brandi byrd >> design » sewing projects

completion #2: patio furniture

bmbyrd — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:36:15 +0000

finished product

This project had been lingering for a while. When we moved into our town home 2 years ago we acquired a back patio that faced out to nice private woods. Having a little piece of nature was a big selling point for us especially since your privacy is somewhat limited when living in town home communities. Never having any outdoor space before caused us to not have any outdoor furniture. We were given a wonderful hand-me-down dining room set so our little table and two chairs that we used to use as our dining room furniture were suddenly without a need. They sadly sat in our living room for months not knowing their purpose until one day while thinking about how expensive outdoor furniture can get I realized that I could possibly make those over into our much needed patio furniture.

Now my task was to weather proof these pieces. (Unfortunatley my camera broke and I lost all of my “before” pictures of this project) The metal of the chair frames and the table were different colors and were starting to chip away. I took apart the table and chairs and then sanded them down getting all of the old rust chips off. I then spray painted them with a black protective waterproof/rustproof paint. I sanded down and re-stained the top of the table with a weatherproof polyurethane stain. The part that has been hanging this project in limbo for a year are the cushions for the chairs.

The orignal chair was just an inch and a half thick piece of woven wicker which was very uncomfortable. I decided to reapolster the chairs with some padding and nice weatherproof fabric. Those supplies can be expensive at a normal fabric store so I decided to get a pre-made cushion on clearance and tear it apart for the cushion material and fabric. It ended up working perfectly! The only thing I had to purchase was cording that I sewed around the top and bottom.

You don’t have to do the cording but I thought it would put a nice finish to the chairs. I made the first chair almost right away because my motivation was high, but after the first chair it was very hard to get that motivation back. I had never made a cushion like this before and it was pretty difficult. A few weeks ago it was a beautiful weekend and my motivation came back to finally finish this project so we could enjoy our outdoor space this summer. I’m extremely happy and proud of myself and can’t wait to use them! And of course I have another idea to make our back patio even more exciting… more to come on that idea

new year, new to-do list!

bmbyrd — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:41:05 +0000

What a beautiful flower I received from one of my piano students at our recital last Sunday! I just had to share.

A new year always brings resolutions; how are you going to make your live better this year, seriously this time. This new year brought a lonnnng to-do list for me. 2010 is already set to be a big year in this household; a long vacation in the spring, a wedding in the fall, a honeymoon in the winter, and TONS of planning in between! That being said, it was a big ol’ slap in the face when that ball dropped that I need to start organizing!!

My M.O. has always been that I never finish ANYTHING. I scheme up these grand ideas, start them, but then nothing ever gets done. Ever. My house has turned into a graveyard of my past ideas. Cut fabric, saved scraps of furniture, old paper, all waiting to be used to make something beautiful. I can’t throw them away because I know one day I’ll get around to them and when that complete project is revealed it will be my best masterpiece. Well, that day never comes and my house is still littered with these unfinished projects. There lies my resolution: FINISH. My goal is to finish every project I’ve ever started before I go out and start a new one. This has already been hard for me. I have a new project brewing in my brain as we speak and I’m having to consciously keep my excitment contained. So, as a little sneak-preview, below are a few of those unfinshed masterpieces that you’ll see FINISHED in the upcoming weeks (hopefully)…

doggie bed

bmbyrd — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:29:03 +0000

My latest project is for my precious puppy, Cole. I’ve been wanting to make him a doggie pillow for a while now and just got around to it this past weekend. Since Great Danes have all kinds of bone/joint problems as they age I wanted to start early trying to keep Cole’s long legs as comfy as I can. I know how expensive doggie beds (especially for his size!) can be so I decided to try my hand at coming up with a cheaper yet still functional solution. Read my step by step instructions after the jump!

My restrictions:

Cover has to be removable so I can wash it
Material on the inside cannot bunch up over time
Thick enough to be comforting for his joints

First the Inside:
Cole (as many dogs do) LOVES to chew on blankets. He will sit for hours and just gnaw on any blanket we give him. Knowing that I wanted this pillow to have no characteristics of a blanket. It had to be thick enough where he could tell it wasn’t a blanket and it also had to not bunch up, as material like cotton stuffing tends to do, over time. My solution was taking an old comforter I had that was taking up space in my linen closet and folding/cutting into the correct size to fit into the pillow I wanted to create.

I then wrapped a blanket around it to make an envelope and stitched it closed.

I then took a large needle and threaded it with embroidery thread to do a very large blanket stitch to hold all of the layers together.

Now the outside
All I did was create an envelope pillow case. I cut a rectangle the size I wanted the pillow and put it aside. I then cut two panels the same width but half the length for the back envelope. Make sure that you add about 3 inches to each side to create that overlap that holds the pillow inside the case.

On the two rectangles, double fold a hem in on just the side that will overlap, iron them down, and then stitch them together. Then all you have to do is pin the large rectangle right sides together with the two back panels (making sure you remember to create that overlap) and stitch it all together.

When stitching is complete, turn it inside out and stuff your already assembled inside pillow into the envelope!!

A little extra…
I had some leftover fabric and decided to use it to sew a dog bone onto the front! Always be thinking of little extra ways to make something even more unique to you!