Fun with Fabric

Better Homes and Gardens ~ Fast Fabric Facelifts

I just love, love, love my Better Homes and Gardens Magazine and of course the website! Every time I get an email from them it's like opening a present for me! The excitement of inspiration to come is thrilling for me.  Yes, a simple girl some may say. :) Inspiration is all around us and I love sharing when I find something quick, INEXPENSIVE and fun!

I'm sharing Fast Fabric Facelifts compliments of my fav place of course... see above if you missed it. :)

Make Decorative Balls

Group together fabric-covered balls to make a great filler for a bowl, a glass vase, or a basket. Cut fabric strips from coordinating fabrics and use glue to adhere the strips to plastic-foam balls. Select a variety of fabric patterns and use both small and large balls for extra interest.

Fabric-Filled Dining

Set a mood in your dining room by combining coordinating fabrics to make a powerful statement.

  

 Pattern-Filled Runner

Stitch up the perfect table runner -- custom-fit to your own table -- by making a fabric "sandwich" with a piece of same-size batting in between. With right sides out and the layers pinned together, sew straight quilting lines through all pieces along the length of the runner. Cover the raw edges with binding tape adhered with fusible web. {On a personal note, I have just cut strips and sewn without batting and I am fond of my fabric glue and fusible web for those who don't like to sew. ;)}

Adorable Chair Cover

You don't need to slipcover an entire chair to give it a fresh new look. Make this chair-back cover with just two squares of fabric and use fusible web to adhere a fabric shape to one piece. Finish with coordinating binding tape adhered to the edges with fusible web. {For No-sew..not much to sew... I've done this with inexpensive napkins from Wal-Target, put several together that coordinate and you have a runner!}

Flirty Pillows

A yard of fabric is all it takes to make pillows as large as 30 X 30 inches. Cut a front and back piece of fabric to the desired pillow size, adding 1 inch to the length and width for the seam allowance. Place the fabric right sides together and pin, leaving an opening for stuffing or pillow form. Sew around the pinned fabric. Reach into the open seam and turn the fabric right side out: press. Insert stuffing or pillow. Hand-stitch opening closed.

DIY Tip: Create ruffles from ribbon by sewing two rows of basting stitches 1/4 inch apart down the center of the ribbon, leaving long trends. Pull the bottom threads to gather into ruffles.
{Yes, most of us know how... but for those who don't... here it is!}

Patchwork Headboard

Use scraps of coordinating fabrics to create a modern patchwork-effect headboard. To make the headboard, cut 8-inch squares from stiff florist's foam and 1/4-inch plywood. Cut 8-inch squares from quilt batting and place over foam squares. Glue all layers with Styroglue. Cut fabric into squares large enough to wrap the foam squares with at least a 1/2 -inch overlap on the back. Staple fabric to the back with a staple gun. Cut a piece of 1/4-inch plywood a few inches wider than your mattress on both sides. Line up the squares facedown in your desired pattern and attach them to each other with heavy-duty tape. Top them with the plywood, and drill wood screws at 8-inch intervals to secure all the layers. Attach ring hooks to the back of the plywood to hang the headboard on the wall. 

{Please check on the florist's foam toxicity, not sure if it is, so please don't eat your headboard or let your children! :) }

For more fun ideas on fabric check out their site, lots to love and see. Let me know your favorite things to do that's quick and inexpensive with fabric.

 

 Have a blessed day!     

xoxo Julie