Tutorial Tuesday: Faux German Grain Sack Slipcover

I love antique German grain sacks with the fancy scripts, but they are too expensive for me.  One German grain sack can cost $150!  My youngest brother just left for Germany on a mission for his church.  I told him to be on the lookout for some antique grain sacks for me.  In the meantime, I decided to make a German grain sack inspired slipcover for an ottoman I picked up at an estate sale.

The ottoman's finish and fabric were in flawless condition, so I decided on a slipcover, rather than reupholstering.  I used a painter's drop cloth from home depot and dug through them to find one that was not gray.  The one I found was a pretty, warm color and I did not have to use any bleach.  I just washed it with regular detergent on warm and then dried it to pre-shink the fabric, before making the slipcover.

This is actually my first slipcover and it really was not as difficult as I expected it to be.

  I started by measuring the top and sides of the ottoman, cutting out the sections and pinning them together over the ottoman.  Once I had the pins in place, I removed the cover and sewed all the seams together, sewing the corners last.

After sewing all the edges together, I tried the new slipcover on the ottoman. I did not want the fabric to cover the whole top portion because I wanted to add a ruffle to the bottom.

I found a German grain sack stencil from Masion de Stencils.  I know that stencils can be expensive and I have successfully cut my own before, like this one, using a craft knife and freezer paper.  If you have an editing program, you could design your own grain sack and cut your own stencil too.

I mixed my red, white and black fabric paints together to come up with a charcoal gray color and then stenciled the grain sack design on the top, making sure I located the center first.

The trick to getting a really clean looking stenciled design is to go over the stencil several times using very little paint.  This keeps the paint nicely within the lines.

After letting the paint dry, I cut strips of fabric and made the ruffle to attach along the bottom edge of the slipcover.

I left the bottom edge of the ruffle raw to go with the rustic quality of my faux grain sack.  I also left the wrinkles in the drop cloth for a more relaxed look.

It is a perfect fit!  

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My Sister's Bedroom Makeover

I just spent two days visiting my younger sister, Emily, and her family in San Diego.  I did not have as long of a visit as I wanted, but I did leave her with a little dresser makeover during my brief stay.



before

Emily received a set of three vintage dressers from her mother-in-law when she got married.  There are two small dressers that she uses as nightstands and one larger one.  She told me that she was ready for new bedroom furniture, as she just got a new bed and wanted updated nightstands/dresser too.  I do not believe in buying furniture new, especially when you have some that is perfectly functional and only in need of a little re-love. 

Her dressers have a lovely shape and I like the scalloped edge along the bottom. The finish was well-worn and outdated, but that was easy to fix. The first morning I was there, we headed to Home Depot and bought some supplies and got right to work!



After

She also had a little lamp with a garage sale lampshade that I wanted to recover. 

I used some vintage bird and floral fabric that Emily got from our older sister, when she cleaned out her massive fabric collection. 

Below are pictures of the finish before and after.

I used a palm sander to even out the surface and remove the old stain before primering.  Then, I painted two coats of pale gray.

When the paint dried, I distressed all the edges, so that the white, base coat and the original wood showed through in places.

We originally wanted to buy crystal knobs for the dressers, but in an effort to save money, we spray painted the existing knobs silver.

I used things that she had around her house to decorate her dresser.  I love the blues, silvers and grays together.  Emily loves birds, so I paired her ceramic bird with the bird fabric on her new lampshade.  She has several of the beautiful, old, blue mason jars with the original lids from garage sales and she got the l-o-v-e letters as a wedding gift.

This is just a start. Emily is going to finish painting the other two dressers herself.  I think it is a huge improvement already and I can't wait to see her room when it is all done!

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Linen and Ruffle Lamp Shades

I have an obsession with recovering lamp shades and I seem to find them in need of recovering everywhere I look.  I sometimes wish I could pass them up because it is a time consuming project.  I covered this plain, white shade in a pale rose fabric and added a ruffle trim.  This is my favorite lamp shade so far.  I love the gentle scalloped edge on the bottom of the shade with the ruffle trim.  I was going to sell this one at Blessings Boutique, but I love it too much!  

Now I need to find the perfect lamp redo to go with this shade.  Isn't this subtle fabric beautiful with the light shining through it?  

The other lamp shade, I finished yesterday, was a $1 garage sale find and started out bright red.  While it was in perfect condition,  I am just not that into red.

I ripped and cut the red fabric off of the lamp shade frame, while still leaving the liner intact.

I covered the frame in some pretty white linen, covered up the seams and added a raw edged ruffle to the bottom.

I put the shade on a $2 thrift store lamp and moved them both out of my to do pile and into the shop!

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Pair of Shabby Lamps

During the summer, my sister, Cindy, gave me this unique pair of  vintage, ceramic lamps that she picked up at DI for $4 each.  She has the best stuff laying around her house and I always get to come home with fun, new projects.  I don't know why I waited so long to start on these lamps, but I knew they would turn out beautifully. 

I had to splurge on the lamp shades because it was hard to find matching shades at yard sales.  I bought these at Ross (the most affordable place for new shades) for $6.99 each. The lamp shades were covered with shiny, kind of outdated, fabric when I bought them.  They would have worked, but were nothing special.  I believe that a beautiful shade makes the lamp and these special lamps definitely deserved better, so I put myself to work.  I recovered them in my faux-linen, flax-colored muslin fabric and added a ruffle along the bottom. 



Next, Mr. Rubbish spray painted the lamp bases and metal stands to match because they were old and dirty looking.  When he took the lamp apart to paint it, he accidentally broke off a small piece of metal inside where the lightbulb goes.  He didn't think it was important until he put it back together and tried to turn it on.  When we plugged it in and turned the switch, it made a bzzzzzzing sound and all of our power went out.  Luckily we didn't get shocked and from now on I think I will always rewire my old lamps first.  Mr. Rubbish is a rewiring expert, so I let him do the work. 

I love the pretty, raised flower design on these lamps.  I wish I had a spot for them in my house, but I am sure they will find a good home.  I brought them to the shop yesterday and everyone was oohing and aahing over them all day. 

 



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