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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Kindle Keeper

My family gave me a Kindle Fire for Christmas this year, and today I decided it needed a case. I googled DIY  kindle case and got a few ideas. After looking around I decided I wanted one very similar to another item I make, a junior portfolio.  I'll admit, it's not my finest work, but it will protect and carry my kindle in style for now. I learned what to do and not to do next time.


I wanted an inside pocket to hold it snugly, and a frame holder to hold it and be able to use the touch screen.


The carrier pocket is on the left, the screen holder on the right.  I had some wide elastic that worked great!


The cover is held shut by velcro, and can be folded to the back and the velcro holds it there. Bonus!!


I had to make a separate piece to attach the elastic to, and I should have made it a bit smaller. My seam allowances on the top and bottom got a little small, but I made it work. If you look carefully at the pictures, you'll notice the velcro is in a different spot. I had to move it over to make it close. It ended up thicker than I planned for, and the velcro wouldn't reach. I made note of my errors, and will do better next time. In the mean time, I'm really happy with this one. When the laptops are being used for homework in the evenings, I can still browse pinterest.

The fabrics are from Hobby Lobby, and I love them!




Sunday, February 10, 2013

Wing back Chair Before, After and After



Well, I'm going to try this blogging thing again.  New year, fresh layout. Also, new year, time to finish up those projects I started or purchased perhaps years ago with great ambition, but somehow they fell beside the way. I'm going to do my best to finish what I have started.

First off, I have a wing back chair I had made years ago. At the time all my living room furniture was a light pine finish. So... I wanted a chair with legs that matched, and at the time all I could find was dark stained legs. This was before craigs list and such, and I didn't have the common sense to buy a used chair and refinish the legs.  Duh, what was I thinking. Anywho, I had a chair made, finished the legs, and then had an upholsterer cover it with a lovely, (at the time!) navy, pink and green plaid.  I loved it, but some 20 years later, not so much.


So last fall I stained the legs a dark walnut, but it still wasn't working for me. Then the hubby and I recovered it in a green fabric to match our now living room colors. (Notice the before piano in a nice shade of aged orangeish pine!)


We lived with it like this for a year, and it was a definite improvement, but not really doing it for me. I wasn't really planning on ever upholstering  it again, as the front of those curved arms were a big pain. I figured I'd  
rather just sell it and start over with something else. 

But by chance I was at the fabric store one day looking for a gray chevron for a friend who wanted to recover a rocker for a baby room. Well... I found the most amazing chevron canvas prints, and they had one in green. I had to get a couple yards, just cuz I loved it.  It lay on the back of the couch for a couple weeks while I decided if I wanted pillows out of it. Then I got the bright idea of just recovering the cushion and back of the green wing back chair. Now, the greens don't match exactly, but I'm in love. Take a look!

 

I figured as long as I had to take the back off to recover the seat back, I might as well put the chevron on the back.  So now it looks cute from behind too!


Just one more picture, and then I have to get to my next project. Another chair we picked up at the end of a garage sale for $2.  It said $10, crossed off to $5, and when we looked interested the woman said we could have it for $2! Can't pass that up. Right now it's in pieces with springs hanging out of the bottom!


Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!