the finished ottoman

and this is how I did it

here it is with a blue tape guide line

I decided I didn't want to to the skirting more than once, so it was a good idea for it to be straight and level the first time

enter the blue painter's tape and the yard stick -- it was just like back in the days when you marked a hem for a dress -- measuring up from the floor all the way around and making the marks


and here we have the welting all pinned along the top edge of that blue tape mark

the trickiest part of this was the "fiddly" place where the welting comes together -- where to place it and making sure it looks smooth

I decided the center of one of the long sides was the best place

and that trimming and butting together of the cord then covering it with the fabric went pretty well

when you attach these things you're supposed to use these little cardboard strips so when you turn the skirt down you have a nice smooth edge

I didn't have any of those little strips you're supposed to buy

but cereal boxes? those I've got (I save them to use for patterns and crafting -- and now a new use!)

here they are, all cut on the paper cutter to 1/2 inch wide and however long the box was
on to the stapling

the skirting panel turned toward the top, the edge of it lined up with the edge of the welting, cardboard strip on top of that

staple -- with long staples so it grabs through the cardboard and the skirt and the welting and the batting and into the wood underneath

oh yes, be sure to get those corner pleated panels in there in the right places too

this is the "Marilyn Monroe in the white dress over the street vent" version of this little project -- skirts up!
and here is the finished project

this is definitely one of those "did I do that?" moments

I keep walking into the living room to look at it again to be sure I didn't just dream it all

sometimes I'm amazed at just how much you can accomplish if you have the ability (or should I say gift) of being able to read an instruction and teach yourself how to do something

the upholstery book is the equivalent of a cook book -- neat!!

other projects were happening here in the studio too

since I've decided I need finished objects to take pictures of to put on the front of the patterns I'm working on, I needed to start those objects

these two panels will be two more leaf projects - maple and cottonwood

and here they are all stamped with the rubber stamps, waiting for me to press them then get on to the stitching

after I had finished doing the stamping, this is what the "palette" looked like

I use a 12 inch ceramic tile to mix colors with textile medium and then as the "stamp pad" from which I pick up the paint to stamp onto the cloth

the left overs this time just looked really neat (the picture doesn't really capture it because of the "hot spot" in the middle from the flash)

I know from past experience that if you leave this on the tile it will dry into a solid sheet of acrylic that has a sort of rubbery feel to it and you can peel it off in one piece (I did that once by accident and my brain filed that away in its random access memory)

this time I'm doing it on purpose -- I want to see if I can actually use that stuff to create some cut out leaves to add to the quilted piece when I get to the embellishment stage
this is the third leaf piece

the fabric I picked out for the background on this one already had leaf like shapes printed on it, so I decided no stamping was required

I did embroider around a few of those printed leaves to accent them -- and when I do the quilting I use the rest of those as quilt guides

the piece being attached is the first piece of the big leaf in the center

doesn't look like much right now

stay with me, these get better as they go

remember a few weeks ago I talked about making myself a new handbag out of the felted fabric of a long ago coat?

this is the back panel

because the coat was a small child's coat and the pattern had some interesting design features, there was no single piece of felt that I could cut the entire back (or front) from

this suits my purpose just fine, however -- I want to do quite a bit of embellishing anyway, so that first seam there was an ideal place

on the right hand side of the panel, if you look closely, you can see a line where the original fabric had been pressed -- ah, another design opportunity! I'll be doing some kind of embroidery or applying of braid or something there too

the first sleeve of the sweater is complete

the last row and the transferring to the stitch holder finished at 11 pm as I was watching the end of the folk music show on our local PBS station

knitting along to the tunes of Pete Seager, Chad Mitchell and The Byrds

great way to spend a Saturday evening


who knows what I'll get done today!