Sew Later better than Never

Remember this post about the sewing machine a friend lent me? Yea, that was more than 3 months ago and the sewing machine sat in exactly this position for that entire time.

Until this weekend!

Mr. Limestone was on a boys trip so I had Saturday to putz around myself in the house. In a bizarre reversal of modern and vintage technology, I twittered a question about what I should do with my free time and Savour Fare responded I should try out my sewing machine. Good idea Kate!

So I dragged it down to my dining room table. I had completely forgotten how to thread it at this point.

Much manual reading and fumbling later, I had it figured out.

So now it was time to pick my first project. I turned to my trusty version of Sew Everything Workshop and turned to the following page.

Ah, an envelope pillow. I can do that. I only had a 16 inch pillow form so I modified the pattern to suit. The book says it should take an hour to do. Hmmmm...does the time lugging and threading the machine count in that hour? Doubtful!

Next came the nerve-wracking part, cutting the fabric. I seriously suck at this...took just about forever.

Then it was time to get the iron out and push that around for a while. BORING! At long last it was time to actually use the machine.

The sewing was the briefest part of the process as I had already heard. It was all going so smoothly as I snapped this photo beaming with pride at my creation. It had only taken 90 minutes which I didn't think was too bad for my first attempt.

That was until I flipped it over and realized I had sewn the front of the pillow on backwards. $%$^#$!*#%*$%!!!!

So I had to pull out all the stitching and try again. As stupid as it was of me, I'm fairly certain I won't be doing that again. A short while later I had what I wanted:


For those extremely observant peeps, this pillow does not match or coordinate with absolutely anything. I just think its such a pretty fabric I couldn't resist it.

So that sums up my very first adventure in sewing. I'm happy to have it behind me. While I had the sewing machine and fabric out, I did a couple of other smaller projects but I'll save that for the next post. In the meantime, does anyone have any good beginner projects to share?

My next project...

Guess who has some really good friends? Me!!

When my friend heard me consider buying a sewing machine to learn on, she generously offered to lend me her spare! Cool. She'd even show me how to thread it!

So off I went to spend the evening with her on Saturday and she taught me the basics of how to get going.

If that weren't lucky enough, another friend heard about my quest and sent me this beautiful book filled beautiful uses for vintage French fabric. I don't have any of that...but its just a really lovely book to look at and get inspiration from.

I already had read Sew Everything Worship by Diana Rupp. It seems like a great way to get started and she lays out all the basics in simple terms (for a sewing simpleton like me).

Now that I had the books and the machine, I just had to run out to Brooklyn General, the only fabric store I know of around here to pick up some pretty fabric, a pair of sewing scissors and some thread.

Now the question is - what should I make?? I'm overwelmed with possibilities here. Any former sewing novices care to recommend a good first project?

Quick & Easy Love Notes {Contributors Column}

The following was written by Jen of Rambling Renovators, contributor to Brooklyn Limestone.

Hi there! I'm so happy to be here to share this easy project just in time for Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is not a big holiday in our house - a nice dinner out and a box of chocolate is a perfect way to celebrate in my books. But I do use the occasion as a chance to tell the people I love just how I feel about them.

These love note envelopes are a simple and sweet way to get the message across. To make them, you need only five minutes of your time and a few supplies:
- paper and pen
- scrap fabric
- scissors
- sewing machine or needle and thread

1. Fold the paper in half and draw half a heart shape. Cut out the heart.
2. Take a piece of fabric and fold the bottom side up until it is 3/4 the height of the heart.
3. Fold the top of the fabric down so that it overlaps the bottom piece by 1/2". Place the heart on top of the fabric and put a straight pin through all the layers.
4. Cut around the heart shape. Remove the paper and repin so that the three pieces of fabric (top, bottom, back) stay together.
5. Using a sewing machine or needle and thread, sew all around the heart, about 1/4" from the edge. Fill the envelope with love notes or candy - or both!

I've been leaving these love notes in the most unexpected places... in my husband's coat pocket, on my daughter's plate at breakfast. It's a fun way to make that Valentine's feeling last more than just one day.

Style & Skill Crush: Brooklyn General

This edition of Style & Skill crush is a wee bit more skill than style but I think you get my meaning.

While you all know I absolutely love Brooklyn, one of the less than fab things is a relative dearth of crafty supply stores. So when I turned my eye on figuring how to sew, I had a bit of a issue. I could either truck into Manhattan's garment district and pretend to know what I'm doing (those stores are not novice friendly imo) or drive out to the burbs to a craft store. Neither is ideal.



Enter Brooklyn General - a little local shop with character and customer service, not to mention its great style and charm.



Their selection is limited but quite nice. They've done the hard work of finding the cute fabric and notions for me! They have a back area complete with a little bookshop of sewing/knitting books as well as a work area complete with iron and sewing machine.



But most importantly their staff are happy to answer your questions and offer their advice! And while this place can be dangerous to my savings account, I'm happy to pay a little more for the help. (Because I certainly need it!)



Judging by my experiences in there, this place is flush with customers so maybe they can open up another branch in my nabe one day? Until then, you'll find me staring at the goods here.



And if you are wondering, I did walk out of there with some fabric for to make a bag. Sadly, this week has been a disaster and I haven't had a chance to get to it but its waiting for me when I'm ready to sit down at the machine again.

Trash to Treasure: Burlap Sack Headboard

Another installment of the trash to treasure series today from Patricia & David Warrington who are co=owners/designers of Karma Flowers (who also run a fun event design blog), a floral and event company. In other words, they live and breathe the design trends in their work so I was excited to see what they would do with a trash to treasure challenge.

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It seems these days, burlap is turning up everywhere. From bags to shoes to wedding and event decor, and even interior design. We have embraced the trend because it is natural and neutral, durable and relatively inexpensive. Recently, we have designed burlap table runners and bunting for some very special occasions and have also taken to using it in our own home improvement designs. However, we don't always use burlap in it's most common form, which is simply on a fabric roll. Instead, we have sought out companies that use burlap sacks, or cocoa sacks, in their daily business and have purchased them in an effort to up-cycle. Why? Well, for one, it's environmentally a good choice to reuse and re-purpose, but stylistically it creates options. Burlap sacks typically have bold type or even graphics on them. While most are stamped with black ink, we have found others that infuse greens and reds, and even more vibrant oranges and blues. Against the earth toned sack, the colors really pop.

One of our favorite burlap sack projects was our very own headboard. Our young son often sleeps with us and moves and rolls all over the bed, so we knew we wanted something soft above our heads. Additionally, we wanted to maintain a relatively neutral color palette to fix with the muted and tranquil feel of the rest of the room. Rather that just buying a roll of burlap and creating a rather standard piece we turned, instead, to sacks we had recently purchased at a flea market for around $10.

The first thing you should know about true cocoa sacks is that they stink! Two ways to remedy this is to simply leave them outdoors in covered space for a day or so and let the fresh air to it's magic. The smell may not entirely lift, but it will with time. If you are a bit more adamant about removing the smell, you can soak the sacks in warm water. We suggest leaving them in the water for a couple of hours and then again, letting them air dry, While some burlap is machine washable, this is not recommended for burlap sacks that are not as tightly woven and might significantly fray.

While your burlap sacks are getting a bath, you can begin on the headboard structure. We used a 4' x 8' sheet of 3/4" plywood. A standard size king mattress is 76" wide. We decided to make our headboard 80" wide, in order to allow for a 2" overhang on each side. This accounts for a plush mattress cover or bedspreads. The height is strictly an aesthetic decision. Ours is 40" tall to give you an firm measurement.

You will also need upholstery foam (enough to cover the width and height of the plywood but you can piece several together to achieve this) and spray adhesive. When you are ready to affix the foam, spray a generous amount of spray adhesive onto the plywood. Carefully, place the foam on the plywood with roughly a half inch overhang of foam over the wood.

The next step is to lay batting, at least a foot longer and wider than the foam, out on a flat surface. Flip the plywood and foam over so the foam is lying on the batting. Take one size and fold it up and over onto the plywood, stapling from one end to the other. Repeat the process for the opposite side of the structure than the one you started with. Then repeat for the remaining two sides, being sure to pull extra tight and tuck neatly in the corners.

Once you have selected the sacks you wish to work with and they are clean cut the backs of the sacks off, but do not discard. Keeping in mind type and pattern, lay out the sacks with the graphics in the pattern you desire.

Now you must "sew" them together in order to create a piece of fabric large enough to cover the surface of your wood and foam headboard. Here's a secret. Neither one of us can sew using a sewing machine {learning is on my to-do list} so we elected to hand stitch the bags together using twine.

The twine kept with the natural feel of the burlap and was thick enough to let allow us to do less stitches on each sack. We chose to sew the backs of the sacks together first and use them as the first layer of fabric cover on the wood and foam. This allowed us to stretch the graphic sacks tight around the edges, without worrying that the batting would show through the burlap. Staple the burlap just like you did the batting.

And Voila! You now have a custom upholstered burlap sack headboard. We recommend using french cleats to hang it as they hold weight rather well.

Now sleep tight.

Simple Silhouette Pillow

I was back at the sewing machine this week with a bit less success. This time I wanted to practice piping/welting, so I went back to the envelope pillow idea and added the trim. Sweet mary, it was a lot harder than expected and the inside seams look like I made it while high on crack. But no matter, it got done. And it looked like this.

But this post isn't about making a pillow, its about making a Silhouette Pillow!! So either you can sew your own pillow cover or buy one readymade, it makes no difference. This is all so simple I even feel a little silly "explaining" it.

Now on to the silouette part. In my case, I had them in digital format because I had made them for our 2007 Christmas mailing as seen here.

But if you are like most people and don't happen to have a copy of your shadowy form, no worries - I'll explain how to do it at the bottom of this post.

The original intention was to take these and make fabric appliques. I spent a ridiculous amount of time transferring and painstakingly cutting out shapes, etc.. only to realize there is NO WAY I can sew a zigzag stitch around the detail. (Im sure there is a way for a better seamstress, I just couldn't get it.) So I scraped that plan for a much easier solution. IRON ON FABRIC TRANSERS!

The next step was to print the silouettes out on a single sheet of iron on paper and cut out. That took about 15 minutes.

And yes, that is our cat! Got a problem with it????

Following the directions on the back of the iron on package, I affixed each head carefully. Before it completely cooled, I peeled the paper off. I know the package says to wait but in my experience, you get better coverage when the ink is still hot. That took another 10 minutes.


I stuffed the pillow inside and I was done. Hurrah. Finally a fun project that didn't take all afternoon.


Because this was so simple and straight forward, I know I'm going to be making these again. You can do all sorts of shapes aside from floating heads - pretty much anything you can cut out will work.


Postscript about making your own silhouettes: If you google this, you'll find loads of tutorials but I'm going to give you quick and dirty one now. Trust me, this really is simple! The first thing you should do is take a photo of your subject against a white or constrasty background. Any wall will do. You can do this in your pajamas and in your nightime mask if you want...just make sure your hair is reasonably in shape. All you are aiming for is the outside line. (For chidlren or pets, you'll probably need to hold them for a second to get the profile shot off but thats okay, no one will know!) Print out the photograph and trace along the outside edge of your hair, neck and face. Feel free to add in or take out what you don't like. (Be gone flyaway hairs or double chin!) Now take your iron on transfer paper and print out a big black rectangle large enough to fit your traced head in. Place the photograph over the black rectangle and using a sharp scissors, cut along the details carefully. Guess what? You now have your very own head ready to iron on to a pillow. See, I told you that was easy!!

Breaking down the bedroom projects

In spite of some serious efforts this weekend, I'm not quite finished with the bedroom. I need to make a few more tweaks but I'm feeling good about it. (I even broke my personal rule of photographing rooms only during daylight hours to show you...but its not the most accurate portrayal of the color. Ill have some better photos for you next week.)

If you remember last week's post, I put together my ideas. I decided to add yellows and grays to the existing color scheme and now that I see in the flesh, I love it. No surprise that I like the grays, creams and blues (since that is everywhere else in my house) but the pop of yellow adds just what I wanted in here. I know this color scheme may not be for everyone but its exactly what I imagined so Im really happy with it.

But lets talk about some of the details. First off for the walls. I randomly found this fabulous vintage photo on flickr and wanted to use it somehow. So I got out some paintbrushes and did my best in recreating it in acrylics with a twist on the colors.

Hardly a masterpiece, I think its a fun way to subtlely personalize the space with something I did by hand. I'm not convinced its location over the bed is the right place. I might switch this around a bit but I'll have to play musical walls this weekend.

Using some of this lovely fabric from Amy Butler, I pulled out the sewing machine to make two pillow cases. Thanks to the those who answered my calls for help on twitter! It really was a simple project - too me about an hour (excluding the time to wash and dry the fabric first)


After a lot of searching, I finally found a dresser I loved. (This was one of the two items I mentioned purchasing at FIND.) I needed something to sit in the space left of the fireplace tohold the cable box so a little bit of additional storage was welcomed as well. I searched forever for a second hand or budget piece of furniture but never found something that didn't have a major issue. Once I spotted this commode, I fell in love. The curvy shape and the slightly distressed finish was exactly what I wanted.

After I got it home, I realized just how substantial it was. Its made of a very heavy hardwood and its finish is well applied. So it made me feel better for splurging on it.

So I'm just about there. Its not perfect but its getting close to something I'm happy with. More to come before I call it done. Ill share more details then.

Whimsical Window Treatment in the Box Room

Remember the box room? Yep, that little space I've been outfitting with odds and ends. Well, Im one step closer to calling it finished because I just diy'd a whimsical no sew window treatment that I just love.

The best part is I did it with just $1 worth of new supplies plus other things I already had laying around the house. And yes, its incredibly ironic to have a no sew window treatment in a room with a sewing machine. What can I say? I like to keep you guessing :)

As a little refresher, here is a reminder of what the room looked like pre and post renovation.

It all started with the fabulous dressform the hubs surprised me with, then I turned a found door into a desk, then I hung a gallery wall with art I had saved over the years, and finally I layed down some Flor carpet squares to make a rug. It was almost there but the window was looking sparce. So what do you think of the window treatment? Want to make your own version? Stay tuned for the full tutorial and clipart download.

Steal this Idea*: Make A Zippered Pouch

Its Friday (yippee!) - time for another Steal this Idea* feature - a tiny show of appreciation for a well executed tutorial.




Today's feature is something I wish I could duplicate but I have absolutely no idea how to sew a zipper on (I've come to terms with the fact that I'm officially hopeless with learning new things on a sewing machine unless a human being physically shows me how in person - no book learning for me.) Maybe because I know I can't do it the allure of making my own pencil case/makeupcase/ zippered pouch is so much more appealing? No matter because I have to show you anyway.

The above version is adorable overload from Spoonflower. The cat is probably not appropriate for my 35 year old self but that wouldn't stop me.  Also loving this typewriter version via Dining Room Drawers.



Too kitch for you?   How about something more literal like this art supply pouch via chezbepperbebe



I could probably list another 20 examples but I'll stop myself. Must learn how to sew on zippers!

Have you made your own zippered pouch?  I want to see.

Do you know how to sew a zipper?  What are you waiting for?  Get to pouch making, damnit!

postscript: *When I say steal, I really mean borrow nicely and give proper credit!

**If you have an idea/tutorial you would like me to consider for a feature, email me. I'd love to see!

Guest Post: Jennifer's 'Sail Away' Bedroom

Today I'd like to introduce a little bit of new blood to the lineup of wonderful guest posters I've had the honor of hosting. Meet Jennifer, author of Fog City Sparkle, owner of a beautiful Victorian home in San Francisco. With a sense of style + sense of humor she runs a lovely blog. I'm sure you'll be more intrigued after you hear from her but suffice to say this isn't just any old plain jane makeover. It has personality - check it out for yourself.




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first off, i'd be remiss if i did not say what an incredible honor it is to be guest posting on mrs. limestone's blog! i found her blog when i first started contemplating buying a historic "fixer-upper" in my hometown (san francisco). like all of you, i am always so inspired by her! i hope you'll all enjoy this quick peek into my home as well.

just to bring you quickly up to speed, my home is an 1880s italianate victorian in the heart of san francisco. while most multi-family homes here were built as flats for multi-generational families, my building is more like the townhouses and row homes you typically see on the east coast (like mrs. limestone's). this means that i have my very own 2-story home, complete with private basement and yard - which is VERY rare in this city. (how lucky am i?!)

unfortunately, though, the house was at some point completely gutted by someone who likely was interested in modernizing.

well, we've been busy working away at putting the shine back on our baby for months, updating our friends on my blog. and recently, after months of teasers, my master bedroom was finally "done enough" to share.

here's what we started with:

so, i searched and searched for a photo with a better angle, but this was the best i could find (see more "befores" here). like the rest of the house, the master bedroom was dingy and painted in a color best described as "baby poop yellow". it was also carpeted and covered in stains. which in turn hid plywood, linoleum, glue and 8-10 layers of paint -- and (miraculously) the original floors.

first we got down to painting (and painting, painting, painting). for this room, i chose "solana beach" from ace hardware - a gorgeous grey-blue. normally my tastes tend to be pretty wild, but i wanted my bedrooms to feel relaxed and serene.

after the painting was done, minus all of the touch ups (will. they. ever. end?!), we could remove the carpets (or "built in drop-cloths" as i liked to refer to them) and restore the floors. here's what we got - yay! wide-plank, old-growth pine (i think - honestly, i am no expert at any of this). *SWOON* (sorry for the bad photo quality - i took it with my phone and was VERY, VERY tired at this point.)


more on that process here and here if you're curious. (including fun photos of the "lee press-on" nails and sunflower seeds we found under the carpets. *gag*.)

and, now, TA-DA! here it is!


the bed (ikea), like in my guest bedroom, is outfitted almost exclusively in white. i like to feel like i'm jumping into a cloud, whether it's bed time or just time for a sun-drenched nap (which happens much more frequently than i should really admit).


i added the silver throw from west elm for a bit of shine (i'm a TOTAL MAGPIE and collect as many sparkly things as i can) and used various white patterned sheets for texture.


and for height and a bit of glamour, i made silk curtains to match the walls. i think it makes the room look almost like it's floating - in a good/ non-drug-induced way! (and here's the 10-step tutorial if you'd like to make some for yourself.)

the nightstands were my grandmother's. i toyed with the idea of painting them but, in the end, i like how they ground the room and bring the floor color up to eye-level. just need to find the right lamp(s) to add. maybe this one?

my dressers are both from ikea. i loved the soft grey finish and the curvy legs. hated the pulls they supplied, so i trotted down to anthro and picked up some "diamond gal" knobs to finish them. love that they manage to look both luxe and organic at the same time. and i placed my grandmother's sewing machine (cleverly disguised as a side table) next to the low one for extra table-top real estate. it makes me smile.


and, because i love color, i painted the insides of my closet doors in "hot lips" (or something like that). you can check out more on project doorway here.


finally, i added all of my favorite jewelry, one great piece of artwork that i picked up at auction...
and that notorious (and polarizing) ship chandelier from zgallerie.

like you've undoubtedly guessed, i love quirky things and wanted one piece that really SAYS SOMETHING in the my bedroom. i think this one says it well -- come on and sing along...