Grand Plans - Thwarted AGAIN!!!

Well, unfortunately my hopes of getting my modified bed rest eased up were dashed with the news that I was now to go onto STRICT bedrest.  So much for sewing...  and pretty much anything related to the house besides just looking at it from my horizontal position on the couch.  The good news is that I will not be pregnant forever.  Meanwhile, I'll do my best to keep the little guy in my belly baking for as long as possible!  I was 30 weeks yesterday, so we're hoping to make it to the end of the year.
Prior to going fully down, I did get a chance to also finish these curtains for the kitchen:

The inspiration came from some cafe curtains in the Pottery Barn catalogue:

Apologies for my poor photography skills... not quite the light and airy look of the catalogue, but you get the idea.  I got the fabric last year at the closeout sale for Fabric Place, with the intention of making these curtains, but it looks like I underestimated the yardage, and only got enough for 3 of the 5 windows.  Oh well - the other 2 windows are a different size and more in the kitchen prep area while the 3 that now have the coverings are in the eat-in area, so I think it all works.

Then a few weeks ago I pulled up eBay (lots of spare internet time on my hands these days) and found this great metal sign.  I figured it fit the bare wall space above the table pretty well (2' x 3'), so I went ahead and bid.  I can't remember the exact price, but I got it for less than $130 - which isn't too bad, if you consider the price of an equivalent size of artwork, and definitely not too bad of a price for an authentic vintage metal sign.  Here it is as Jim mounted it:

As I was thumbing through the September issue of This Old House magazine a few months ago, I came across a Reader Remodel that had a similar kitchen issue as us... horrid flat cabinet doors.  They ended up doing something I have always thought about doing, but never thought it would actually work - until I saw their picture.  They just added some stock molding in a frame to the outside of the cabinet doors:

So I played around a little with what I had in the house, and checked at Homer to see what thicknesses and widths they had in stock, and found something I thought would work.  I bought enough for a couple of cabinets and came home and played with my router a bit. 

This is the first time I've done anything besides just plain butt joints.  Real joinery!  I made half-lap joints on the corners.  It took me the longest time to set the router up for the proper thickness of cut, but here's my joint - all glued up:

And here's what the frame looks like all glued together:

Since we don't have a lot of clamps or much space in the basement to glue things together, and I wasn't supposed to be on my feet very long, the plan was to do this slowly, one door frame at a time, and just kind of get through it bit by bit.  Each door costs about $15 in materials, so to do the whole set of cabinet doors, it will only take about $200.  The ultimate plan, of course, has us redo-ing the kitchen in 5 - 10 years, so we don't want to spend too much on temporary fixes anyway (i.e. totally new cabinets).  It was a perfect plan.  ugh - until strict bedrest.  So my little frame is sitting in the basement, off to the side.  Waiting for the day I can start my little projects again.... in between feedings and naps... (I fully realize I might be fooling myself here.)

More Nursery Sewing - Crib Set

I've been doing some more sewing for the nursery... slowly, and as I've felt up to it.  Here's what I've finished in the last week or so.  If you remember, here was the inspiration picture for the crib bedding:

The crib that we have is one that Jim's mom found yard-saling.  It has these kickbars on the bottom as a mechanism for dropping the crib sides. 

Useful, but kind of ugly - and the way that they are positioned pushes the bedskirt out of alignment.  We were going to trade the crib for a different one that Jim's mom had also found, but I think that I figured out a way to make it work...  I added another panel to the skirt, making it look like a box pleat.  It covers most of the kickbar and makes it far less objectionable.

I also made a cribsheet out of brown gingham.  I'm not sure I like the gingham next to the ticking stripes of the skirt.  It might grow on me.  I'll probably make a few more fitted sheets out of off-white or dark brown fabric.  It was super easy to make... I just followed this tutorial, except I sewed lastin elastic around the entire edge, instead of just the corners.

The hardest piece was the bumper pads.  Yes, I know there is debate on whether you should even actually have these due to SIDS concerns, but I kept the padding to a minimum, and it was just too cute to resist.  If I were to make this again, I'd construct it a little differently to make the sewing come out cleaner, but an infant isn't going to know the difference, and most people won't even see what the issues are.  The monkeys in the fabric I bought seem to be smaller than the ones in the inspiration picture.  Maybe they came out with a different version of the print.  It still looks fine to me.

Here's the finished bedding. 

I think it turned out cute.  It was more work than buying a set, but I like the monkeys better than any of the sets I saw, and I was able to make it for far less than what the sock monkey bedding was priced anywhere I found it on-line.

I still have plans to re-stain or paint the crib.  My plan was to paint it white like the inspiration photo, and to match the glider.  But maybe a dark stain would look good too?...

Refreshed Glider

So about 2 weeks ago I went on "modified bedrest", so even the mild projects I planned on doing have been downscaled.  Now,  I really feel like the only project stuff I can do is sew.  It drives me a little crazy - especially when I see something that should be done, and I can't do anything about it for the next 3 1/2 months...  The curse of being a Type A!!!  But I can deal with it for the little one.

The good news is that I am now under doctor's orders to work from home, so that does give me a little *extra* time to sew - not to mention the money I save in gas (I normally commute 50 miles each way)

My fabric came in Tuesday, so here's what I did the last couple of days.  Remember this little Craiglist purchase:

Well, here it is now:

All ready to coordinate with sock monkey cribbing!

In brief, I didn't use a pattern.  I just took the old covers off and cut out fabric in that shape, adding a seam allowance.  Then I just kind of fit the fabric around the cushions, pin, and sew.  I added welt cording because I think that makes it look more professional.  And I made the seat bottom "box" style - because I think it's easier to fit the strange shape, it looks nicer, and that's the style I have experience making.  The seat bottom uses a zipper in the back and the seat back opens at the bottom, so both can be thrown in the wash when they're dirty. 

And I also added some ties to the seat back to attach it to the glider. 

Luckily, I had some extra cording and an extra upholstery zipper from a past slipcover project...  though it made me a little sad because it still had the Fabric Place tag on it - just a reminder of how fabulous that store was, and how junky JoAnnes (or Ho-Annes, as my husband calls it) is.

But in true Tiffany form, the seat back is only 90% done - well, maybe 95%...  I didn't use a zipper because it wouldn't construct quite right.  My plan is to just put snaps in it to close it at the bottom, but I don't have snaps or a pair of snap pliers yet.  I plan to get a nice pair & finish this, but we'll see how that actually turns out.  No one sees that part, and safety pins do the job for now anyway!