DIY Hendriksdal Seat Covers

I hesitate to call this an Ikea Hack right off the bat, but I made some personalized cover for two of my Ikea Henriksdal bar stool.  I love the bar stools, but am sometimes a little disappointed in the selection of covers that Ikea carries.  They change season to season, but if there are a few seasons without something I like, my décor gets a little stale.

I have two sets of stools, one for my bar and one for my sewing room, and already had a navy blue cover.  I used this cover along with the bar stool itself to develop the pattern.  I had originally picked up an instruction sheet for making a cover at Ikea itself, but when I made pattern pieces according to Ikea measurements, the pieces were not the correct size.  I threw that plan out and used my existing seat cover and the chair itself to make new pattern pieces.

Supplies you’ll need:
Paper or brown paper bag (for making pattern pieces)
1.5 yd fabric per barstool
1.5 yd sewable Velcro
Sewing machine (If you have a serger, this is a great use for it)
General sewing supplies (scissors, matching thread, pins, etc.)

Instructions:

I first created the 5 pattern pieces needed (chair back – back, chair back – front, seat, seat side, and seat front) using printer paper taped together to make the larger pieces.  (Butcher paper or poster board also work well for making larger pattern pieces).  I included a 5/8” seam allowance since I was using upholstery fabric.  If you are using a cotton or thinner fabric you could make do with a ½” or smaller seam allowance.

Next, I cut the 6 pieces for each chair (1 x chair back – back, 1 x chair back – front, 1 x seat, 2 x seat side, and 1 x seat front).  The seat side pattern piece will be for either the left or right side.  Make sure to cut the two side pieces from different sides of your fabric to make sure you have the right side out for both the right and left side.  Then, I began to assemble each chair.  Since this was a new pattern, I worked with large stiches first (4 – 4.5 mm) and checked the fit at each step.  I made adjustments if needed, and then resewed each seam with smaller stiches (2.5 – 3 mm).  I also serged the seams to create a smooth finish and to make it easier to wash the covers.  The upholstery fabric I used shed threads pretty easily so the serger helped me keep everything tidy.

Here is the Henriksdal cover mid-construction. The curves can be tricky, so I used a plethora of pins.

I created the chair back and chair seat and sewed them together.  Once it was mostly assembled, I fit the cover on my chair and pinned the bottom hem all the way around.  I only needed the loop side of the hook and loop Velcro since the Ikea bar stools have hook Velcro around the bottom edge to hold the seat covers.  Once the Velcro position was determined, I hemmed the bottom edge of the cover and sewed on the Velcro.  Then, my covers were ready for use!

The completed Henriksdal chair covers in action

HoustonDIY Household Tips: Part 1

Hello everyone,

For this post, I thought I’d share a few household tips that my life a little easier.  I do a few simple things that are easy and super helpful.  Some are super simplistic, but I don’t apologize for that since some of the easiest things turn out to be the most helpful!

Tip #1:  Use bookends to help organize unruly tupperware.

As most of you have experienced, but tupperware cabinet is unruly at the best of times.  I take my breakfast and lunch to work, so my tupperware is in a constant state of flux.  I found something really simple to help me keep it in control.  I use a set of inexpensive bookends to keep the lids separated by size and organized.  These particular bookends were from Ikea and are small enough to fit in my small cabinets.

Here are my tupperware lids organized by simple bookends.

Tip #2:  Use toilet bowl cleaner to remove mildew stains on caulking in the shower

I have to thank my wonderful friend and neighbor Susan for this tip.  For those of you like me in an older house or condo without tiled and grouted showers, you’ll know about mildew stains on caulking.  Even if your shower is clean, an unsightly black stain can exist on the caulking.  To eliminate this easily, use toilet bowl cleaner with bleach.  Any brand will work as long as it contains bleach and is the thick kind that you usually dispense right under the rim of the toilet bowl.  For the shower, just apply the cleaner liberally to the caulking that is stained and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes.  Then, rinse liberally with water to remove all of the cleaner and voila!

Here is the before and after pics of my shower cleaned with toilet bowl cleaner.

Enjoy these tips.  There will be some more on the way soon!

-Stephanie

Tutorial: Filled Table Lamp

It seems like a blog post every other week is going to work out better for my schedule, every week might have been a bit optimistic on my part J.  Here is my next tutorial.

I love decorating my new condo by combining items from lots of different stores and making a things to add a super personal touch.  This week I am going to show you how to make a filled table lamp to match your décor.  I am usually NOT a fan of silk faux flowers as a rule, but I decided to try them in my idea for this lamp since it will be contained within the glass.  When I think of silk flowers, I usually think of dusty, old things.  You could also use colorful stones, rocks, souvenirs, colorful paper, or anything you like.  I am already thinking of doing a second one with colorful shredded paper.

Supplies:

• Fillable table lamp (mine was from Target, they are available in lots of shapes and sizes and from various stores)
• Lamp shade (again mine was from Target)
• Faux flowers in colors you like
• (Alternative items you want to fill your lamp with)
• Scissors or other basic supplies you may need, depending on your filling
• Glass cleaner

Here are the supplies for my Filled Table Lamp

To start, I opened up the top of my lamp by unscrewing the top socket.  I cleaned the lamp inside and out well with the glass cleaner.  Mine had a sort of film on it, probably from sitting in the store for a while.  Once your lamp is clean, you’re ready to get creative.

For the types of flowers I bought, I cut individual orchids off of the vine and cut up my hydrangeas to create smaller flower bunches and individual leaves.  I chose to do this because the tall and skinny shape of my lamp wouldn’t fit the full hydrangea bloom.  If you have a shorter or wider one, it would be interesting to keep some larger blooms.

Remember that your lamp needs to be interesting 360° around so plan for how you are going to arrange your items.  I started by placing some leaves in the ‘back’ of my lamp (the side with the cord exiting on the bottom).  Then, I placed my taller grass pieces toward the back and spread out.  Then, I started placing the purple hydrangea pieces with orchids interspersed throughout the bottom.  I made sure all the orchids were facing out and you couldn’t see any of the stem I cut off.

Here is my new Filled Table Lamp

I played with my arrangement for a while until I got it how I liked it.  Once I was happy with it, I reattached the socket and installed the lampshade.  Then I chose a spot for my new favorite lamp.  Get creative with this great idea!

Here is my new Filled Table Lamp in its new spot in my condo!

Tutorial: Thick, Striped Headband

I’ve been unreliable of late on my weekly blog post, but I’m trying to get back on track after some traveling with work.  This week’s tutorial is for a thick, striped headband with elastic at the base.  I like this type of headband to control my thin, super straight when I’m sewing, cleaning house, or relaxing.  It’s totally customizable for size and colors so make one or more that you’ll love.

Supplies you’ll  need:

Fabric, approximately 1/8 yard or less (I love to use scraps for this type of project)

6 inches of ½” to 1” elastic (again, scraps of elastic are great for this project)

Rotary blade or fabric scissors, ruler, cutting mat

Sewing machine

Sewing accoutrement (thread, seam ripper, pins, etc.)

Instructions:

To start with, think about the design of your headband.  I chose to distribute smaller pink stripes between larger black stripes.  You could do evenly sized stripes ora single bold stripe in the middle of the headband.  Whatever you decide to do, plan out the thicknesses of your stripes ahead of time so you can cut the appropriate sized strips of fabric.

The overall approach to the headband is to first piece together the main portion of the headband, cover the elastic, then assemble the final piece.  I chose a thickness of 3” for my final headband.  For this, I pieced together the fabric stripes for a final size of approximately 15” long by 6.5” wide.  Remember to add a seam allowance to each stripe when you cut them out.  I made this rectangle from 5 thin pink stripes (½” final thickness), 4 thicker black stripes in between (1.5” final thickness), and two longer black pieces on each edge to create the wrap around of the headband.  Piece together how every you’d like and iron the seams.  When you have your completed piece, fold it in half, lengthwise (or hot-dog style) with right sides together.  Sew the long side of the piece and turn right side out.  This will create a tube 6” in diameter and 15” long.  Iron this piece along the seam to create the flat headband.

I then created a smaller tube to cover the elastic at the base of the headband.  I used 3/8” elastic so I made a 1” final thickness tube approximately 6” long.  This was made from a piece of fabric 2.5” x 6” sewn lengthwise and turned inside out.  I then threaded my elastic through this smaller tube.  To make it easier, I didn’t cut my piece of elastic first.  I threaded one end of elastic through the small tube I just made.  I then tacked the end of the elastic at one end of the tube to hold it in place.  Then, I scrunched up the fabric tube along the elastic until it reached the approximately length I wanted.  I then tacked the elastic at the second end and cut of the extra elastic.  At this point you are left with a small piece of elastic that is covered in bunched up fabric.  This will allow the headband to stretch over your head as you take it on and off.  The picture below shows my main piece and the covered elastic that are ready for final assembly.

Headband pieces ready for final assembly

To piece together the headband, you’ll need to know what you want your final size to be.  I measured my head a few times and it might take a few iterations to get it right.  Trim your wide, flat piece on each end to the final size you’ll need, including  the elastic in the measurement.  Use the length of the elastic stretched out a bit, so you’ll have a tight fit to your head while you’re wearing it.  Now, fold in the edge of the flat piece to fit over the elastic piece and sew in place.  This may take a little finagling to get a smooth, tapered finish.  I found it worked best to center the flat piece on the elastic and fold in each side on the back.  Then, I sewed it in place.  In this way, you’ll have one smooth, more finished side that you’ll wear out, visible on your head.  Here is what mine looked like after one side was attached.

Partially assembled headband

Doublecheck the sizing at this point.  If everything looks right, perform the same procedure on the remaining side.  Make sure that the headband is straight and aligned the correct way with the nicer, finished edges on the same side.  Make sure not to make a Mobius Strip!  Now you have a finished, hand-made thick, striped headband.  Enjoy!

My headband in action in Hawai'i

-Stephanie

Tutorial: Simple Paper-backed Shelves

Happy Superbowl Sunday, everyone!

This week’s tutorial is a really simple project to quickly update a room while adding a bit of personality.  Lining the back of shelves or shelving units is a great way to spruce up a living room, guest room, or in my case, my craft room.  My project using inexpensive, assemble yourself shelves that you can buy at your local Target or Walmart.  This project could also be used on smaller, wall-hung shelving units, or anything with a backing already included

Supplies you’ll  need:

• Shelves or shelving unit (easy to find in the closet organization section of your favorite Target or Walmart)
• Craft or scrapbook paper in the designs you like
• Paper glue; I used glue sticks meant for scrapbooking
• Scissors, measuring tape

Instructions:

The shelves I chose to cover had a separate backing that slid into place and was nailed down during the final assembly step.  I treated the shelf backing before attaching it to the shelving unit.

To start, I selected the paper I wanted to use to cover the backing.   Make sure you have enough of the same design, or have a plan for arranging the paper if you are using pieces of differing prints.

Supplies for the Simple Paper-lined Shelves

Next, I trimmed a piece of scrapbooking paper to fit the width of the backing, shown above as the white board folded in half lengthwise.  I started by measuring the middle of the backing in the longer direction.  Then, I started covering the backing by gluing the first piece in the middle of the backing, as shown below.

The first piece of paper is glued to the middle of the backing

Then, I trimmed the two remaining pieces of scrapbooking paper to the correct width and length, allowing a small overlap with the center piece already affixed to the backing.  I then glued the top and bottom pieces of paper to the backing.  Finally, I let the glue dry and then attacked the backing to my shelves as instructed by the manufacturer.  My newly updated shelving unit is shown below.

Completed shelving unit

I covered three of the same shelving units in the same way with different papers to update my craft room.

Trio of newly updated shelves

This project is quick and easy, give it a try!

-Stephanie

Tutorial: Quirky Yarn Beard

This post is a tutorial for a super fun project that is easy for a beginner at sewing.  My friend Tracy asked me to make her a beard so she could go to a costume party as her boyfriend.  I thought a beard made out of yarn would suit her needs.

Supplies you’ll  need for this project:

• Yarn in the color(s) of the beard you’d like.  I recommend one skein, or scraps of yarn if you have it
• 1 square of felt in a color to match your beard
• Ribbon for the tie, scrap will work if you have it
• Piece of cardboard
• Thread to match yarn
• Fabric scissors, Cardboard scissors
• Sewing machine

My supplies for the Yarn Beard

Instructions:

To start with, I cut a rough pattern for beard from paper including a mouth hole.  I used the paper model to fit to my face before using the felt.  Next, I cut out the beard shape from brown felt.  This will serve as the base of the beard and should be fairly soft against your face.  Then, I attached two pieces of brown ribbon to each corner of the felt.  This will be used to tie the beard onto the wearer.  It is easier to fit the ribbon length and make sure the shape of the beard is what you want at this stage, before any yarn is attached.  Make sure the felt is the right size and the tie is long enough for an easy closure before moving on to the next steps.

Next, I cut a U-shaped piece from the cardboard.  I suggest a deep, thin U about 8-10 inches long and up to 6 inches wide.  Choose the width of the U based on how shaggy you’d like your beard to be.  Each individual beard strand will end up half the length of the width of the U.  If you’d like a shaggier beard, like mine, make your U up to 6 inches wide.  If you’d like shorter beard strands, make the U narrower.

Once you have your cardboard U, start wrapping yarn around the U as shown in the picture.  I wrapped the whole length of my U with one color, and then added an accent color.  I used scotch tape to secure the ends of the yard while I was working with the U.

Yarn wrapped around the cardboard U

Once you have the U fully wrapped, cut the yarn off the main ball so you can work with it easier.  Now, use your sewing machine to sew the yarn together.  Start at the open end of the U and sew down the middle, catching all of the criss-crossing yarn.  I had to manually feed the U through the machine since your feed dogs likely won’t like the yarn and cardboard combination.  I pulled it slowly through to make sure that all the yarn was secured to each other.  My yarn began to come off the cardboard as I sewed it, which was fine.  After it is secured down the middle, it is ok if it falls off the cardboard since it should stitched together.

Once you are done securing the yarn to each other, you are ready to affix it to the felt backing.  I took my largest strand of yarn loops and positioned it around the bottom edge of the felt backing.  Once the yarn loops are stitched together, they had some flexibility so I could position them along the edge.  Next, I sewed the yarn loops on to the felt backing as shown in the picture.

First row of yarn loops sewed onto the felt backing

After sewing the line of yarn loops, I used fabric scissors to cut all of the loops to create individual beard strands.  Here is what the first row of the beard looked like after clipping the loops.

First row of the beard with the yarn loops clipped

I repeated this procedure to add one more row of loops in the middle of the beard and one row above the mouth to create the mustache and top of the beard.  After clipping all the loops, you have an awesome new yarn beard to enjoy!

Here is me trying on my yarn beard for the first time.  Since my U was pretty wide, you can see how my individual beard strands ended up being pretty long.  Feel free to adjust your cardboard U to end of up with a beard as fluffy as you’d like.

Yarn beard in action

New weekly update schedule

HoustonDIY Readers,

I’ve taken a bit of a break since establishing HoustonDIY and it’s time for me to rejoin the active blogging community.

I’ve decided to post at least once a week to keep up with all the great DIY craft ideas I have or new projects I’ve seen and want to try.  I’ve decided the best day for my schedule is each Sunday.

Keep posted each weekend for some fun ideas to start your crafting week with.

-Stephanie