it look fresh and clean.  If you have a desire to try and upholster an item, start with a small item to get you introduced to it.  A small foot stool like we did earlier in one of our blogs is a great way to begin.

This is what we started with;

and this is how it ended up looking.

As you continue to do more, you will find that it is not that difficult.   The bigger the piece, the longer it make take but who cares.  It is the end result what you are going for.  Not all pieces need to be refinished or painted.  The foot stool we left as is.

When looking for upholstery, you do not need to go far.  In-Weave in Hawarden, Iowa, carries a huge selection of upholstery in many patterns and colors.  Upholstery has other uses as well.  Some can be used for drapery, for example.  The options are endless. 

In-Weave carries ultra leather, micro suede, jacquard, tapestry, chenille and more in the upholstery line.  Before throwing out that piece of furniture that you do not like anymore, consider reupholstering it and making it look new again.

Hello to all of you.  We are now back to begin another series of new projects.  We hope you have taken the time to check out some of our past projects during this time that we have been gone.  Remember that there is nothing that you can't do, it just takes patience and time. 

We are looking forward to sharing projects using different fabrics as well as upholstery.  It has been very warm lately and this is a nice time to work on those projects when it is so warm outside.  Fall brings the cooler temperatures and gives us another avenue to begin on sewing projects.  This is the time that is nice to work on fleece, minky or flannel projects. 

We hope you are excited as we are.  It is always fun to start something new and fresh.  In the meantime, be sure to check out our website or if you have a chance, stop in at In-Weave in Hawarden, Iowa.  We are located right on main street. 

Hello to all of you.  We will not be posting any new projects for the month of July as our blogger is going to be gone on vacation.  We have been posting many different types of projects these past months and we are sure there is one, two or more that you will be able to work on in the month of July.  You can certainly go back to last year's projects as well. 

We have tried to do projects to cover any age and even those who are just beginners.  We have projects not only for women but some for the men as well.  Remember that if you are looking for fabric to do these projects, be sure to check out In-Weave in Hawarden, Iowa.  They carry a nice variety of fabrics for the projects we have posted. 

They carry upholstery, drapery, minky, fleece, flannel, cotton, knits, denim, twill, wedding, lycra, baby panels, percale, extra wide fabrics, indoor/outdoor and much much more!

We will begin our blogging again on August 1 after our blogger has returned.  Have a great 4th of July and we will be back come August.

Good day to all of you.  This is the last day of our project on the upholstered chair.  We are now to the point where we are ready to finish the last few steps.  It is always nice to finish off the underneath part to give it a nice clean look.  We took black burlap and tacked this on the bottom.  There are other fabrics that you can use but we suggest that you use something lightweight.  You do not want it to be heavy or it will sag.

After you finish this step, you now have a beautiful chair for many more years of use.

We hope you have been inspired to try your hand at upholstering a piece of furniture.  Remember that if you are new to this, maybe you want to start with something small to get a hand on what it entails.  It is not hard to do but depending on what you are working on, it can be time consuming.  What is most important is that you maintain your patience in working on it.  This is the key.

Another thing to remember is that even though we showed you the steps in doing this chair, your project may require steps to be a little different.  The basis is the same but some areas can be different.  If you are unsure, take the time to study all before you cut your fabric.  Be confident and enjoy trying something new.

Good evening to you.  We are ready for the next step in recovering our chair.  Now that the bottom part is finished, it's time to start on the top.  The first thing to do is cut out your pattern from the old upholstery.   Do remember that if you add extra stuffing you made need to make it a little larger.  You can always cut away the excess. 

For our chair, we had the front piece and the back piece.

After checking out our chair, we decided to add some extra stuffing as the old straw batting that was used was in need of some extra cushion.  We used the quilt batting and just folded it and put it under the straw batting.

If you look at the picture of the front panel, we did cut it a little larger as our batting added extra thickness.  Now it does become a little tricky as we did not cut out the opening where the arms on our chair were.  We felt that the upholstery fabric was not that thick and all we did was trim off some excess at the bottom. 

You are going to position your piece of fabric and start tacking just like you did for the seat.

After we finished all four sides, we then tackled where the arm rests were.  We cut away some of the excess, then folded under, came around the side and tacked.  If you are doing a project, yours may be different.  Every piece of old furniture or new for that matter, is done differently.  You need to take it apart and see how yours is.  We also changed our pattern a bit as we said before.  We did not cut out where the arm rests were.

After you have tackled the corners, you would then go ahead and pound all the tacks in so you have a nice edge.  Trim away any large excess of fabric.

Now it is time to put the back on.   We did not put stuffing on the back as this part is not sat against.  Take your fabric and center it and then tack all around.

After you have it positioned, then pound in your tacks so they do not stick out.  One thing that you could do would be to use a decorative nail to give it another look.

We will be back tomorrow to finish us this chair.  We are almost there.