Plaid Lampshade Recovering Tutorial...Plus Giveaway!

Welcome to Plaid Flannel Party week! Let's get started on the Plaid Flannel goodness:

Hello there, meet my friend Uglampo:

He's a lamp shade and he's kinda ugly. He doesn't really fit in very well with our bedroom decor. (No, that face is not for reals. Hello photo software stickers, I love you).

Uglampo's twin brother Uglampi did not sign the media and press waiver so we are unable to post pictures of him. We deeply apologize.

Sadly, (OK, not too sad for me) we need to say buh-bye to Uglampo. He needs an extreme makeover....but needs so much work that his former identity will be null and void. New identity, here we come!

Lay Uglampo on your chosen piece of fabric (PLAID! CHOOSE PLAID!) and while rolling the lampshade cut out the basic shape of the lampshade with a good 2 - 3 extra inches all around:




You'll end up with a piece as shown below and your Uglampo will end up with motion sickness. Perfect.



Put a dab of glue (I used my hot glue gun because it's fast and easy) where each of the arrows is pointing and lay your Uglampo on it, being sure to smooth out any wrinkles or folds. Glue small 3-4 inch sections on the lamp edge and roll along your fabric to attach it. Do NOT be afraid to quickly rip off sections of misshapen, folded and rolled on fabric before the glue fully dries and redo them so they lay smooth.* AHEM*.

Uglampo is feeling a bit dizzy after all this rolling and gluing going on...but he's looking FAB:



Where the two edges of the fabric meet, glue one side all the way down flat against the lamp. On the remaining edge, fold the raw edge under and glue it down forming a smooth line with no raw edges showing. Think about wrapping a present and tucking the ragged edges on the bottom under forming a smooth folded line. Same thing. Clear as mud, right?

Cut slits into the top extra fabric where any lamp hardware is attached to the outer rim. I had three metal bars to work around so I cut three slits:



(Hee hee, those scissor photo stickers are making me giggle )

Glue along the inside edge of the lampshade and tuck the fabric in leaving a smooth edge. Then trim off the excess fabric:



(Why yes, I DO realize I'm overdoing the use of photo stickers. Let me have my fun)

And there you go, you are DONE. I really can't believe I turned such a rather simple project into a post this long.

Meet Plaidlampo:



Ain't it a cutie pie?

BEFORE:



AFTER:



And you betchyourbuns I'll be ripping that plaid flannel off and recovering those lampshade anytime I am the least bit sick of them.

Looking at that picture makes me want to restain those tables....and spray paint the lamp bases....and stencil a quatrefoil pattern on the wall. You get the general idea. Anywho...

OK, giveaway time!

Up for grabs is this teal, purple, pink and black plaid blossom pin...because sometimes a full plaid shirt/skirt/dress/coat is just too. much. plaid. This gives you just a nibble of plaid to accentuate an otherwise dull outfit:



Please don't ask me why a fiery glowing pumpkin is peeking out from the right side of the blossom pin. I won't have an answer for ya.

Oooo, I have an idea...



That's better.

Giveaway Rules:

1. LEAVE ME A COMMENT telling me what outfit/article of clothing you'd use this sassy pin.

2. Earn another entry by FOLLOWING ME via the Google Friend Connect Follow Me doodad located on the right sidebar and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you just signed up or already DO follow Vintage Dutch Girl.

3. Earn yet another entry by subscribing to the Vintage Dutch Girl blog via a reader and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you newly subscribed or already do so.

4. Earn another entry by "Hearting" or "favoriting" the VintageDutchGirl ETSY shop and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did and WHAT YOUR FAVORITE ITEM IS CURRENTLY FOR SALE IN THE SHOP.

5. Earn another entry by BECOMING A FAN on the Vintage Dutch Girl Facebook Fan page found HERE...and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you became a fan or already ARE a fan.

6. STILL need some more entries? Whew...OK. Earn another entry (if you're still counting, that's up to FIVE) by blogging about, facebook posting, or tweeting about this giveaway (with links added in to spread the fun!) and LEAVE ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so.

7. OK, last one, I promise. GRAB THE Plaid Flannel Party BUTTON located on the top right side of the blog and post it on your blog to spread the news during this Plaid Flannel Party week and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so.

(Sorry, but for shipping reasons, this contest is only open to residents of USA and Canada)

*why so many entry possibilities? I want to say THANK YOU to those who read and follow along with my blabberings and projects!*

I will leave the contest open until THIS FRIDAY, October 29th, 10 PM PST at which time I will select a winner through Random.org and post the results.

Remember!!! You do NOT have to run a blog or have a google/gmail account to enter. Just click in as anonymous and make sure you tack your first name and email on the bottom of your comment so I can contact you if you win. Enter to win and join the fun!

A

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Upcoming Plaid Flannel Party!

I LOVE me some Plaid Flannel. One could say I've been hoarding a yard or eighteen of this deliciously colorful and cozy fabric. I finally decided to do something about it to bust my stash.

Heads up! I am hosting a Plaid Flannel Party next week, October 24th - 29th! Grab the button and post it on your blog so everyone knows you are participating and get the word out!

<a href="http://www.vintagedutchgirl.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt148/VintageDutchGirl/PFPgrab.png" /></a>

I have HEAPS of Plaid Flannel that are itching to get sewn, ripped, glued and crafted into beautiful things. Seriously, HEAPS.

What can you expect from this Plaid Flannel Shindig?

* Plaid Flannel Project ideas

* Plaid Flannel sewing tutorials

* New Plaid Flannel items in the Vintage Dutch Girl shop

* All ending with a huge Plaid Flannel Project Parade Link-up Party and GIVEAWAY on Friday, October 29th. Get your Plaid Flannel projects ready to post and link up and we can all be ready for some super Plaid Flannel project inspiration!

So, get out there and get shopping for some lovely Plaid Flannel to join our Plaid Flannel Party on October 24- 29th. Hope you can attend!

A

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Tea Dyed Sheet Music Tutorial...

I love music. It feeds my soul.

There needs to be more evidence of our enjoyment of music in our home.

I have a stack of photocopied sheet music from many of my favorite musicals. Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, Fiddler, etc. Not wanting to toss the pages of "Edelweiss", "Tradition" and "O

klahoma!", into the recycle bin, I came up with a new project.

Tea Dyed Sheet Music:

Materials:

- A stack of sheet music. ( Don't have any? There are tons of sites where you can print off music for free. OK, I googled it for you. I'm nice like that. )
- a bunch of teabags
- hot water
- paintbrush
- old towels

Directions:

1. Brew up a good nice strong cup of tea. I used three or four teabags for one large cup.

Confession: I tossed the first two cups of brewed tea. The first turned out looking like urine and the second one was dark red thanks to a cranberry splash teabag. Not wanting this to become a "How to make Urine Dyed Sheet Music" or "How to make Blood Stained Sheet Music" I decided to throw them out and start over.

2. Lay your chosen sheet music out in a single layer on an old towel.

3. Using the brush, "paint" the strongly brewed tea directly onto the sheet music then blot the excess moisture off with a towel:



4. Squeeze the teabags and drip onto the paper edges to achieve varied coloring:



5. Let air dry, turning pages over every 15 minutes or so. Once dried, if the page color isn't dark enough for you, repeat the whole process.

(While the paper is wet you can add creases and folds to age the paper even more)

6. Arrange the dried sheet music on the paper backing of a large picture frame:



7. Put the frame back together and hang it up!




Tea Dyed sheet music has many applications. Think origami Christmas tree ornaments, paper flowers or poms or gifting a friend with their favorite sheet music aged and framed.

Any other ideas of what to do with Tea Dyed Sheet Music?

A

 

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Rolled Fabric Flower Autumn Wreath...(with a lazy tutorial!)

Why yes, yes I did make a new Autumn wreath last year.

And yes, yes I did discover another Autumn wreath I'd made the year before and had forgotten about.

And yes, rather than find a ladder to retrieve either one of those Autumn wreaths from the tippy top shelf in the garage, I went ahead and made another.

Because I'm lazy like that. And I'll take any excuse to craft instead of wash dishes.

Yep, that makes THREE.

Three Autumn wreaths because one is not enough and two is boring. That makes ZERO sense so just go with me here and let me try to rationalize my crafting mkay?

I had a plain grapevine wreath on my door and it needed some sassy fallification.

Enter glue gun, rolled fabric flowers and a woman on a craftin' (dishes avoiding) mission:



Ahhhhh, MUCH better!

Wanna make your own? OK, I'm not going to go ahead and redo a long rolled fabric flower tutorial because there may be eleventy hundred great ones out in crafty blogland as this very moment.

Sweetened Condensed Rolled Fabric Flower Tutorial:

A long strip of fabric, knot at one end, twist and roll fabric around knot gluing periodically. Thereyougo.

Sweetened Condensed Rolled Flower Autumn Wreath Directions:

Um, take your many coordinating (or not, just wing it like I did) rolled fabric flowers in varying sizes and glue them to a grapevine wreath. Hang it wherever you want it. Take pictures and blog about it and my ultra-fab super explanation tutorial (optional).

Happy Autumn!

A

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How to Sassify A Plain Dress...

I went shopping and purchased a clearance rack dress. It is a super comfy, flattering cut, knit dress.

With one problem.

It's BORING.

OK, time to sassify!

Here is the dress BEFORE:



Just yer basic knit black dress. With side tie straps that really don't do anything as the empire waist is already fully elasticized. They just make it look more maternity-ish. NOT cool.

SNIP those useless straps right off!

OK, next up, some BLING BABY. BLING. I found my bling at the local fabric store. Didja know you can buy lace and blingy trims by the yard? Yeppero! Here's what I found:



And I also bought some lovely blue-tealish taffeta that matches my snazzy new shoes.

First up, pin and sew blingy trim around entire neckline of dress:



Then wait a few days because you got too busy with the sick children. In between wiping snotty noses cut and create a lovely HUGE blue-teal flower pin:



Wait a few more days.

Wipe more snotty noses.

Finally, pin and sew a few more rows of sassy bling onto the front of the dress:



Use up extra bling trim to bling up your HUGE blue-teal flower pin and throw it on your now sassy dress:



Ahhhh. That's better.

I can't decide if I'll wear it like the above picture of if I will wear it pinned on my new thick elastic black belt (Megs, my beautificationist/style consultant, just fell out of her chair. Yep Megs, FINALLY bought a thick belt!).

I kinda like it on the waist:



And yes, I'm going to wear my new teal shoes with my newly sassy dress:



Hello gorgeous shoes. I've missed you.

OK now, get out there and start sassing up those boring dresses!

A

The Flouncy Skirt...with Tutorial!

Mama made me a Flouncy Skirt. It's nice and sassy, just like me:



It's flips and flounces as I walk and crawl:





or when I'm standing, just being me:



The Flouncy Skirt:

Step 1: Purchase or repurpose xx-large (as large as you can find) clearance with extra 50% off lowest price jersey t-shirt with bottom elastic ruching, or banding, detail. I found mine at an Old Navy clearance and paid under $2 for it. For this project it works best to have multiple layers of banding/elastic ruching to create your easy skirt waistband. Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about:



Step 2: Measure your little girl's waist and add about two inches. Using this measurement, cut through one layer of the shirt to cut your new waistband. Leave an extra fourish or so inches on the length, like so:



Step 3: Put shorter right sides together and sew, creating a tube. The skirt waistband is already finished so no fussy finishing needed there. Yippee!

Step 4: Find a complimentary fabric for the Flounce main part of the skirt. I choose some leftover pink flannel that I am LOVING right now. I cut mine 6 inches wide by 30 inches long. Add extra width for a longer skirt or extra length for a flouncier skirt. Subtract inches in the width for a shorter skirt or subtract inches in the length for a less flouncier skirt (WHY anyone would want a LESS flouncier skirt, I have NO. IDEA).

Step 5: Finish (or leave raw, you rebel you!) both edges on the length and sew right sides of the width together creating a big tube of fabric. This will be your FLOUNCE.

Step 6: Gather and attach the flounce to the waistband. You can sew a basting stitch an inch lower than the top hem and gather the skirt before sewing the flounce to the waistband or you can be lazy like me and just hand gather and eyeball it, shoving folds of fabric under the presser foot as you go. I realize this sounds confusing, here's a diagram:


Sew the RIGHT side of the bottom edge of the waistband to the WRONG side of skirt flounce along the dotted line ( yes, leaving an inch or so of finished edge fabric out) attaching the flounce to the lower elastic edge of your already made waistband, gathering as you go. Here's a pic of mine:



Step 7: Cut a 4 x 4 square of fabric from leftover t-shirt and attach to under skirt making it a boyshort. Diagram:




Step 8: Try your Flouncy skirt on your daughter and giggle at the cuteness of it all:



Step 9: (optional) Dig through fabric stash and plan for 5 more FLOUNCY skirts...

A