Year in Review

Another awesome year has flown by!! Thank you to all of our readers who continue to support us and our blog! When we started Southern Color our goal was to inspire others and to give them the confidence to DIY.  We hope you find our tutorials easy to follow and eventually try them out. 

 

We were pretty busy in 2013 so we want to take some time to revisit all of the projects we completed.

 

Checkerboard Side Table from a Dumpster Find

Holiday Inspiration - Wood Signs & Burlap Pillows

The Christmas season has officially begun! We hope y'all had a terrific Thanksgiving with family and friends, but since it's already December we've got to start talking about Holiday projects...there are only 23 days until Christmas!

 

Some of our best holiday inspiration comes from catalogues.  We love flipping through the pages of Pottery Barn for holiday décor ideas.  Unfortunately, our budgets aren't limitless, so some of the more expensive items must be DIY'ed!

 

Collegiate Velcro Bowties | Now on Sale!

College football season is only weeks away!! If you have been following us then you know we are huge UGA Bulldog fans!! We both attended the University of Georgia for undergrad and we absolutely loved it!  So what better way to honor our alma mater than with collegiate baby bowties :)

Outdoor Pillows from Napkins

Remember the porch inspiration board we shared with you a couple of months ago.  Well a lot has happened!  The makeover is almost complete - we've found a table, chairs and buffet for the porch.  The only thing left to do is accessorize! 
 

 Here's the inspiration board:

All of the furniture consists of neutral browns and grays so we need to add tons of color to the space.  We found some awesome lime green chair cushions at Garden Ridge so the only sewing projects left are pillows.

Pillows can be made with three different types of closures - slip stitched, envelope and zipper.  I've never attempted a zipper closure (it's a little intimidating) but I have tried slip stitched and envelope.  Today I'm going to show you how to do the envelope closure.

Remember the outdoor pillows I made last year!  These are made with a slip stitch closure.  I still love them and I can't wait to show you how they look in my new house but you'll have to wait a little longer for pics of that - I'm still moving in. 


Are you ready to learn how to make envelope closure pillows?  I am I am!

The first step to this sewing project and any sewing project is to buy your fabric!  We found the perfect fabric for the pillows at World Market - they're actually cloth napkins!!  We wanted 18in x 18in pillows and these napkins are 20in x 20in which is perfect!   We bought 4 napkins with the bold print and 8 solid orange napkins.  With a 20% off coupons these napkins cost less than $15 - AWESOME! 

Using cloth napkins for pillows is a great tip!  If you need pillows larger than the standard napkin size of 20x20in you can take the hem out.  All you have to do is pull out the hem with your seam ripper.  Most sewing machines come with a seam ripper but if you need one you can always find one at your local fabric store for a couple of bucks.  By pulling out the hem the napkins grew to 22x22in

Once you're fabric is ready it's time to measure and cut out your pieces.  I like to use a wood yard stick and pencil to measure and mark my fabric.  The best thing to use to mark your fabric is chalk though since it rubs off when you're done.  You'll also want to get a good pair of sewing scissors to cut out the fabric.  Make sure you only use these scissors to cut fabric - don't let your little ones get a hold of them and cut paper...it will dull the blade.

 Here is my cut list for the fabric.  My pillow inserts are 18x18in so this creates a tight fit which I like.  It makes the pillows look full and plush.

The first sewing step starts with the envelope closure.  You want a clean hemmed seam where the closure meets.  A great thing about using napkins is this seam was already done for us.  But if you are not using napkins that already have a perfect seam you will need to sew one.  Just fold over the raw fabric twice, iron flat, and sew along the dotted line.

Once you're fabric is cut & the closure is hemmed, it is time to sew everything together.  First you will want to pin everything together - this will make it a lot easier when you sew it.  Here's a diagram of how all three pieces of fabric lay on each other.  The 18x18in square will lay on the bottom print side up (towards you).  Then you will lay the 18x9in piece on top of that print side down.  Then the 18x12in piece goes on top of that print side down.  If you do it in this order the envelope closure will be in the center of the back of the pillow.

Now it's time to run the fabric through the sewing machine.  Since we are doing the envelope closure you can sew all four sides completely shut.  Line up the sewing machine foot with the edge of the fabric when you sew the pillow shut - this will create a 1/4in to 1/2in in seam on each side.

Once you have sewn all four sides it's time to flip the fabric right side out.  To get the corners out use a  pencil or wood spoon - just poke it in the corners.

Now it's time to put your pillow inserts in.  I got these inserts from my local fabric store.  They were only $8 each with my 40% off coupon.

Since these pillows are going outside the last step to this project is scotch guarding.  This will protect the fabric from the weather.  I highly recommend scotch guard for any fabric you put outside or fabric that is in high traffic 

 areas. 

 Are ready to see how the pillows turned out?!?!  This is always my favorite part of the project...the reveal!

Here's the back with our symmetrical envelope closure (yep...I love symmetry - it helps me sleep at night).

I  am so in love with these pillows!! They add so much color to the porch! 

What do you think?  Do you love them too?

Let's us know if you try this tutorial.  

We would love to see how it turns out!!

 

 

Baby Onesie with Velcro Bowties

There must be something in the water because it seems like everyone is having babies right now!!!!  Between my friends & family and the BF's friends, we've known at least 10 ppl in the last year to get pregnant & have babies.  It's so easy to pick something off the registry or get them a gift card, but I wanted to personalize a gift.  (Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of times I go straight to Target & just pick up something from the registry, quick & easy!) 

Ever since I made my nephew a bowtie last year for his Mom & Dad's wedding, I have been obsessed with bowties.  They always look so cute & polished.  So I decided to turn the Puppy Bowtie into the Baby Bowtie!

I bought a pack of Gerber onesies from Target and used leftover fabric & velcro.  I picked fun fabrics and holiday specific fabrics: purple gingham, baby blue plaid, Christmas tartan, green ducks, etc.

Use my Bowtie tutorial here.  Once you are complete with all your bowties, add a patch of velcro on the back.  Then add another velcro piece to the onesie.  For each baby I did 2 onesies and 5 bowties.

Isn't this just the sweetest thing you've ever seen!!

To keep things organized for the new Mom, I also made a carrying case for all the bowties.  It's a simple pocket clutch, kind of like Julia's. 

It's basically a 20 x 10 inch rectagle.  Fold into thirds, this creates a pocket on the bottom and flap to close with.  Add velcro to keep the case closed. 

Here are some more Baby Shower gift ideas:

Wipe Case

Changing Pad

Carrying Clutch

Baby Andrew's shower was the other weekend.  He is already one lucky guy and received tons of great gifts, including several homemade items; a hand-knitted koala bear, personalized GaTech onesies, a hand-crocheted baby blanket that was his fathers, and the velcro bowtie onesies. 

Do you like giving your friends homemade gifts or store bought gifts?



Guestroom Makeover: Curtains & Cornice Boards

Remember the Guestroom Julia and I are making over?!  And remember the off-centered window behind the bed?  Well our solution to disguise the window is a wall of curtains!!

We did curtain panels behind the bed, this covered the window but still allows you access to use the window.  This took 4 panels of Ikea's Lenda curtains (55" x 98").   The curtains come with iron-on adhesive, so you can alter the length to your windows.   Ours are 92 inches long.  To dress up the look of the "wall of curtains" we added a cornice on top.  This hides all the curtain hardware and makes the project look more clean.

To make the cornice you will need 3 pieces of fabric, lumber, hardware to attach to the wall and acrylic paint.   We bought an extra pack of the Lenda curtains and used this fabric to make the cornices.  Check out Julia's cornice tutorial for a refresher!

Piece #1: The front piece measures 80 inches wide by 19 inches long.  You can't really see this in the pictures, but these curtains have decorative vertical seam in them.  We wanted the vertical seams to be vertical on both the curtains and cornice boards.  Because the curtains panels are only 55 inches wide, we had to cut 2 pieces of fabric for the front piece.  To disguise the seam, we did a box pleat on the cornice in the very center.  So for the front piece we cut 2 pieces of fabric, 42 inches by 19 inches, and sewed them together.  The extra 4 inches allowed us to do the box pleat.

Hem all the raw edges so that they are finished. 

Piece #2 & #3:  The side panels measure 8 inches wide by 19 inches long.

Hem all the raw edges.

To add detail to your cornice board, paint a stripe on the front.  We taped off the area with normal painters tape.  Then lightly painted on the color we wanted.  We used a darker blue than the wall color. 

Make sure you paint away from the tape and not into it.  And do light coats so that paint doesn't seep behind the tape.  You will need at least 2 coats, maybe 3.   Remove the tape once the paint is dry to your touch.

Install the cornice boards per Julia's tutorial, here.

What do you think? Do you like the stripe?

Obviously we cannot show you how it looks with the bed in the room, you'll have to check back for that reveal!  But trust us, it turned out perfect!  It disguises the window, but leaves the window functional.