Anthro Knock Off - Tea & Crumpets Apron

Are you ready? I've been talking for weeks about making a knock off tutorial of Anthro's Tea & Crumpets apron. First I got waylaid by Quilt Market (can you blame a girl?!) and now my kiddos are pretty sure that it is absolutely hilarious to not nap nor sleep longer than 2 hours at a time at night.. Did I mention my hubby is back on nights? Let's just say I'm holding to my sanity with white knuckles..

Without further ado.. here is what I'm calling my Martini and Olive Apron 'cause it's just been that kind of week.. And this apron is SO stylish it makes me want to have a cocktail party!

What do you need?

* Yellow fabric- 20"x27", 4"x17", and (2) 4"x36" pieces

* White fabric - 4"x52", 13"x30", (3) 3"x36", and (2) 4"x36"

* 2 packages of single fold bias in light grey

How long do you need?

Around 2 hours. This is a little time consuming with all the ruffles, but what it takes in time it gives back generously in style! However, if you don't like to sew (faints!) or don't know how, Anthro's price tag of $32.00 is very reasonable.. But you love to sew and you want to make it yourself,right? Right!

What do you do?

Grab your large yellow piece 20"x27". On the two 20" sides and one long 27"side, fold up 1/4" and press. Do it one more time to cover those raw edges and sew close to the fold.

Increase your stitch length and baste the remaining 27" long side. Gently gather and set aside.

Take your piece of white fabric that measures 4"x52". This is going to be the white ruffle on the bottom of the skirt. With wrong sides together, fold it lengthwise and press, so now that it measures 2"x52". I have it doubled up because white fabric is so transparent and I didn't want this apron to look cheap.

Okay, now you have 2 options.

A.) If you have a ruffler foot.

Stitch a scant 1/4" lengthwise along the raw edges and then run through your ruffler on level 6 (6 stitches for every ruffle). I sew the raw edges first because they can slide in your ruffler foot.

B.) If you don't have a ruffler foot.

Set a long stitch length. Sew 1/4" lengthwise along the raw edges. Do it one more time right by the last seam. You will gently gather this by hand. The extra row will decrease your chances of the thread breaking while you gather, but still be gentle!

Lay your ruffles on the long side of the hemmed yellow piece. You want to lay the raw edges of the ruffles on the right side of the long hemmed 27" bottom of apron (not on the gathered edge! that is for your waist ties). Sew these together and press.

Your bottom is done! On to the top...

Grab your white piece that measures 13"x30". This is your bodice. With right sides together, fold it half lengthwise so that now it measures 13"x15". Press.

Serge or sew the two 15" long sides and turn back out to the right side. Set aside.

Now it's time to make those ruffles for the bodice. You will need the (3) pieces of 3"x36". You have two options.

A.) If you have a serger.

Serge all the sides of all 3 pieces.

B.) If you don't have a serger.

You will need to clean up those long edges. Fold up 1/4" on each long side and sew close to the fold.

And now you have another option..

A.) If you have the ruffler foot.

Run the 3 pieces through the ruffler on level 6. You will stitch down the center of the pieces, not on either side.

B.) If you don't have a ruffler foot.

Set a long stitch length. Stitch down the center of the strips. Gently gather.

Pin the 3 ruffles to bodice.

Now it's time to sew the ruffles down. Instead of doing a straight stitch and trying to go over your ruffler stitch (cause I can never do that perfectly), I set it to a small zigzag. This way it looks like there is only 1 decorative stitch down the center of the ruffler, instead of 2 lines.

Time to make our halter ties. I did mine WAY too small, so in the picture it will look smaller than what you make.. Do as I say, not as I did..

Take your (2) 4"x36" white pieces. With right sides together, serge/sew the 2 long sides. On one of the short sides, cut it at 45 degrees and serge/sew. Through the remaining open short side, pull the ties out to the right side. Press.

Pin your ties to the top of the bodice. I pinned mine under both ruffle sides, you can pin yours wherever you like best. Now top stitch all the edges of the bodice, being sure to stitch the halter ties to the bodice.
Whew.. Your almost done! Time to make your apron ties and pull it all together.

With right sides together, pin the bodice bottom to the gathered edge of the apron. Sew/serge together.

Take your 4"x17" of yellow fabric. With wrong sides together, fold in half lengthwise and press so that it now measures 2"x 17". Get your grey bias and fold over both long edges. Sew down the center of grey bias (be sure your yellow fabric is sandwiched in there!) Set aside.

Take your (2) 4"x36" of yellow fabric.With wrong sides together, fold in half lengthwise and press so that it now measures 2"x 36". On one of the short sides, cut it at 45 degrees. Get your grey bias and fold over the 2 long edges & the 45 degree end ( you will be making a long U) Sew down the center of grey bias (be sure your yellow fabric is sandwiched in there!)

Sew the raw edges of the apron ties to one end of the bodice strip. Sew the other apron tie to the other side of the bodice strip.

Pin the bodice strip centered between the bodice and apron. Sew in place.

Grab your dry martini and kick your heels up!

Linking Up To:

Someday Crafts

Tea Rose Home

PB Knock Off - Rose Petal Canopy

My friend, Sabrina, asked if I could try a knock off of Pottery Barn's Rose Petal Canopy. It retails for $99 before shipping. Isn't it awesome? I'm working on redecorating Isabelle's room into a Tinkerbell fantasy, and I thought a giant flower canopy would be amazing in there. Personally,there is NO way I could ever install this above her bed - she would play into the wee hours of the morning. Instead I imagined it as a special reading/play corner that she would enjoy.

Want to try it? I was able to make it for less than half of what Pottery Barn charged and it will take you just a few hours to make. Now, I did a fair amount of sewing, but you don't have to. Where ever I sew, you can use Fabri-tac or hot glue. It won't be as tailored, but you are only having to construct the rose petals, which are high up and won't be scrutinized..

What do you need?

*IKEA plain canopy (I found my in the store for 19.99, it is not offered online - boo!)

*batting

*5 yards of pink tulle (you can buy tons more and go crazy if you want though)

*4 yards of shiny pink fabric ( I bought 2 lt. pink and 2 dk. pink)

*1/8 yard of green velvet

* 3 make-a-links (the are little links that unscrew)

* medium hook to install into the ceiling

How much time do you need?

Plan on this being a weekend project. It takes a couple hours and if you have kiddos, you won't be able to do it all at once.

What do you do?

Cut your tulle into long strips and tie around the canopy ring. It's kind of like making a no-sew tutu. The great thing about the IKEA canopy is there is TONS of white tulle already installed on there for you! The extra pink tulle is more for accent color.
Cut giant flower petal shapes out of your batting. I did a total of 6 petals -3 lt.pink and 3 dk.pink

You can absolutely add more if you wish.

Fold your fabric over and place the batting petal shapes on top and cut around. You will want to leave at least a 1/2" seam allowance.

Sew your petals. You want your fabric right sides together and leave about 5" space opening to turn. I sew somewhere between 1/4 - 1/2" seam. Don't sweat it, this doesn't need to be real precise.

I clip the edges of points close to the seam line - it helps create sharp corners. If that sounds like a foreign language to you, don't worry about it - it's not important..
Turn your petals out to the right side. Gently push in your batting and ease into the petal shape.

Topstitch around the petal closing the hole. I also stitched up the center a bit to make it look like the veins of a flower petal. This helps quilt the batting to the fabric so it won't shift later.

Cut the green velvet into a 5" x 10" rectangle. Fold fabric over so right sides are together. Stitch up the long side of the rectangle. Pull fabric out to right side through one of the openings.

((The size of the green velvet will depend on how long you want your stem. Measure the length of the hook & links to determine how long to cut it)

Hand sew the ends of flower petals to top of the IKEA canopy, near the base of attached ring.

Secure the hook into the ceiling following the package instructions.

Attach your make-a-links together and screw into the ring on the IKEA canopy. Thread your green velvet stem over the links. Attach canopy to ceiling hook. Position green velvet over all the hardware. You can hand stitch the ends closed if you want, but I didn't find it necessary.

Sit back and watch your kiddo go nuts over their humongous flower canopy!

Isabelle is pretty crazy about it! Her cushy reading chair is at the base of flower and she loves to hide there!
You can also change things up a bit to make it more for a little boy. How about an Army bunker? You can replace the pink tulle with brown & green to make it camo-ish. And instead of large pink flowers, you can buy camo fabric and make large leaves. I bet your little boy will go crazy hiding in their super cool fort!

It would also be cool as a cloud and rainbow! Just buy rainbow color tulle and cut cloud shapes from white felt instead of petals.

So many ideas!! You can absolutely create this without the IKEA canopy, but it was a fabulous base to this project for only $19.99! Otherwise you will need to construct the canopy base from scratch.

If you have any questions, please holler! I tend to type faster than I think - so please,please shout if you want to make this and you were lost on a step.

Have an idea for a knock off? Let me know!

What's coming up?

I'll be doing an Antro apron and Pottery Barn Pirate Mast.

Linking up to:

Not Just a Housewife

Todays Creative Blog

Someday Crafts

The CSI Project

Sun Scholars

Restoration Hardware Knock It Off - Monogram Rug

Time for me to jump on a blog trend craze - painting rugs! Rugs can be soo expensive, but they add so much to a room or even a patio. Painting an inexpensive rug is the perfect answer for those looking to update their home without dropping a bundle. Today, I'm going to show you how I spent $31.00 to make a rug inspired by the one below with a *sale* price of $79 at Restoration Hardware.

Materials needed:

Egeby rug from Ikea - I cut mine in half so I had two rugs in the end

2 sample paint jars of Martha Stewart latex wall paint - a pink and brown

(you can buy these at Home Depot - they will mix the colors to your preference)

painting tape and brushes

*a little bit of brown spray paint

vinyl monogram stencil

How long you will need:

2-3 hours

What do you do:

1.) I cut my rug in half and removed the binding. (I used the other rug for another knock off project that I will feature later this month)

2.)I masked off the center rectangle with painter's tape. I measured the sides to be sure that is was pretty accurate.

3.) With a mini roller, I did a couple coats of pink latex paint for the middle rectangle.

Here it is finished - looking great!

4.) The next part I don't have pictures for.. I used the chocolate paint and did a couple coats on the border. For some reason the border was a lot harder than the inner rectangle. I didn't have a mini roller & pan for the brown, and used brushes instead. Bad mistake. I highly recommend getting roller & pan set for each color you use - they were less than $2 at Home Depot and make a huge difference. I ended up using some left over spray paint to even out the color on the border.

5.) I then used my Pazzle electronic cutter to cut a vinyl stencil out for the monogram. Now the vinyl won't stick great, so just go slow when you paint. I used a foam brush and heavily painted the monogram.

And that's it! I love it! It's going to go in Juliette's room under her crib - just like they have pictured at Restoration Hardware.
I hope you are inspired to try to paint a rug this summer. I'll be honest there is a learning curve and I did utter some unsavory words, but I really love my rug.

Have questions? Just holler!

Have a Knock It Off suggestion? Please let me know!

Next week we will be making this beauty.... I'll show how to make the rose petal one and give suggestions on variations for boys.

Linking Up To:

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Running With Glitter

Thrifty Decorating

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Anthro Knock It Off - Lucid Outlines Pillow

We love our Anthro don't we? It would be fabulous if we could afford their amazing designs, but most of us just drool, stomp our feet over the price tag, and contemplate how we could make it ourselves. Well today, I'm going to help you make the Lucid Outlines Pillow.

((Please keep in mind that these tutorials are for fun & personal use. Please respect Anthro's designers and don't try to sell these for profit...))

Now the Anthro pillow is 12"x20", sewn in zipper, and was hand woven. Um, not today folks!

We are going to make a smaller version that is perfect for the bed, mantle, or sofa. There is no zipper, just some machine sewing and a wee bit of hand stitching. And well, no I didn't weave the fabric, I used some scraps.

This project is completely beginner friendly. The only advanced sewing step is pintucking. Normally there is measuring and precision, but not today! So have no fear..

Below is my final pillow - adorable isn't it?

Well, let's get started!

Materials needed:

grey textured fabric - I used a "whoops wool doesn't go in the washer" sweater

green textured fabric - I used a beautiful green linen remnant from Joann's

some polyfill stuffing

How long you'll need:

about 1 hour

1.) Cut out your pieces. We are making a pillow about 1/2 size of the original.

You'll need:

(1) piece of grey cut 7"x11"

(1) piece of grey cut 2"x7"

(1) piece of grey cut 6"x7"

(1) piece of green cut 8"x7"
2.) Let's start on the hard task first to get it out of the way. If you have never heard of pinktucking, I recommend reading the Burda tutorial here. Rather than make measurements, we are going to make random sized tucks; the Anthro pillow had a very organic feel to it and that is what we are trying to replicate.

We want our final measurement of the green portion to be about 4"x7". While you are making the pintucks, be sure to measure it to see how close you are.

For my tucks, I grabbed anywhere between 1/4" to 1/2".

3.) Let's put the pillow together. We will put the front together first. For this project I used a 1/4" sewing allowance. You'll need your 2 small grey pieces and the tucked green. With right sides together, sew the 7" sides of one of the grey to the green. Then with the remaining small grey piece, place it rights sides together with the green piece and sew down the remaining 7" side.

Now you should have (1) solid grey piece 7"x11" and the front piece 7"x11"

We are going to sew the pieces right sides facing each other. You will need to leave a 2-3" gap somewhere along the border so that you will be able to turn it out. Before you turn, clip the corners close to stitching - this will you give you sharper corners.

4.) Turn the pillow right side out. Use a chopstick or pen to gently poke out the corners. Fill it up with the polyfill stuffing.

5.) You will need to hand stitch the opening close with a ladder stitch. Don't know how? Check out this great tutorial! I use this stitch several times a week - it is one you should learn!
And there is my sweet little Anthro pillow... Now it wasn't handwoven in Ethiopia, but it also didn't cost me $118.00. More along the lines of $10..

Hope you love it and if nothing else were inspired to make some kind of pillow. They are super easy and a great way to use up left over fabric.

Have an expenisve brand name item you are lusting after? Want to see if I can make a knock off, feel free to submit an idea!

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Knock it Off - PB Easter Stakes - Part 1

How cute are these Pottery Barn Easter garden stakes? Super cute, right? Well as much I think they would be adorable in my front yard, I'm not about to pay $49.00 for them. You're paying this because it is *handpainted* and vintagey.. Well readers, I'm going to walk you through making the blue one for at least half the cost, and you get bragging rights! Here is what you will need: * apx. 8"x11" solid piece of wood (I bought mine at the Wood Connection in UT) * hobby paint in robin blue, chocolate brown, cream, yellow, pink, orange, celery green * white vinyl if you have a vinyl cutter OR get some large white alphabet stickers OR plan on handpainting the letters. *wooden stake *Gorilla Glue OR something equally strong *paint brushes and a makeup sponge. How long you will need: about 2 hours What do you do? 1.) Paint the front & sides of wood piece robin blue. I buy cheap-o hobby paint, so I needed 3 coats. You could also spray paint this if you are so inclined. 2.) Now that it is a solid blue, you are going to age it! Take a makeup sponge and just a little bit of brown paint. Dab most of that off and streak it all over.

3.) With the bottom of a paintbrush, dab cream paint dots all around the border of the wood piece.

4.) Your board should look something like this now. 5.) For those of you that are totally scared about painting, I kept you in mind for the next step. Rather than freehand paint the letters, I cut them out of white vinyl on my Pazzle. You could also use large alphabet stickers instead. Or if the idea doesn't make you break out in hives, you can absolutely paint the letters on.

6. The next part, you will actually start painting..so it may get scary, but remember Pottery Barn is charging those big bucks because it looks & was hand painted. This is not supposed to be perfect, this is not supposed to look like it came down an assembly line. Take a deep breath and have fun! So I drew an arrow very similar to PB's in pencil. If you don't like how it came out, you can always redraw or paint over it. I did the base coat in the celery green. Again because I work with cheapo paint, I had to paint the arrow at least 2 times. 7.) Now we want to give our arrow some dimension, some kick. So we are going to give it a dark chocolate shadow. Load up your brush with brown paint on one side of the bristles and green on the other - just like below. Practice painting on a piece of paper till you are happy with the results. Make sure your brush is loaded up and paint down the left side in one swoop - no wiggling back and forth, just one swoop. 8.) See that was fun, right? Not too scary, and we are almost done with painting! Here comes the trickest part. You are going to draw your chickie and broken egg. Again, if you aren't happy with the first draw, feel free to pencil it again. Look below - I added some junk in my chickie's truck :o) 9.) Once you are satisfied with the rendering, fill the chickie in solid yellow and the egg shells in pink. Again..it took me a couple coats to make it solid. 10.) Paint chickie's legs and feet brown. Make a small dot of brown for the eye. Dab a small triangle of orange for the beak. Now we are going to give chickie some depth as well. Load up your brush in the cream and swoop from tail to under belly. 11.) Now we are going to give chickie a wing. Load up the brush with half brown and half cream, and in a single swoop paint on the wing. Next give the pink egg big cream polka dots. And that is it for part one! Can you believe it? Did I miss something? Need more explanation? Let me know. The next part will just be spray varnish and adhering the wood stake. So if you are comfortable with those on your own, feel free to jump to the end. I hope you enjoyed this PB knock off. It is a super cute lawn decoration for your Easter hunt! I will be doing more designer knock offs, so feel free to submit any links. I'm not WonderWoman, so there may be things I won't feel adequate in tackling..but let's push the limits!