Vintage Hanky Pillows

In my cedar chest I've kept a collection of beautiful hand-crotched handkerchiefs that my grandmother made. Recently added to this collection were more handkerchiefs from my mother that she had saved. They were given to her by her mother mostly in birthday cards. In mentioning this to my sister, she sent me her collection as well as her wedding handkerchief.

So why did everyone send me their handkerchief collections? Well, what do you do with them really? Yet, they are not the sort of thing you want to discard as they really are beautiful. I had mentioned to my family that I was going to experiment with them to see how they'd make up into little heirloom vintage hanky pillows. So far, I've made 7 and I'm really liking how they turn out. I've found some pretty fabric to use as a backer for some of the white hankies and other coordinating fabric to use as a front or back. They are fun to make and just all look so different!

Sailboat Nautical Bedroom Decor

I found this really beautiful jacquard fabric online and couldn't resist. Because of the size of the repeat and the amount of the fabric I have, I decided to make pillow shams and a pillow. I found a perfect chocolate brown chenille for the piping and also a coordinating chenille in a soft butter color that compliments it perfectly. The runner at the end of the bed is actually fabric that I have left over, so it can either be a runner or more pillows, but I really like the runner idea!

Mom's Apron

Years ago I made my mom an apron with a cross-stitched pocket. She literally wore it out! So I had her mail it to me so I could remove the pocket and reuse it on a new apron. So I just packaged it up and it's ready to throw in the mail. The new, improved apron :-)

Lighthouse Pillow Collection

I have had some great luck lately finding some very unique fabric. This particular project uses an embroidered jacquard with striped and diamond patterned lighthouses. 

This is a nice chunky upholstery fabric that I'm mixing with twill, black denim and wide wale corduroy, to give this pillow collection a lot of dimension and texture.
I've included a nautical rope piping accent on some for an added pop. These are all now on Etsy as my first new collection for 2013! Cheers!

www.floatinteriors.com

Driftwood Christmas Tree

Hi all, not a sewing project, but a fun project. As some of you previously have read, I have pieces of driftwood all over the house from my collecting on the beach. So I thought I'd try making a Christmas tree out of some of it. I took and laid out all the pieces in order of size. I decided to put smaller pieces in between the larger ones because I liked how it looked and made my tree taller. I then went to the hardware store and bought a 1/8" dowel rod. Got out the old drill, found the right bit size and drilled a hole in the base piece of wood. Once I stuck the dowel rod in the base, I began drilling holes in the center of all of my driftwood pieces and lacing them onto the rod. I was lucky enough to have a triangle-shaped piece for the top! Merry Christmas!

Nautical Tapestry Pillows

I found this beautiful nautical tapestry upholstery fabric made in Italy. The pieces weren't very large but I was able to match it up with a burnished golden brown chenille for the pillow backs. The tapestry fabric was available in two colorways -- Stone and Driftwood. The classic pattern and neutral tones makes them a perfect fit in almost any nautical room.

They are listed in my Etsy shop here

https://www.etsy.com/listing/118304660/nautical-ships-bell-tapestry-pillow-in

Seashell Pillows

I found this great fabric that has all sorts of seashells on it in pretty neutral tones of sand, mocha and aqua. I took these pictures on a mocha and a cream chair so you can see how nice they look on a light or darker background. The fabric is an outdoor lightweight canvas. I've used the same fabric to create the piping and they are filled with a medium 'cush' poly pillow insert.