With a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, the room is finally done! we have successfully transformed our old rotting 3-season room into a beautiful sewing room with added entertainment for everyone! the room as a whole came together so well, but there are a few things that i just love!

starting with the sewing room features:
1. my huge custom cutting table/cart - kyle and i built this out of mdf board. we bought baskets from the local hardware store & made little ledges for them to slide in & out of. i sewed little basket liners on them so my stuff wouldn't fall out the holes...and it looks cute! also, hiding behind the curtain is a space large enough for fabric bolts to stand up! the cart is on huge casters so i can move it out to the middle of the room. when i am not using this for it's intended purpose of cutting fabric, bar stools get pulled up and a few adult beverages are consumed while an intense game of dice is played :)
2. my pink toolbox - this is one of my favorites just because it is pink! but really, who knew that a tool box would be built perfectly for sewing supplies?!? the top drawer is perfect to lay down you thread spools so you can easily grab the color/weight you need (and yes, i do keep it organized by color), there is a drawer the perfect size to place rick-rac & binding packages perfectly on end, the bottom drawer is coincidentally the perfect sized to file patterns in. i also have a drawer for my scissors, rulers, presser feet, etc. and one for my elastic, velcro, and other closures. i think whoever invented the first "tool box" might have been thinking about us sewers on this one!
3. my custom counter top & cupboards - this is the only thing in the room that we didn't do or make ourselves, and i am glad i hired it out! the cabinet company did an amazing job of fitting these cupboards to our walls & making them look great! i have HUGE, DEEP cupboards to fill with fabric, fiberfill, buttons & other fun crafting stuff! the counter is huge and the corner space is perfect for all of my sewing machines to switch back & forth with plenty of room on the left side for big fabric projects to fit.
as for the rest of the family & friends:
4. grandma & grandpa's Holiday Haven Resort coke cooler - this is my prized possession given to me by my grandparents. when they closed the store portion of their resort somehow they got to keep this gem! somehow by shear luck (or i really am the favorite) they gave it to me for christmas! it is in running condition and just like in the 70's when it was in their store it still keeps the "coldest beer in the midwest"!
5. the multicade - i got this sweet little table-top video game for the kids (young & old) for christmas this year. with over 60 retro video games to choose from it keeps us all entertained!

i hope this inspires you to make yourself a great sewing/craft/entertainment space!

i have been collecting vintage hankies and embroidered table runners from thrift shops and garage sales for some time now. i didn't know what i was going to do with them, but i know that i just had to have them! well, the perfect opportunity arose when i needed new window treatments for the entry way after the remodel. this was a super easy project that added a rustic/vintage feel to the windows in the entry way.

start with a tension rod, or installed curtain rod on your window. after that, simply layer the different runners, towels & hankies until you love the look. i hung them with an even length on both sides of the curtain rod so they would look just as cute outside as they do inside. here are some tips for making them just right...

* some of the hankies were a little too translucent when the sun shined through so i added a white cotton backing to them with heat n bond. you can follow the directions on included with the product...no sewing needed!

* some of the runners were too long when hung over the curtain rod. for those, i just folded them in half with the right sides together and made a seam where i wanted the middle of the runner to hang, cut off the excess and press the seam open. you can use a machine or do this by hand.

* after i had them all in place i did put a few "tack" stitches in to hold them on the curtain rod so they wouldn't slide off one side or the other. i did this by hand with a needle and thread and placed a stitch in about 4 different places to hold all of the runners/hankies down and tied it off in the back.

hope you like the valance as much as i do. this is just one more project that shows my "old soul" and love for vintage embroidery!

my new sewing room is coming along and almost ready to be used! i just wanted to share my experience of using vintage pattern instructions for wall paper. all of the diy information i found on using books or maps for wallpaper scared me...either they are all amateurs or i just got lucky, because my wall turned out absolutely amazing!
these are the supplies that i used:
pattern instructions (you could use book pages, maps, newspaper, etc.), wallpaper glue/paste, paint brush, plastic scraper, xacto knife/razor blade, paper towels, radio

1. i started with a new construction wall that i did not have texture on. i am sure that this helped with the final product turning out so great. try a practice piece in a closet or somewhere "secret" to see how this will the end result will work on your wall finish

2. i used a scrap piece of sheetrock for my workstation so i could apply the wallpaper paste over the edges of the paper. i just threw away the sheetrock when i was finished. it also gave me a chance to practice!

sew after 25+ years of sewing i have just recently come across a little gem the makes threading ribbon a cinch! if you are like me you have always used a safety pin attached to the elastic, ribbon, or string that you want to run though your projects, but not for me anymore...no more pin coming undone halfway through your casing to poke you in the finger...bodkin to the rescue!
i am sure that this little device has been around for ever, but i am really excited to use it for the first time. it is quite self explanatory but while i was hanging out with my grandma vi this weekend i decided to take some very poor quality photos of my project that i was working on so you can see just how the bodkin works.
thanks for reading! ~stacy

i admit it, i have spring fever! i have completely tore up my front yard and added a ton of flowers, veggies, raised garden, and dirt!
i scored an antique crib at a local antique store in hartford and tore it apart. i used the spring for another clematis trellis, and the head/foot board for trellises for my peas & beans in my new raised garden. i still have the crib sides left to play with!
for the crib spring we drilled holes in the frame and simply screwed it to the wood fence where the braces are. as for the new bean and pea trellis i dug down in the garden and attached the frame legs with a half circle bracket that can be found at the hardware store  by the conduit supplies.
i can't wait to update these photos!
happy spring!

less than one month later...i need more wheels!

thanks for checking out the new "she's sew crafty" blog! we will be using this space to let you in on some of the things that are going on in our life, fun stuff from our shows, and some how-to tutorials. please feel free to let us know what you would like to know!

beings that we own a metal fabrication shop we have a steel recycling dumpster out back & i have to admit to sometimes "dumpster diving" when strangers drop stuff off in our container and that is how this project came about.

i went to drop off the mail out back of the shop when something shiny caught my eye in the dumpster...what was it you ask? you are never going to believe this, but it was a large collection of bike wheels calling my name. i knew that my boyfriend was going to shake his head at me when i showed up at home with these, but i knew that they would make something great.

so...i put them in the back of mom's suburban where i think they spent the whole winter, allowing me more time to come up with an excuse to bring home more "up-cyclables"! then it came to me, i would fasten them all together and use them for a trellis wall in the garden (that we don't have yet) to give my beans & peas (that we don't have yet) a super cool looking &  functional place to grow.

well, that didn't happen for a reason that i am sure you will see in a later post, but a few of them did make it onto my front patio wall to give my purple clematis a fun new place to grow on! i can't wait to update these pictures as the growing season progresses.

this was a super easy up-cycle that anyone can handle. all you need is a screw, a washer & a bike wheel! put the washer on the screw & the screw in the center hole of the wheel & attach it to your fence or wall & watch your vines roll!