Hello all you kind people who happen to come by my little design corner...How are things in your world??
Here is an outfit of the day or what Ive been flopping around town wearing (messy hair and all!) that now that I look at the photos makes me look a bit preggo...whats that little lump around the tum-tum?? Belt buckle not belly button! lol Anyhow, the fab felt pin is one of my happy things I wear when it's a day like today running errands and having to wait in lines everywhere...made by the uber-talented Lori Marie of Pretty Little Things. Love love her things!! And don't know if you can see my sandals with their foot jewelry (dont look at my toes...ew flat fat feet! lolol) but I love the sparkley prettiness of them :)
And here are some favorite things Im loving right now...
lipstick...Revlon #130 Rose Velvet
blush...Boots #12 Coral Flush
perfume....Voluspa from Anthropologie in Baltic Amber...love love love this!! Smells yummy scrummy good!! mmmmm
In other news, or to update you and explain my whereabouts lately...
Been oh soooo funnnn (said with more than a touch of sarcasm...ugh!) between the ongoing Im sorry to say computer problems AND internet troubles in my apartment it's been a load of fun. Don't have a tv in my studio space since I left it to my son to use/watch thinking Id be loads more productive without it...HA! So I have resorted to watching movies on Netflix and way too many tutorials on youtube. BUT without a computer and/or internet service that lasts for more than 10-20 mins at a time it's been really hard to work with the lovely acompaniment of noise and entertainment in the background. Just whining...not like Im really suffering, I know. Just these little habits we believe we need to survive and get on with things...chocolate, coffee, internet, cell phone...and etc....Funny thing about the internet, tho, is the very nice guy who came to fix it told me the last person who worked on the box/or pole or whatever actually cut my line leaving me without service for a few days!! I thought that was pretty funny :) Who was in that box last?? hmmmm
K, well, enough of my yammering on...Im proud but probably much too proud for what is is! lol I'm proud to share my little tutorial for how I made my little pseudo-burlap collage pillow. That would make the perfect name for it if I was gonna make it sound all stylish...but hey, let's be honest Bethany and call it what it is...I present the Distraction from Reality and the Dresses you are Stalling to get Finished Pillow :) Ta-Da! Not the catchiest title but well, there it is nonetheless!
Okay so to begin with I had these lovely swatches from my favorite fabric store (High Fashion Home) for interior design type fabrics and being that if I was gonna get to a side project to distract me from the reality I was mulling over and over in my head but didn't feel like getting to I had to grab whatever was close by to smack something together quick for that instant gratification rush....oooooh, dontcha love it!!
So, I guess I will say step 1...assemble the fabrics and tools you will need. I used a cotton woven burlap lookalike but wayyyy nicer fabric, a pillow form, a few swatches, thread, antique lace, vintage sequins and bugle beads, a silk flower petal, some tulle for the flower, and some other bits of lace.
Step 2...lay out the fabrics and bits the way you'd like them to look....
Step 3...pin them all on with the bottom most layer of the fabric collage first cause you're gonna build up, if you will, in layers one on top of the other...get it??
Step 4...stitch the fabrics and laces on with whatever kind of stitch you'd like. I used a huge zig-zag look to my straight stitches but I could have used a flower stitch, or swirly wild irregular one, or even just could have gone around only the perimeters of each piece of fabric. Totally up to you...I think anything goes :)
Step 5...Okay my next photos for how I put the top of the pillow to the envelope flaps in the back didnt show up on my camera...sorry but you can make a similar pillow with a zipper closure or have it button at one end...again totally up to you. Consult a pattern if you need help or ideas. :)
Anyhow, I made the envelope closure and before I stuffed in the pillow form I stitched a 1 1/2" flange all around the edge cause I like that look. Then I stuffed in the pillow form and stitched on the beads and sequins to catch the light. Added one of my labels...And voila!! Do you like it?? I really think it came out pretty neat~~
here's a photo of it on my bed with my beloved bear (yes he's as old as me which as my son't tells me all the time is PRETTY OLD!! lolol) Of course I don't really like it with the vintage pale yellow pillow cases but the lacey white ones are in the laundry right now. The two big white pillows in the back are going to be my next project...Im thinking something silky or shiny or velvety...havent decided which look yet.
Thanks for letting me share my Project Distraction :) Oh wouldn't that make the best idea for a show?? I think every creative type of sewer/ designer/ crafter could relate...people would compete to design whatever the project of the day was supposed to be and we'd get to watch as each one would digress off the main goal and go onto making something else! lol Or maybe that's just my problem and nobody else goes off into their Creative ADD like I do!
Oh, timer just went off...cinnamon buns...YUM!!!
Smell soo good and I am sure taste yummy too...way to keep up the pregggo look Im sporting above in the photo! lol Oh well...can always run up and down the stairs tomorrow...or maybe not :) xoxo