So Fab.

It is no secret that I love fabric.  It can transform a room, tie elements of design together or add a much needed pop to any space. Thankfully, in this age of technology, our fabric options are endless thanks to online fabric stores.

One of these awesome fabric stores is U-Fab, a locally owned place in Richmond that just launched their own e-store.

They have a great selection of fabric and trim, and their site is super easy to navigate. Sometimes I find it overwhelming to hunt down a fabric I have in mind, but not on their site.  There you have the option of searching by 1) color, 2) fabric use or 3) pattern.  I was able to zero in on exactly what I was looking for. {And if you aren't sure what you want, you can view all fabrics and take a look at everything they have to offer!}

I've been smitten with this gorgeous geometric print fabric for quite some time, so it was about time I brought it into my home.  I knew it'd be perfect for some pillow covers for our master bedroom.  I love that the beautiful pattern is reversible!

 I made my envelope pillow covers using this tutorial.  First, I cut my pieces to size.

Then I pinned and sewed my end seams.

Then I pinned and sewed my side seams.

And then I was done!  Easy-peasy.  I just had to flip my pillows right-side-out, and use something pointy {I had a screw driver laying around} to fully pop the corners out.  I love the bold statement in makes in our room!

Anyone else have a pattern obsession that you just can't forget about!  That means only one thing...you should head over to U-Fab and bite the bullet.  You won't regret it! :)

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Major side note...I'm starting the Whole30 program today.  I know I rarely talk about personal stuff here on the blog, but I'm mentioning this as a way to hold myself accountable.  Let's hope I survive the next month! ;)

Sew in Love.

After I finished up a friend's curtain panels, I was on a major sewing kick.  I had just purchased this beautiful citron-ish fabric a few weeks ago, and knew it'd tie perfectly into our house...it was just a matter of where I'd use it.

I decided a spring runner for the dining room table would be perfect and got to work.  I cut off a piece the fabric...making sure I left plenty of yardage for other projects.

Then I started pinning just like I did with the curtains {except I kept a smaller seam this time} and ran things through the sewing machine.

I'm a big fan of how the yellow pops against our dark wood dining table.  I'm just sewwww in love with it.  See what I did there?  Yup, I'm a nerd.

And don't forget to enter my very first giveaway with Modern Masters!!

DIY Curtains...For a Friend...That I Want to Keep.

Follow my blog with BloglovinA sweet friend of my recently came to me with a dilemma.  She was working on overhauling her office, and could not find curtains for the space.  Things were either too expensive, or just weren't the look she was going for.  I could totally relate...the same thing happened to me every time I looked.  So I told her there was an easy solution...just buy fabric and make them!

She said great!  Buuuuut she didn't have a sewing machine, and she didn't know how to sew.  Welp, that could be a problem...except for the fact that I have one and knew how to {well learned to from my Mama}.  So we planned a date to fabric shop at a discount store near work, and she picked out a gorgeous orangey ikat fabric.  It's amazing...as in so amazing, I might need to go back and get myself a yard or two.

Anywho, once the fabric was bought, it was time to get down to business.

My friend was not going to use these for function {no opening and closing of the curtains to hide the window}.  Like those in our house {here, here,  here and here}, she only needed them to dress up the space and add a pop of color.  This helps to keep the cost of fabric down, since you can usually just buy the yardage you need for one panel and cut it down the middle to make two.

So that's just what I did.  I sliced the fabric in two and lined things up making sure the fabric was running the same way. 

Then I started pinning... 

And sewing...

After some time, I was all done with both panels!

Well I use the word "done" loosely.  I didn't sew the bottom hem yet because I was waiting for her to hang her hardware so I knew how long to make the curtains.  Hopefully I can post a picture of them hanging in their new home soon! :)

Anyone else ever make a project for someone that you wanted to keep yourself?  Am I the only bad one? ;)

Move Over West Elm!

I apologize to any of you who follow me on Instagram {retroranchreno} because you’re probably all “been there, done that” with the subject of this post, but forgive me.  I couldn’t restrain myself from taking so many pictures.  It was just so much prettier than it used to be!!

Yup, that’s right…I’m talking about the bench for the end of our bed. 

I was very excited when I first laid eyes on this guy, well over a year ago.  The outdated fabric and beat up legs didn’t do it for me…but the size and price of this thing could not be beat.  For $20, I was sold!!  

And then along with most of my Craigslist finds, this poor thing was banished to live in the basement {first at our in-laws and then in our actual basement} just waiting patiently until I got around to transforming it.

The bench would probably be waiting another year if my mom didn’t convince me it was time to get it done.  During one of their trips north, we pulled it out of the darkness and got to measuring.  After figuring out how much fabric we needed, we went shopping.  Of course, nothing I saw was “it”, so I started looking online.  Once I laid eyes on the Islander Ikat Silver fabric from Fabric.com, I knew I didn’t need to look any further.  I submitted my order and impatiently waited for it to arrive.  In the meantime, my mom and I tackled the “fun” part of the recovering process {couch…sarcasm…cough}.  We ripped out all the old staples and removed the old buttons and fabric.  

Lucky for us, these staples came out MUCH easier than when we recovered my dining room chairs.  Phew!

After that it was time to find some new legs for the piece.  I could have easily sanded and re-stained the original ones, but they weren’t the style I was going for.  

Instead of thick, block-like legs, I wanted curvy, romantic ones…a la West Elm’s Essex Printed Bench.  During one of our numerous trips to Home Depot, I was able to pick these pretty things up for under $10 a piece.  I wasn’t thrilled to spend more money on the bench makeover, but I knew adding fun legs would put this project over the top for me.

At least I already owned the stain and sealer I needed for them.

Finally my fabric arrived and we got to recovering!!  After some thoughtful placement {taking pattern and direction into account}, sewing and button covering…I had myself a brand new bench!  

Or should I say Perny has a new bed.  I’m pretty sure he thinks this we completed this project just so he has another place to lay. ;)

Here is the breakdown of what I spent to make over the bench:

-Ugly CL’ed Bench - $20.00

-3 Yards of Fabric {with plenty left over to make pillows or something} - $44.94

-Legs - $36.00

-(2) Button Covering Kits - $3.94

-Upholstery Needle - $4.99

-Stain and Sealer - $0 {already owned}

-Thread - $0 {already owned}

Grand Total = $109.87

Okay, so this wasn’t the cheapest makeover, but it was way more affordable than if I bought the West Elm version brand new!  Their similar bench is priced between $299 and $349, plus a $30 delivery surcharge.  So in that case, I saved myself $219 – 269 on this project.  And while my bench isn't as perfect or professional, I still consider this project a major success! :)