When there was a bit of extra time over the last three months, Rae has been busy with the decor of her riverside home in the French Countryside. The house has a number of quirks and kinks, as any structure that dates back several centuries might exhibit, but that has not curbed her enthusiasm. Lots of fun new handmade items have popped up throughout the house and today she will share some of her projects. In the same way one would begin each new garment sewing project, most of these projects began with an idea, sourcing of materials, pattern making, stitching and ironing.
Pastel Blue Bolster Cover and Throw Pillow
When the dust settled after our week at La Cascade, I began to envision some little touches to liven up the house. The primary bedroom has pink walls, which probably won’t last, but in the meantime the remainder of the decor is blue and white. The Ikea bedspread is quite serviceable and a loosely woven curtain in navy, found at Aline’s studio when we visited there during our retreat, have anchored the room well. When in France, do as the French… so even though we sleep on rectangle pillows as we would in the states, there was a long bolster pillow that needed a cover.
Two American pillow shams and an old lace pillowcase that had gone with us on our Blue Pastel dyeing day. There was a very rich blue dye bath this year and all three of these pillow covers were dyed in that bath, coming out a pretty consistent color. I decided to take these three pieces, cut them apart, and then sew them into the long tube required to cover the bolster pillow.
The two shams, when they were opened up, were not quite long enough, but they had really lovely cutwork on one edge, so the third pillow case was cut apart and a ring of the fabric was spliced into the two shams. It all worked out pretty well and enlivened the bedspread.
The remains of the lace edge pillowcase were stitched together into a smaller pillow cover and put onto an old throw pillow. It was a little too long, so the lace edges simply fold over the top edge to create a little decoration.
Navy and White Chair Cover
Nothing is quite as uplifting as covering a chair you don’t like the look of with a simple slipcover. We had inherited a set of four black dinette chairs when we moved into the house. They were a lifesaver from the minute we arrived so we could sit around the table and eat comfortably. When we purchased new dining chairs on this trip, the little black chairs became incidental chairs, near the door to hold a handbag or allow a place to sit and put on a pair of shoes.
One of those chairs had moved into our bedroom, and I envisioned a slipcover to integrate it into the room. A tour through my fabric stash revealed a piece of navy and white canvas toile printed with scenes of court life at Versaille. There was plenty of fabric to make one chair cover. The fabric was draped over the chair and for several days I moved it around the chair to decide which scene I wanted to feature on the most visible parts of the chair. Some measurements were taken and a paper pattern created with large seam allowances so I could shift around design elements as needed. Because the back and front of the chair were essentially the same size, one pattern with a couple of different lengths marked clearly was used to cut out all the pieces. A small skirt dropped from the seat to finish the cover neatly. It was very simple to stitch together. Slowed only slightly to try it on at each step to make sure the pattern was working well. I guess that is why I did not take any photos.
Because this chair cover worked great, I began imagining the possibilities for the three remaining chairs that were scattered around our living room/dining room space. Watch social media this week to see these beautiful chair covers come to life using fabric from our French friend Aline Cauvin @antiquetextileshop on Instagram.
With just a couple small projects, the bedroom looks nicely curated now. It has made me long for a few pieces of Blue and White pottery to add to the space. They will be fun to look for at the flea markets the next time we return to France.
Hanky Window Curtain
The final project I will share is a window treatment I made using my mother’s hankies. A funny little window overlooks a garden path (slight exaggeration) in the upstairs hall. While it is fairly private, it felt very exposed. It did not need a heavy curtain, just a little something to create a sense of privacy because the window is so low.
My mother had so many hankies and over the years I have pinned some hanky curtain ideas to my Pinterest Inspo: Repurposed Fabric board. They prompted me to bring along a pile of hankies in my suitcase this summer with such a project in mind. A few weeks ago when I had some down time, I fished them out of the stash basket and pressed them all.
Then last week, I started playing with ideas. If I had stitched them together on the machine, they would be done by now, but that seemed a bit like overkill. So in the evenings, I have been stitching them together by hand into panels. Three panels have nicely filled the space, but because the hankies I wanted to use were not all the same size, one is longer than the other two. For now they will remain panels. While I am home in Baltimore, I will consider looking for a fabric to connect them together into a complete panel.
I was pleased that none of these projects required any additional resources. That allowed me to make them quickly and feel frugal using items on hand. Not a single project has been a disappointment!
What fun home decor projects have you made with stash fabrics? Please share your ideas so we can all be inspired.
Happy Sewing, RAE
