Tag Archives: decorating

yarn cross-stitch pillow

cross stitch pillow on rae's days

I have really enjoyed sewing pillow cases for the pillows on my couch. I like picking out the fabric, and I like that they are personal to me. Plus, sewing smallish pillow cases is a generally quick project with a large payoff. This particular pillow project, though, I’ve been sitting on since I saw this photo on Apartment Therapy’s instagram.

apartment therapy instagram inspiration

I love these designs. And I love that they use cross stitching, which I’ve been exploring lately with my embroidery. But this cross stitching is on a large, fun scale. It took me a while to figure out how I could do something similar on my own, but over the weekend I finally got it together.

cross stitch pillow tutorial grid

I started by using some felt I had on hand. It was important to me to use felt because you don’t need to finish the edges for felt, so any holes you create in the felt won’t fray. I knew I wanted it for a 12×12 inch pillow, so I cut my fabric 13×13 inches to allow for a half-inch seam allowance. once  had my square, I used a fabric pencil to draw half-inch grid lines. And then I started hole punching.

hole punches

Figuring out how to create (mostly) evenly spaced holes, and how to cut out many, many tiny circles was the biggest challenge. But would you believe my little hand held hole punch cut through felt? It did. To cut each hole, I folded the fabric along each grid line so that my hole punch could reach the marks where the lines crossed. And then I got to punching. This part took a while, but I think it’s definitely worth it. Once I had my hole-punched canvas, I started stitching, using some extra yarn I had on hand and a large yarn needle that I normally use to sew in the dangling ends of my knitting.

cross stitch pillow

I decided on “hi.” It’s welcoming, casual, and fun. (And also very easy to map out for cross stitching.) After that, I measured and cut fabric for the back of the black felt and the back of the pillow. Once I sewed it all together–leaving a hole to stick your pillow in–I was done!

hi cross stitch pillow

I am really excited to see what else I could do with this idea. There’s unlimited colors and words or patterns I could play with, and it’s just too cute.

cross stitch pillow on couch

wedding present: embroidered hand towels

wedding present embroidered hand towels

I spent a while looking for some cute hand towels for a wedding present for my friend Jewels who loves to cook. And then I remembered that I like embroidering things.

embroidered hand towels

So I got some white hand towels and got to embroidering. I made three in different colors, so they can mix and match with their kitchen. Hopefully the new Mr. and Mrs. Panian can use these when they are eating dinner together! Congratulations, you two. I hope you share many wonderful meals.

embroidered mr and mrs towels

embroidery display update

embroidery display rae's days

I have finally added my latest embroideries to my embroidery display!

embroidery display

I am slowly but steadily filling the space above my bed. I love having them in my home–I love any handmade item in my home. I think it adds originality and personality, and I’m of course also proud that I made them myself.

display embroidery hoops

I’m getting quite a collection, and I’d love to keep going. I think they look lovely as a group. The whole is just as good as the parts.

cropped_MG_0927

I am working on a project to sew some of my favorite quotes and images from books. You can see the other quotes in my embroidery project here:

saga-inspired interiors

saga vol. 1

I read Saga, vol. 1, for book club this month, and I just loved it. It’s so sharp and funny and beautifully drawn. My favorite character is Lying Cat, of course, but there are so many other great characters that it’s hard to choose: Izabel, a typical teenager who happens to be a ghost with exposed entrails; The Will, a freelancer getting over a bad break up; The Stalk, in her eight-legged bad ass glory; and of course, the new parents Marko and Alana.

Everyone in book club loved it, too. On top of the lovely characters, there is a lot of layers to the story. There’s politics, a war, racism, morality, friendship, adventure, you name it. I had never read a comic book or graphic novel before, but I thought this was a great introduction. It’s very readable, and though book club deemed it a bit choppy, we all thought the storytelling was great.

So I picked up volume two and devoured that as well. Lucky for me, the next issue comes out this month so I don’t have to wait too long for the next installment.

One of my favorite parts of diving into comic books was the drawings, obvs. I love the color story for each character and setting. And in the spirit of Saga, I created some interior design collages with a character and their home in mind.

the will

The Will. His colors are light and airy, and we see a lot of blues, whites, and yellows. His spaceship seems pretty minimalist and modern. Ever the bachelor, I don’t expect he’d be into too may frills. I imagine Lying Cat would take over his chaise, and The Will would definitely have some catnip on hand.

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small cool space

rae's days small cool spaces

I finished one of my 2013 goals of decorating my apartment to enter Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Spaces contest! I’m so happy with my home. I am really proud of turning this apartment into a place I truly enjoy spending time in and showing off. Please stop by Apartment Therapy’s site and vote for my place and any others that you like!

couch

I love having a full size couch. In my old apartment I could only fit a loveseat, and it was a little too small for company or comfortable naps. Plus, I got to add some pillows that I made!

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adventures in spray paint

rae's days shelf before

I have this shelf by my door. I use it to hold my purse or shoes right when I get home. It’s the perfect size for the tiny space between my front door and my closet. And it was black, which was fine. But not great.

So I got some spray paint. And headed to a rooftop.

roof top view

This was the view. Not too shabby. Then I put my shelf on some trash bags and started spraying. It went pretty well for my first time spray painting something, all things considered. I did a few coats and touched up some spots where I thought it was needed. I used Rust-Oleum high performance enamel spray paint in safety yellow.

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pillow talk

rae's days couch

It’s finally time for Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Spaces contest! I can’t wait to enter, but first I have a few finishing touches to complete for my apartment. One of those touches is these throw pillows.

throw pillows

I made them! Well, I made the pillow cases, anyway. The pillow forms I got from Ikea.

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embroidery display

all on the wall

No new embroidery this week–instead I got everything I have already done ready to put on the wall above my bed. A few weeks ago I was struggling with what to do above my bed, and I think this might be my new solution.

To get the hoops ready, I first had to paint them.

painted hoops

Then I placed the embroidery back into the hoops and loosely sewed up the back. And then it was time to hang them up!

above the bed

#fatcat helped.

fatcat

It’s been really great to take a step back and see all the work I’ve done so far. I’m really proud of my progress as a new embroiderer and excited to see what I’ve made displayed in one place. I think I can easily add more as I keep going, which was important to me, too.

whole bed

Back to a new quote next week. After my vacation I’m really inspired and am excited to get going on some new quotes!

This is part of an embroidery project I am working on to sew some of my favorite quotes from books and post the images here each Sunday. Let me know if you have any quote suggestions! You can see the other quotes in my embroidery project here:

design question

I need help. (I mean, it’s not that serious, it’s a decorating problem, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.)

I’ve been obsessed with getting my apartment as close to finished as possible, and I’m a little stuck with the wall in my bedroom.

bedroom polka dots

Ideally, I’d love to hang an elaborately framed mirror above the bed, but I got a little skittish about hanging a heavy mirror in my rented apartment and also paying for a mirror. So I saw these very cheap black circle mouse pad and thought, why not? So I echoed what I did in my living room….

living room

…but in my bedroom. My worry is that it might look a little immature in my bedroom, where it’s large black polka dots and bright colors. On the other hand, it’s a cheap way to build on a polka dot theme and decorate the wall above my bed. What do you think, yay or nay? What else could I do there that will still let me keep my deposit?

Also, I’ve updated the living room since this picture was taken as well. I can’t wait til it’s ready to show you everything. Back to books and crafts and such later on this week, thanks for helping me get this out of my head and taken care of!

apartment update

One of my goals this year was to get my apartment ready in time to enter it in Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Spaces contest. I believe it’s usually in April, which gives me about one more month to put on the final touches. Back in November, I listed some of my dream goals for my apartment. So how am I doing?

fatcat comforter

#fatcat on my new duvet cover, which is one thing on my list I crossed off.

for the living room/kitchen

  • get a cowhide rug for the living room, poking out from under the couch 
  • buy (or make!) some giant, round crocheted round rugs for under the table and desk–Still on the search for the perfect rugs for these spots
  • find a cool umbrella stand for next to my front door 
  • place a tiny table or shelf on the wall next to my front door, and maybe a home sweet home artwork or something of the sort —I did find the perfect sized shelves for next to my front door, but I still want to paint them and add a home sweet home artwork for above where I hang my keys.
  • print this gunslinger-inspired print for above my bookshelf–I didn’t end up using that print, but I did fill my wall with paintings that my family and I made.

raes days art wall

  • buy and paint some crown molding to frame my full length mirrors 
  • get a chair for my kitchen table–I ended up using this chair for my desk instead of my kitchen table. My mom has an amazing black and white chair I’m hoping to get my hands on soon for the kitchen area 
  • and some folding chairs for guests
  • get more magnets to keep putting photo on my fridge/front door–This is probably the easiest thing on the list so of course I haven’t done it yet
  • use washi tape to cover up some tile I don’t like in the bathroom–I have ordered some washi tape and I hope to do this as soon as it arrives

for the bedroom

  • this handy craft to make a jewelry holder (i already have the frame)–Done!

raes days jewelry holder

  • I’ve fallen in love with this duvet cover–Also done! I had a moment of panic a few days ago when I realized that I still wanted this duvet cover and it was most likely out of stock. So I looked online–where it was sold out–and check if it was available in stores–it mostly wasn’t–until I found ONE left at a Crate & Barrel in the city. So I called them, ordered it, and picked it up later that day. And the best part was that it was for less than half of the original price. I wouldn’t recommend this as a game plan, though, if it’s something you really want.
  • paint screens to use as a headboard–I have a different plan for my headboard now, but I love the way I’m using these screens instead.

raes days picture shutters

  • yet another round rug for next to the bed–Right now I’m leaning toward using faux sheepskin instead of a round rug

So, I’ve crossed some items off, changed my mind on a few things, and am still waiting to accomplish a few more. Not bad, but I better pick up the pace. I can’t wait to get everything done and share it with you.