Thursday Blog Share: Whippycake

I'm bored of my hair.  I spent the last few years growing it long, for the first time since high school and I really do love it long.  But it sure it high maintenance, what with the washing and blowdrying and figuring out what the heck to do with it.  Plus it's thin so if I don't wash every day I get the greasies.  Ugh, what's a girl to do?

Well like most things, i start doing research - ha ha! I've been following the Whippy Cake blog and I love love her video hair tutorials. Her main business is glamour bands - super cute hair bands with rosette-style flower arrangements on them (here's a link to the online shop).  I'm working up the nerve to actually buy and wear something like this.  Someday...

For now, I'm settling for trying braids and buns and twists and other fun  things.  I'm breaking out of my hair mold people.  I mean, who cares right?  it's just hair!  I'm going to have fun with it!

So if you're looking for great, step-by-step hair tutorials - Becki over at Whippy Cake has you covered!  Here's a direct link to all hair tutorial page.  But if you love cute girly hair stuff you'll be poring over this addictive blog for hours!

Are you adventurous with your hair?  Or do you look like an exact replica of your Grade 11 class photo?  Any tips on being 'hair brave'?

Have a fab Thursday friends!

Delightful DIY: Sweater Wine Bottle Bags

The older I get, the more I think that giving a bottle of wine is a great gift.  If you know the recipient is a wine drinker than you're guaranteed they'll enjoy your present. Plus you have a huge price range and selections to choose from - making it always budget-friendly!

Know what's even better? Wrapping your bottle in an inexpensive and cozy DIY gift bag made out of old sweater sleeves. Love this! Although I have to say, my old sweaters are NOT that cute!!  If you'd like to make your own snug and warm wine bottle gift bags, check out the full 'how to' here. This project comes from the Dish Jeans blog - I'm a faithful Dish jeans wearer (cause they come in 34" inseam and they're Canadian!) and now I see why I read their blog!  Enjoy!

Have a great day my friends!

PIY Pointers: How to calculate fabric for a seat recover

The timing was perfect when I received a question in my inbox about calculating fabric for a seat recover.  At the same time, I was working on Laurena's Spoonful of Yellow Flowers Chair. So putting two and two together, it was only natural that today's PIY Pointers is all about how figuring out how much fabric you need for your project

Picking out pretty fabrics? Well now that is the easy part!

Figuring out exactly how much fabric to order? Especially when you're buying it online? Now that's a little more tricky.  Apparently for Allison as well!  Here's her recent question:

"I am going to be attempting my first small upholstery projects...pieces similar in size to your yellow bench that you did and also a small chair like the size of your harp chair. Can you tell me how much fabric you used on each? I'm just starting out so am clueless on what to order."

The first step is to start out by measuring the seat of the chair you want to cover. I recommend removing the seat from the chair base so it's easier to work with. I'm going to use my current chair measurements as an example. Because the seat cover is often narrower at the back and wider at the front - make sure you're always using your widest points for measurement, so you have enough fabric. My chair is 18" wide at the front (widest point), then it narrows to be 12" wide at the back. From front to back, the chair is 17" deep. So for the sake of having enough fabric, we'll use 18" X 17" as our base chair measurement.

From there, I measure the thickness of the seat's plywood base and foam cushion. On my chair, the plywood is a 1/2" and the foam is 2", so I know I need to add 2 1/2"s to each side of the fabric.

On top of that, I need another 2 to 2 1/2" to fold onto the underside of the chair (I like to do an extra fold of the fabric before I staple so I don't have any loose threads or ugly edges). So for the width, 18" + 10" (2 x 2 1/5" for the cushion thickness and 2 1/2" for the backside fold) = 28". For the length, 17" + 10" (2 x 2 1/5" for the cushion thickness and 2 1/2" for the backside fold) = 27". This means your new measurement and fabric requirement is 28" x 27".

*Keep in mind if the fabric has a pattern that needs to face a certain way, if so, you'll need to make sure you have enough to turn the pattern to fit the biggest piece of the fabric.

A traditional yard of fabric is 36" long. The width can be 36", 45" or 60", so you'll need to check for the particular fabric you want. Depending on your seat cover size, you may be able to get away with less than a yard of  fabric or a Fat Quarter (18" long x 22" inches wide for a small seat or bench). For the seat cover I'm discussing (28" x 27"), I either need to order a full yard with any of the widths because my long edge (28") would not allow for a half-yard (18"). A fabric store will cut your fabric to specific decimals of a yard if you bring in your specific needed measurements (.7 of a yard, .8, etc.).

Of course as our mothers and grandmothers and Girl Scouts taught us - it's always better to be prepared and order a little extra fabric rather than end up with not enough.  So good luck and I can't wait to hear about your recovering projects!

Have a fantastic day friends!