Days of Chalk and Chocolate - All Post

Valentine's Day Apron Tutorial from The Petite Sewist!

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Have you met Stephanie over at The Petite Sewist?  She creates incredible sewing projects and blogs with super detailed and picture filled tutorials. As a novice sewer, I'm in awe of the things she creates. I'm so excited to have her guest blogging today and sharing another great project with us!


Hello, Days of Chalk and Chocolate readers!  A special thank you to Jenny for allowing me to post today!  I am Stephanie and I blog over at The Petite Sewist where I show off my sewing creations, share pattern reviews, tutorials, petite alterations and style tips.  I would love it if you stopped by and said 'hello'.


Today I am here sharing my Roses are Red Apron Tutorial.


I love the fact that aprons are in style now and I think every lovely lady should have one.  This retro-style apron was inspired by Valentine's Day and would make a great gift for a friend, or you could use it as a reception apron for a bride-to-be.  You will need two coordinating prints. 


For the apron front, get some tracing paper and cut out a pattern that is 11 inches wide on the top and 13.5 inches long on the right side.  Freehand a curve from the left top to the right bottom sides.  Place the 13.5" side of your pattern on the fold of your fabric and cut out.


For the ruffle you will need a strip 70"x2.5".  Most fabric is 44" to 60" wide so don't worry if you can't get an entire strip in one piece.  As you can see, I had to sew two pieces together.


For the side ties, cut a strip 33"x5".  For the top band you will need strips 27"x3", 2 of fabric and 2 of fusible interfacing.  Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of your top bands.


You will also need 1 1/8 yard of rick-rack trim.


To sew the apron ties, fold them right sides together and stitch a 1/2" seam , as shown with the dotted lines.  When finished, grade the seam allowances and turn the ties right sides out.


Take your ruffle piece and finish one of the long edges with your rolled hem presser foot.  If you're thinking, "Rolled hem presser foot, what the what??" visit my tutorial and your worst fears will subside.  This is one darn cool piece of metal!  If you don't have a rolled hemmer foot, finish the edge with a narrow hem.



Take the unfinished long edge of your ruffle piece and run 2 rows of gathering stitches (stitch length 4-5) at 1/2" and 3/8".  Make your gathers and pin them around the curved edge of the apron front piece, right sides together.



At regular stitch length, sew a 1/2" seam.


When you are done, finish the edge with a serger or zig-zag stitch and press the seam toward the apron front.  


Take your rick-rack trim and sew it to the apron on top of the seam.


Now it's time to attach the top band pieces.   Take the first band piece and pin it right sides together, to the top apron front.  Allow the band to go past the ruffle 1/2" on each side, as shown.  Sew a 1/2" seam.  Press the seam one way, towards the top.  Attach the other band piece above it and press it open.  


Fold the un-sewn top edge towards the wrong side of the fabric at 1/2" and press.


Pin the unfinished edges of the apron tails to the right side of the lower band.  Stitch at 1/2".


Fold the top band to the bottom band and secure the apron tails in place again, this time incorporating all of the layers.

 Grade the top and trim the excess off the corners.


Give your apron tails a good ~YANK~ which will bring everything right sides out.  Iron the seams you just pulled out so everything is nice and crisp.


It's time to secure the back edge of the top band to the apron. Carefully pin from the front because this is the side you will stitch on...


...but pay attention to where the pins catch on the back because you want the stitching to catch.


See...you are catching that fold from the back while you topstitch.


And there you have it...the perfect half-apron!  Stand back and admire your hard work!


Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Girly Ruffled Curtains and Inspiration

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I finally completed a project I've been working on since we moved in!  I wanted ruffled, feminine curtains for the girls' playroom and it took me forever because I kept getting sidetracked. I finally got them done last week and I'm pretty happy with them. I am VERY unhappy with  my picture taking of them. I couldn't get the lighting right at all!  So frustrating. So while I'm going to post what I have, I'm going to try again tomorrow after reading some tutorials for tips.  If anyone has tips on how to take pics of curtains that have sunny windows please let me know!

I used a pink polka dotted fabric for the main part and then a few colorful fabrics for the ruffle. I used some leftovers to make some pillows for the  kids to sit on while they watch TV, play, draw, etc.




So while I was thinking about this playroom I was browsing Pinterest and found some great inspiration!  I will say though that I don't like to post pics without the original source and so many don't link back or list any original source!  Quite frustrating!

Source Unknown

LOVE the furniture and the serene colors
Pottery Barn

How cool is that ladder/loft?  I can imagine many trips
to the ER though.  I used to use the clothes line
art display system in my classroom and I think it's
the best yet.
Land of Nod

Love the map motif.


Tablecloth Playhouse  Etsy

Decor Made Simple
Ok, who wouldn't want this??  I mean I want this.
In my room. Molly and Ellie can visit me as I swing
in my room.
Cheers! 

Jenny



Shower Curtain

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What did you do today?  I finished my dumb shower curtain that was making me nuts!





We knew we were buying a fixer upper. We didn't realize at the time that it was way more fixer than upper but what can ya do?  We could see problems we needed to tackle like this upstairs bathroom.




When we looked at the house we thought "Gee, we'll paint over that spongy painting stuff and switch out the vanity and toilet for white and we can live with the yellow for a bit!" 

When we got into the house, however, Jim realized that the blue wasn't really sponge painting on drywall. The previous owners had taken down wallpaper but never removed the glue and PAINTED OVER IT. So not only could we just not slap on a coat of paint but it was flaking off and rough to the touch. Wallpaper paste removers/steam/etc. didn't work. So Jim scraped and then we primed it to get it ready for skim coating.  And that is where we are left today.


If you want that light fixture email me quickly!  I expect to get lots of offers on it. HA HA HA HA!  Anyway, so I knew no matter what I was living with the yellow for a while and decided to pick up the pale gray in the floor tile to use as a coordinating color.


I cut apart Jim's bachelor days duvet cover which happens to be pale gray and added some gray/black/yellow pattern fabric ruffles to the bottom to bring some yellow in.  I used my button hole foot and settings on the sewing machine to create a way to hang it. Grommets were expensive and this worked really well!









It's the best we can do with the bathroom right now. I'm going to paint the walls white and use a white window treatment. We plan on changing out the vanity to white as well and adding in brushed nickel or chrome light fixtures.  Putting a band aid on it for now!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Cheers!
Jenny



Mini Gallery Wall

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I dug out some of my favorite framed "artwork" this week. I use the term artwork very loosely in that only 1 of them is an actual painting. The others are either mass produced prints, postcards, or whathaveyou.  But I still like each and every one. 



That gold chair was left by the previous owners. I have plans for it as you might imagine.

This corner of our living room holds my favorite piece of furniture, my barrister bookcase. My father was an attorney and this was one of several he had in his office. My mom was my dad's secretary for most of his career so we spent a lot of time in their office. This reminds me of my childhood and of my parents. It feels like home to me.  Inside I store treasures such as our parents' wedding pictures, my bridal bouquet, childhood editions of the Grimm's Fairy Tales, the silver cups my parents gave my children and the one my grandmother gave me, photo albums, etc.






Remember to add accessories in odd numbers. It is just more pleasing
to the eye and I really find that to be true.

I know the gallery wall may be a little sparse but that was intentional. I don't care for walls loaded with pictures, it's just not my taste. And I didn't want a rectangular or square formation. I also like it because it allows me to add to it. My walls are forever changing and I like to have room to add/take away.

The two small gold frames on the bottom are
postcards from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I bought those while viewing the collection of  DaVinci's
private notebooks which he wrote almost entirely in mirror
image. Interesting.  The nest picture is from The Graphics Fairy. 
The black square collage frame holds pictures of a trip to Italy
my grandparents took in the 60s.  The painting is from our honeymoon
in Hawaii and the school girl was a gift from my parents
when I became a teacher.
I know I only give you snippets of my rooms and never a whole view and mostly that's because I can barely keep them toy free for a second. So one day I will show you the room in its entirety. It just won't be today, lol!

Today we got our first snowfall in NJ. Molly and Ellie went out first thing in the morning and promptly came back in once their wrists got full of snow. I remember that feeling...ICKY.  Anyway, I won't show you my living room but I guess you can see the backyard in it's large plastic toy filled state. We have a beautiful swing set that Jim restained and made pretty. It's safely sitting in pieces in Jim's brother's backyard so we are making do until spring.






Blurry, I know, but how do I not show you this?  Ellie was not
impressed with the snow.

Hope your hot cocoa is hot and your marshmallows plentiful today!
Cheers!
Jenny

Remember to link up this week!


Latest and Greatest Friday #15

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Features from Latest and Greatest 14

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Last week's party was fantastic. I am so glad you all take the time to link up!  Here are some that caught my eye!

A Crafty Cook whipped up these Monte Cristo Bites. I am in love with that sandwich and having it in a bite size is taking it over the top for me!




Bird on a Cake linked up this Cherry Almond Cake. As if those flavors together isn't enough to send you over the edge, look at her beautiful decorating!




I love this pillowcase dress by About Blogging Time.  The black and white with the teal ribbon makes it not too sweet!  Perfect for my little Ellie (oh boy).





To chalk paint or not to chalk paint that is the question in blogland. How about homemade chalk paint?  Art is Beauty whipped some up and revamped this charming dining set!




I love this sweet thimble necklace over at Remade Just Right!  Look at those teeny tiny flowers!  Adorable!


I can't wait to see what you all link up this Friday!  As for me, I'm working on a small gallery wall in my living room. I told Jim that I was done and yes, you just hang brown paper on the walls with blue tape. He, being supportive as always, said "Hmmm. Interesting. So can we draw on them?"  Love that guy.

Cheers!
Jenny

Pinterest Stuff

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I worked hard today. I finished the curtains for the playroom (reveal later this week!) and let the girls play in the mud most of the afternoon so there was a big clean up that happened. Plus I am having my moms club for a playgroup here this week week and our house is a disaster. Soooo, of course I'm sitting on the computer browsing Pinterest.  Looky looky!

I love the open shelves, the window seat, the shade...everything but the color. I'm just not a green girl. But otherwise it's perfection.

Couldn't find the source. If you know it
please tell me so I can give credit.


Gray is the new brown which was the new navy which was the new black.   And it's not just clothes. Gray is all over home magazines, blogs, etc.  And gray in the nursery is lovely!

Baca Creative

I have no words. It's perfection.  I will never stop loving high contrast either. It always gets me!


Charlie Simmons

I love this room. I love the color, the drapes, the little punches of black, everything. What I don't get is where is all the stuff under the bed?  No lone Cinderella slipper?  No black sock?  No box of clothes that the woman of the house thinks she'll wear again when she "loses the weight?"

Country Living

See you tomorrow!

Cheers!
Jenny