1. Decide how long you want your gown to be. You can measure the child from the chest down. Cut off excess pillow case at the closed end, making that end now open.
2. Hem or zig zag stitch the raw edge.
3. Measure around child’s chest, not too tight, add 1″ for seam allowance and cut a piece of stretch lace in that length.
4. Measure the length from the bottom of the child’s armpit to the top of the shoulder, double that and cut two pieces of stretch lace in that length, these will be the straps to the gown.
5. With right sides together, sew the edges of your long piece of stretch lace, using 1/2″ seam allowance. Set aside.
6. Sew two rows of basting stitches across each side of your cut edge. (basting stitch: largest stitch length on the sewing machine)
7. Pull the threads that came from the bobbin to gather the top of the gown. (bobbin thread: the thread that is more than likely on the inside of the pillowcase after sewing, and is the thread that fed from the bottom of the sewing machine, not the top through the needle)
8. With side edges matching, pin your gathered pillowcase under your sewn piece of stretch lace. (remember make sure the raw edges of the sewn together stretch lace is going to be sewn in towards the pillowase, and will not show on the final product). Stitch the lace right next to the bottom edge onto the pillowcase with the stretch zig zag stitch. (Stretch zig zag stitch: should be the “fanciest” zig zag option on the machine, it has more detail than the other choices).
9. With your seam ripper, you may need to unpick your basting stitches (now that the lace is sewn on) to allow for stretch. Make sure you are unpicking the basting stitch, and no zig zag stitches.
10. Flip the gown inside out, if it isn’t already, and pin the stretch lace to be used for the straps in place. It should be pinned exactly at the edge of the stretch lace that is sewn on and should be pinned in the same place on the front and back.
11. (still using a stretch stitch) Sew your straps where they are pinned and make sure your thread matches the lace. After sewing turn the gown right side out.
12. Add embellishments if you’d like and you’re done!
I bought this frame thinking I was going to make it into a chalkboard.
Then I scratched that idea and meant to do a frame-within-a-frame project. That didn’t happen. In the end, I used chicken wire to display photos with the frame. I must confess: I wound up with this third choice because it seemed like the simplest option. Now for a brag: After taking the easy way out, I feel like I redeemed myself by digging up my grandma’s pretty clip-on earrings and the decorative hairpins I wore at my wedding and using them to clip photos to the wire.
Besides a frame, you’ll need a few items:
- Chicken wire. I found a 24-yard roll for $6 in the garden section of a hardware store. (I doubt I used more than a yard, but this was the smallest
roll available.)
- Wire cutters
- Staple gun
- Work gloves (Not necessary, but it was nice not to worry about pokey wire.)
Attaching the wire to the frame is pretty straightforward. Roll the wire out on the back of the frame, cut and staple. I put down two layers of wire by folding the wire sheet once before cutting. Since the back of the frame will be hidden, this is flaw-friendly work.
Configure the wire and staples to construct a built-in wall hanger.
I was going to buy some mini clothespins to clip the photos to the wire before remembering my grandma’s clip-ons and the hairpins. They had been sitting in a jewelry box for the last few years.
It makes me happy to give these sparkly and sentimental things new life. If you look around your house, you too might discover items with clip potential that are waiting for their next purpose!
By Calli Green As seen in the fall 2012 issue of VintageKC magazine.
Although I am a sucker for vintage jewelry, I have to face the facts that by the time pieces within my budget get to me they are usually worn out, broken, discolored by age and time, or in colors that just shouldn’t make another appearance on the second go around. Because more times than not I swear by restoration with a twist, and my inner “made in the 1980s child” loves all things neon, a project idea was born.
Creative and fashionable are two nice words describing myself, but patient, I am not. The thought of researching how to make my jewelry neon, and actually taking the time to hand paint it seemed a little trying and toilsome. After looking for a few minutes I came across fluorescent spray paint, all of which were not more than $7 per can, and one can can cover many pieces. Because it said it was special purpose, and said it was ideal for signs, sports and recreational equipment, I didn’t think it would have too much trouble staying on metal and plastic jewelry, so I got to work! It was pretty easy and I got the results I was hoping for; next time I think I’ll go even brighter and try yellow. Your jewelry does not have to be vintage, it can be something you don’t wear anymore or you’d like to give second life to. I chose vintage because I picked it up at an antique store for $1 a bag, and, of course, I’m partial to vintage. Here’s how to do your own:
1. Find the piece you want to paint: Personally, I would try to find something metal—it seemed to work the best, dry the quickest and was easier to work with because it is flat. I picked up an old metal and chain belt and made sure it would look OK transformed into a necklace, and then fell in love with the idea even more.
2. (optional) Spray your piece with white primer: If you choose to go this route and spend the extra $5, it could come out brighter, but because two of my pieces were white and the other gold, I just jumped right in with the fluorescent.
3. Spray the jewelry with the neon color of your choice: I decided on pink because most of the neon clothes I have are yellow and green and I wanted to mix it up, but they do have a few different color choices like yellow and orange. It is important to spray your jewelry with several light coats of paint, allowing drying time between coats. Do not get frustrated if you do not see the color you desire after the first or second coat, this part may take a few coats because you want to spray light to avoid drips and imperfections.
4. (optional) Spray on finishing gloss: This step is optional. If you prefer the look of matte neon jewelry, you can leave it as is. I thought an extra finishing coat may help keep the jewelry from getting scratched and I had some specialty spray lacquer left over from another project, so I finished with the spray lacquer and eureka, like new! To be sure it was dry, I waited 24 hours before I wore the jewelry.
Have fun, and make sure to follow the spray can directions for the correct areas to spray in, and how to get the best results for your finished project!
From the fall 2012 issue, take your farm table one step further with this fun and whimsical painting technique!
Supplies needed:
*Citristrip furniture stripper (much safer and easier for indoor use)
*Chip brushes and painting brushes
*Choice of paint colors: flat finish or milk paints work best for the heavy sanding.
*Sandpaper: 80, 120, and 220 grit
*Orbital hand sander
*Green frog tape
*Tape measure, calculator, and marking pencil
*Water-based darker colored stain or glazing medium. I like General Finishes brand because it has less odor and is very thick.
*Oil-modified polyurethane. I prefer satin or flat Rustoleum brand.
Day 1: I’m of the strong belief that no matter what paint or finish you choose to use on a piece, proper prep must be done to the existing finish before you start for best results with the new finish. This particular piece was solid oak and I wanted to use that to my advantage when I sanded back for that really rustic farm table look. I knew I wouldn’t use primer for this reason, but the library table had been in use for many years and had a lot of deep scratches, tape and tape residue, and even staples throughout it. I gave it a light sand with an orbital sander and 120-grit sandpaper, and then realized it may take a bit more. I applied a thin coat of Citristrip furniture stripper to the top surface to help with the damaged topcoat and tape residue. Citristrip is a very affordable furniture stripper that you can find at any local hardware store and it works fast and most importantly does not have that unbearable chemical smell that many furniture strippers possess. So while you should wear a mask, you can use it inside. Just brush it on and let it set anywhere from an hour to overnight. I let the stripper set for about an hour and then began to scrape the residue and old varnish/finish off of the table with a scraper. When all loose material was scraped off, I cleaned the surface well and sanded for about 20 minutes with the orbital sander and 80- and then 120-grit sandpaper to smooth things out. The process worked great and I was down to mostly raw oak finish, but the table still had some deep gouges and scratches left over from it’s previous life. I loved this and knew that would add to the rustic look of the table when I sanded through the paint colors, so I made sure not to over-sand.
Day 2: After cleaning the table again then came the most time consuming and tedious part of creating a Harlequin Diamond pattern—measuring, marking, and deciding on a color scheme. Unfortunately there is no easy formula for creating the harlequin pattern. It must be very piece specific and must be figured by using the exact measurements of what you are painting. It is my opinion that the diamonds look best when they are about twice as long as they are wide, so I try to take this into consideration also when laying out the pattern. For example: If a piece were 60 inches long and 15 inches deep, you could just take 15 into 60 and know that your pattern would work with four large diamonds in the center. Unfortunately it is never that easy, so have a good tape measure, marking pen, and calculator handy. When creating a large diamond pattern like this, I divide the length by the width and work from there to establish the most even measurement for diamonds—a small amount of tweaking will be necessary of course. There are some very great tutorials online for creating this pattern on walls, so you can always refer to that to help you get started. Once the measuring is done, the next steps are actually quite easy.
Another dilemma is deciding on a color scheme. I had done this effect a few times with black and gold, and if you use only two colors in your color scheme, you can work a bit faster, as you can tape out every other diamond and paint one color at a time. This particular table however, was extremely large—in excess of 9 feet, and I knew that wherever it found a home, it would likely be a signature piece in a room and maybe even a display piece in a store or business. I opted to try something a little different and use a variety of colors and even some stains to create a multicolored pattern before I sanded through to the original wood. Choosing to do this will slow the taping and painting process down a bit. I chose to work one section at a time so I could see how the colors looked beside each other. I knew I wanted to use muted and jewel-tone colors, but if you plan on applying a glaze or stain over your paint at the end, it is a good idea to mix and use it a bit brighter than you intend it to be in the end. Before painting, carefully use painter’s tape. I prefer the green Frog Tape as it tends to cause less damage on uncured paint so you can work faster. As you tape things off and paint, its important to remember you cannot work on two diamonds beside each other at the same time, as the tape will be overlapping your surface area…it’s sometimes hard to recognize this as you work. I completed about half of the diamonds on day two and made sure to lay down colors that I wanted to be multi-layered on this day. Day two also ended by applying a green base coat on the apron and legs of the table so this color would show through when sanded back.
Day 3: I removed painter’s tape and continued the painting process. This can be tricky, as you may have to remove yesterday’s tape and now reapply the painter’s tape over the edges of the diamonds that were just painted yesterday. This paint will not be fully cured, so pat the tape down in place lightly so it adheres, but will not lift the paint tomorrow when you remove it. Basically you will be working in kind of an every other diamond pattern—opposite from yesterday. A light coat of polyurethane was also applied over the green base color on the legs, and at the end of the day the apron and legs were painted a final coat of black. *The thin coat of poly between the two paint colors will help the green show through the black easier when sanding back and will help avoid sanding through to the base wood.
Day 4: After the paint has had a few days to cure and all tape has been removed, you are ready to sand back and decide just how worn and shabby your desire your finish to be. I sand by hand in some areas and use 220 sandpaper on an orbital sander for others. Many of the diamonds have two color layers of paint, so obviously more sanding is necessary there to let the multi-color effect show through. Start slow, use fine sandpaper, and sand until your hearts content—depending on the look you are going for. Once the sanding was completed, I addressed the diamond areas on the top that I left natural wood. I used a dry rag to run General Finishes mahogany stain over these raw wood areas to let the natural oak show through in a few areas, but still look like old wood. I then mixed a small amount of this same water-based stain with my polyurethane (about a 1 to 10 ratio) and quickly brushed it over the top of table and wiped it off to darken the colors up a bit. Once dry, a coat of satin polyurethane topcoat was applied to the entire table.
Over the course of the next week, the tabletop was given two more coats of protective polyurethane topcoat with a light sanding with 220-grit sandpaper happening between each coat.
Amy Wright has been teach art in Liberty for the past 14 years, as well as working at Good JuJu for the last 3+ years. She also worked finishing furniture for 3 years prior to that. She has been junking and collecting with an obsessive passion for about the last 7 years, but has created, painted or drawn every day of her life. She loves ornate and funky furniture pieces that need a little lovin’, tramp art, original portraits, artwork or paintings, and anything groovy and glass from the 1970s. Find more of A. Wright Design work at Good JuJu in the West Bottoms.
Have an old Western shirt hanging in the back of your closet? You don’t want to put it in your giveaway thrift pile, but you don’t know when you’ll wear it in its current state? Or maybe on your last thrifty run you saw checkered number calling your name? Never fear. Grab your shears (and sewing machine) and redo it in true upcycling fashion. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to give that shirt a new spin so you can wear it again.
Step 1: Select a shirt with long sleeves and cuffs.
Step 2: Cut the sleeves off and zig zag around the arm holes.
Step 3: Cut off the cuffs and zig zag across the top.
Step 4: Lay the cuffs on the sleeve opening and sew down. You have completed the repurposed shirt.
When it comes to adding vintage style to your home, think inside the frame. The picture frame, anyway. Dressed up with a coat of paint, these decorating must-haves can easily lend a chic, vintage feel to a mantel, side table or wall.
Vintage picture frames in all styles and sizes are easy to come by at thrift stores, estate sales, antique malls and secondhand shops across the Kansas City area. With just a few do-it-yourself tweaks, you can update found frames to fit today’s vintage-inspired home. Here’s how.
When hunting (and sometimes all out digging) for picture frames, look for vintage-looking pieces with interesting details, like intricate carvings etched into the frame. Go for wood frames (rather than metal) that have a dated look. Also, scope out retro frames made in unusual shapes, like circles, ovals or diamonds, rather than the usual rectangle.
Once you scavenge a frame or two, it’s time to paint. Bring your frames into modern day, while still preserving the vintage look by painting intricately carved antique frames in eye-catching colors. How cool is an old world frame in a funky orange or a bright green? The details in the frames will really stand out after layering on a fresh coat of paint.
If you prefer a more understated vintage look, paint your frames mint green, soft yellow or creamy off-white. Then, use sandpaper to distress the corners and edges for a true vintage feel. You could even paint layers of color on your frame so that when you scrape off the paint with sandpaper, the layer underneath will peek through.
Display your favorite photos, prints or postcards in your revamped frames. Or, for a slightly quirky look, hang a collection of empty frames to fill up a bare wall.
Wondering where to find vintage picture frames? Try out these antique and thrift stores in the Kansas City area.
River Market Antiques
With three floors and a basement brimming with antiques, you’re sure to spot a selection of picture frames that you’ll adore at River Market Antiques. This store is located at 115 W. 5th St. in KCMO.
Thistle
This vintage gallery and re-purposing studio offers handpicked finds from the 1920s through the 1970s. The inventory changes daily, so who knows what picture frames you could score? Thistle is located in the Crossroads Art District at 329 Southwest Blvd in KCMO.
TLC Thrifty Boutique
With a collection of vintage finds, collectibles, furniture and one-of-a-kind items, you may just spy the perfect vintage picture frames to add to your home at TLC Thrifty Boutique. This shop is located at 8025 Santa Fe Drive in Overland Park.
I’m going to admit this project intimidated me. But as with most projects, all is not as bad as it seems.
If you remember in the Summer 2012 issue of VintageKC I showed you how to burn letters into barn wood scraps for decorative wall hangings. And I promised a tutorial on making the long skinny scraps into something awesome. Enter the frame.
What I started with looked like this:
I made one frame from each board with two shows in this tutorial.
For this project you’ll need a saw that can cut at a 45-degree angle, wood glue, finishing nails and some sort of clamp. I used a band clamp, but you can also use four corner clamps, or even this fancy Frame Clamp.
I made two shapes of frames for this project: one rectangular and one square. Both were fairly easy for my non-mathematical brain to measure and cut using a compound mitre saw. And there are probably much more accurate ways to do this, but I figured with this rough wood, it didn’t have to be perfect. My personal DIY philosophy is to look up a great tutorial online and improvise.
For the square: Measure and mark the center of the board with an X. Set the saw blade at 45 degrees and align it with the center of the X. Now you have two boards with one end cut at a 45-degree angle.
Repeat this step on the two boards making sure the angled cuts are opposite on the ends of each piece of wood.
Finally, cut the corners off the last ends at 45 degrees, again making sure they are opposite of the other end’s cut. Your pieces should look like this:
For the rectangle, the same steps apply for measuring and cutting, except after you cut the first piece in half, cut the remaining two pieces in 1/3-2/3 measurements instead of in half.
Apply wood glue to the corners, align them together and apply the clamp(s). The band clamp is easy to maneuver around the boards and easily pulls them together. Tighten the strap and use the small wrench to tighten even further. For the larger pieces of wood I actually used the included corner supports.
Let the glue dry overnight and then tap one finishing nail into each corner for added stability.
And there you have it. They’re hardly perfect, but what in vintage is? And I like the rustic appeal of the frames. If you want to get fancy and have the tools, you can use a router to add a lip to the back to set pictures or paper into. Try adding a slim piece of wood to the back painted with chalkboard paint. Hang it bare on a wall and add hooks inside for keys, jackets, etc. Simply place a letter inside or add some wire mesh to hang jewelry. The possibilities are truly endless. Have fun!
By Megan Kapple (As seen in the summer 2012 vintage events article)
Here’s a quick, fun and versatile little project for you. I have made a few different variations of these for a variety of occasions. Read on to find out how to make an easy felt garland!
First you will need to find some felt and cut it into circles. You can just trace around something circular to make a template, and then use that for cutting your circles.
You can make your circles one size, or do different sizes to mix things up.
Next, choose a neutral color of thread that will blend with all of the colors. Gray or tan would be a good choice. All you are going to do is grab your circles, head to the sewing machine and sew them all together in a line. I just do one stitch right down the center.
And you are done. See? I told you it was super quick and easy. Hang up your garland for a party, or as a fun seasonal spot of color on your mantle.
You can even break it back out for Christmas and put it on your tree!
Experiment with different shapes and materials. I’ve made many of these garlands with cardstock for parties. I love easy ways to add color to my life!
By Megan Kapple (As seen in the summer 2012 vintage events article)
Doilies are one of those things that remind me of Grandma’s house…and the early Nineties. I think they are making a comeback and I am glad. They are pretty, dainty and easy to find at garage sales and thrift stores. Here is a little project that will make good use of a pretty doily and modernize it for 2012: Doily Bowls.
In order to make your doily bowls, here’s what you will need:
Doilies (obviously)
Fabric Stiffener (found at most craft stores)
Plastic Wrap
Bowls
Spray Paint (optional)
Mix some stiffener with a few tablespoons of water. You want your mixture to be about 60 percent stiffener, but it doesn’t have to be perfectly measured.
Add your doily and swish it around until it’s soaked with the mixture.
Cover another bowl with plastic wrap.
Drape the wet doily over the bowl, and smooth out any wrinkles. Leave it like this overnight or until it’s dry.
When you take it off the bowl, just peel back the plastic wrap and you should now have a doily bowl!
The more dainty the doily, the more fragile your bowl will be.
Now, to mix things up a bit and make your doily bowl a bit more modern, you can break out the spray paint! I chose a bright yellow craft spray paint from Krylon and covered it with a few coats.
After it’s dry, you will have a new cute bowl!
Find some delicate things to fill your bowls…
Or you could even use them with candles for a party.
