Last Tuesday, you got a little glimpse of the 'party' in the living room that Remy had with her dog bed. As you might recall, we came home the Friday before to find this scene...

...complete with not so innocent face. And so, an 'emergency' dog bed project was born. As I mentioned in my first post, this whole situation wasn't exactly a surprise. Remy has ripped holes in her bed (and I've sewn them) twice already, so I knew that my temporary fixes weren't going to last long. A number of people pointed out to me that Costco has large dog beds for about $40, but apart from not having a Costco membership, anything I've seen for that price either wasn't big enough, didn't have a separate washable cover, or had very thin material...meaning it definitely wouldn't last almost 5 years like the first one did. Especially with this kind of action (to the tune of "The Entertainer" so you don't have to listen to our tv...it always pops into my head when she does this):

That was a little more low-key than usual. Anyway, I decided that DIY-ing a new bed for Remy, reusing the current filling plus adding some new fluff, would be more economical and durable than anything I could buy at a store. Awhile back, I found this tutorial for a kid's floor cushion from Living With Punks.

                      Source: livingwithpunks.com via Corrie on Pinterest

It was essentially the same shape as Remy's bed, just with different dimensions, so I figured it would be a good guideline for doggy bed assembly. I pinned it on Pintrest to save for future reference.

I also pinned this doggy-bed-related-but-otherwise-irrelevant picture of an Irish Wolfhoud, which made me laugh because it perfectly sums up Remy's relationship with other dogs. And I love Irish Wolfhounds.

                                             Source: Uploaded by user via Corrie on Pinterest

Oooo, I just want to snuggle him! ...Er, Let's get on with the bed making.

I wanted Remy's bed to be both durable and aesthetically pleasing because - let's be honest - given its size, it might as well be a major focal point in our living room's decor. So the supplies I picked up were:

• 4 yards of seafoam-colored indoor/outdoor fabric with a subtle scroll print from Joann Fabrics for $39.96 with a 50% discount. (It's similar in color to the fabric on my blue pillows, plus its outdoor durability means it's moisture and stain resistant, easy to clean, and stands up to heavy wear.)
• Three 12 ounce bags of shredded foam (to add to the existing filling) for $8.38 with various coupons. (Joann Fabrics will accept multiple coupons in one transaction so I always have them scan the printouts to see what will work.) 
• Thread in a coordinating color, which I already had
• Total cost: $48.34 (less than half the cost of her original bed when I purchased it almost 5 years ago)

The foam was very static-y and had lots of tiny pieces, so I decided to sew closed some old t-shirts with the foam inside, plus one additional t-shirt full of the old filling. I literally just sewed the arm and neck holes closed, dumped a bag of foam in each shirt, then sewed the bottom of the shirt closed.

The idea is that when it comes time to wash her bed, most of the filling (at least the smaller stuff) will be contained in 'bolsters' (the t-shirts) so that we don't have to deal with this :

You could easily sew together one giant bolster, but I didn't want to spend more money on fabric when I could just use t-shirts.

While Remy was swimming in a sea of stuffing, I was busy cutting apart her old bed along its seams, which left me with three pieces, much like the pieces in the floor cushion tutorial: the top and bottom circles (each 48 inches in diameter) plus the side piece (6 inches wide and about 154 inches long). The side piece was actually made up of three separate strips of fabric, since one of the strips contained a zipper. Because I also planned to add a zipper (and my fabric wasn't wide enough to cut one long strip), I determined the measurements of the three almost-equal strips were 51in.+51in.+52in.=154inches total (the circumference of the bed). I things are getting a little math-y, so I hope you're still following!

I used the old bed pieces to trace the top circle onto the new fabric, measuring my pencil line 1 inch out to accommodate the seam allowance.

 I cut out my new top circle and then traced it on the fabric to make the bottom circle. 

Then I measured, drew, and cut out the strips that would form my side piece, adding in 1 inch for seam allowance. Two strips measured 52in. x 7in. and the zipper piece (which I then cut in half to insert the zipper) was 53in. x 8in. 

The reason the zipper piece was 8in. was because I had to account for seams to sew in the zipper, plus seams to attach it to the top and bottom circles (2 sets of seams adds 2 inches). Here's a diagram that better illustrates the pieces:

The first piece I sewed was the zipper, following these instructions, though I kind of half-a**ed it by not doing a basting stitch, using glue, or a zipper foot. Oh, and I bought a separating zipper (the kind you would have on a sweatshirt) instead of a regular one...so basically, it's amazing this thing even turned out ok, especially since I was a zipper-sewing virgin. One thing to note is that I stitched around the whole thing twice for extra reinforcement.

With the zipper piece done (are you tired of me saying "zipper" yet?), it was time to attach all the side pieces together. This required some quick pinning, then sewing the ends of all three pieces, right sides (aka patterned sides) facing, into one long strip.

Then I joined the ends of the strip and sewed those together to make a continuous circle. Before proceeding, I pressed all my seams so that my fabric was nice and flat.

Next step was to attach the side piece to the top circle. I laid the circle out, flat on the ground, with the right side facing up. Laying the side piece on top with right sides facing together, I pinned the outer edge of the side piece to the outer edge of the circle. REWIND. Let me note that I actually did this completely wrong the first time. Not only did I waste an entire night after work incorrectly pinning and double-sewing (twice for reinforcement of course), but then I wasted an additional work night solely ripping seams out to redo it. You live and you learn I guess. So let's learn from my stupidity. 

Wrong way:

Right way: 

Glad we've got that covered. Evening three of dog bed making was when I finally sewed the side piece and first circle together for the second and last time. After two evenings of issues, I couldn't seem to excuse myself from another. Let me preface this by saying that anyone who has ever used a sewing machine knows that there is an evil spirit lurking inside every single one. Not.Even.Kidding. I think every time I've ever used my sewing machine for a project, at least one thing happens that leaves me cursing at it. Maybe it's because Greta the Mean Green Sewing Machine has been around since the 1950s and has a short temper.

Or it could just be user error. Either way, I can't imagine I'm the only one (besides Sherry at Young House Love) who has these problems. At least my machine has kept me from subscribing to the Humpty Dumpty school of hard knocks - I've learned how to put her all back together again.

So I guess what I'm getting to is my night #3 incident.

Enter stage left: blood blister/cut/thumb nail bruise. Let me tell you. Almost sewing your thumb off is a sure fire way to instill a fear of sewing machines in any DIY- savvy person.  I hope the fact that it still hurts and I can barely button my own buttons a week later is enough to convince you to question my sewing abilities never let your fingers get caught up in your sewing bidness. By that I mean, don't feed your fabric from the front even when you know it's a bad idea but think it will be ok. Because it won't.

At this point, my blood, sweat, and almost-tears were officially part of Remy's dog bed. I took a band-aid break and Darren asked, "So, do you think you'll finish tonight so Remy has her bed while we're at work tomorrow?" I think I muttered something along the lines of "Remy can shove it and so can this #*$% bed." (Sorry Remy, I take it all back now. Please don't sit on me.)

But actually, I did finish that night, after one last step. Sewing the second circle to the other edge of the side piece (which was now attached to the first circle on one edge). I did it the same way as the first circle, by laying the pieces right sides facing and pinning around the edges. I had to bunch some of the top circle's fabric into the middle to get the outer edges to line up flat.

Then I sewed around the edges twice for reinforcement. Because the bed has a zipper, I didn't need to worry about leaving an opening in the stitching in order to turn the bed right-side-out. Unzip and it was done.

All that was left was to stuff and fluff with the t-shirt 'bolsters' and the old reused filling.

Ta daaa!

No fancy cording around the edges like the floor pillows on Pinterest had (it would've added too much to the cost), but that's ok. It's just a dog bed. And apparently a comfy one at that.

Oh, what we do for our dogs.

I'm hooking this project up with the Pinterest Challenge: Winter Edition, hosted by Sherry at Young House Love, Katie at Bower Power, Cassie at Hi Sugarplum, and Erin at The Great Indoors.

Feel free to check out my past Pintrest Challege projects too! A personalized typography LOVE print and Pottery Barn knockoff pillows.

Happy Wednesday! If you remember from Monday, among the pumpkin carving shenanigans in my Halloween post, I let you all in on a little preview of my latest DIY project. In case you missed it, I made a personalized, typographic art print for Darren's niece/my goddaughter, Olivia, who was celebrating her first birthday this past weekend. Her mom had made a specific gift request, but since I like to give homemade gifts, I thought I would supplement the requested gift with something else. Of course, I turned to my favorite inspiration-inducing culprit, Pintrest, to get some ideas. If you're a frequent reader of this blog (do any actually exist?), you might remember this Pottery Barn 'pinspired' home decor project awhile back. We interrupt this program for a brief announcement.

If you haven't yet discovered Pintrest, you don't know what you're missing. It's like the preferred drug of eye-candy oglers and bookmarking fanatics. I'm addicted, on it until the wee hours, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside...only instead of just saying no, I say heck yes every time. And it's legal.

There. I'm done. Sorry for the bordering-on-creepy analogy. Back to business.

There were tons of adorable (and DIY-able) baby items and projects I was finding, but for some reason, the personalized art was really striking a chord with me. I think what I liked most about the art was that many of the prints could be appreciated by Olivia for years to come, versus clothes and accessories, which she would quickly outgrow. These were a couple of my favorite finds.

                                                                              Source: etsy.com via Corrie on Pinterest

  Source: etsy.com via Corrie on Pinterest

I loved how the first print colorfully emphasizes "I love you" within the alphabet, while the second was more personalized with a name and initial.  Apart from all other practical and baby-gift-related reasons, I think that typography is pretty much the bees knees (does anyone even use that phrase anymore?). Plus it seemed like something my graphic-arts-rookie self could tackle. Double win. For some reason, seeing the "I love you" print reminded me of Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE screen print.

Photo courtesy of www.moma.org

And...woop there it is was. My inspiration (or perhaps 'pinspiration,' thanks to Pintrest's influence). I could do my own take on Indiana's print, personalizing the 'O' with Olivia's name repeated in different fonts and sizes like the 'E' print above. Since I didn't have a plain template to work from, knew I would likely need to make a lot of text boxes, and assumed I would want to have a lot of control over placement, color etc., I knew Microsoft Publisher wasn't going to cut it. However, I don't have Photoshop or Illustrator (I'm too poor to invest the money into buying those programs considering the little bit of design stuff I like to pretend I can do), so I jumped into my ghetto fabulous free version of Gimp, a Photoshop program wannabe.                

From there, I opened a blank 8.5"x11" 'image,' found a serif font that looked like the one in Indiana's print, and created a separate text box for each giant letter. I rotated the 'O' and changed the font color to a shade of grey so that I could use it as an outline over which to place the text boxes. 

Next mission: create many, many text boxes. I wanted one of Olivia's names to stand out more than the others, so I made that as the first layer in a nice scripted font. Then, like a mad woman, I continued creating 'Olivia' text box layers in all sizes and fonts. Some were all lower case, some all upper case, and some in the traditional proper noun way, but I tried to vary them to keep it interesting. It really started filling in, as you can see in the up-close-and-personal screen shot below.

Some of the small spaces were getting hard to fill in, but I tried not to let them bother me too much. In fact, I saved a number of them for last, since it was hard to find fonts that I could make small enough to fit, but would still be legible. Once everything was filled in, I removed the original 'O.'  

I was so excited about how it turned out that I got off the couch and did an Ellen-esque dance. Only substitute the cheering audience and President Obama with an unfazed Darren at the other end of the couch (my spontaneous bursts of dancing no longer surprise him). 

Somewhere between finishing the 'O' and busting a move in my living room, I came to the realization that I could do the same design with the 'V,' which couldn't be more perfect since Olivia's last name is Vaughan.  (The excitement probably only enhanced my dance moves.) So I immediately got to work on it in the same way I started the 'O' - by greying out the letter 'V', creating a large focal point word in the same font as the one in the 'O,' and throwing in text box layers. It was starting to look like The Sorcerer's Apprentice up in this place, only with multiplying text layers instead of brooms.

The skinny, right side of the 'V' was a bit challenging because the fonts had to be so small to fit. I didn't want them all the same size, so I made some of the words vertical or broken into two lines. 

When all was said and done, I removed the original, grey 'V.'

I was really happy with how it came out, but it needed some color. Her room has light blue and light green paint colors, so I considered coordinating the print. However, I also thought about using colors that would be more timeless (less pastel/baby-ish) in hopes that Olivia would still enjoy her art as she grows older and into more mature room decor. 

Ultimately, I decided that the green and blue looked too washed out. The black and rose were a bit more sophisticated, plus the pink color of the focal words drew attention to her full name within the initials. 

A smidge of color and 230 text layers later, I was done. Since Olivia's room doesn't currently have anything on the walls except a tree and Winnie the Pooh mural in the far corner (I knew this from little a reconnaissance mission I did last time I was at their house), I wanted to make sure the print was a fairly large size. I found a 12" square frame with an 8" mat, which I thought would be the perfect size - big enough to read the print and square to fit the shape of the text. Plus it was on sale for 50% off at Michael's. Boo-yah. I had some leftover 110lb card stock leftover from doing the programs for Rachel's wedding, so I took some of it to Office Max to have my art printed. It came out really nice (though I might try matte photo paper next time just to see what the difference is). I just barely had enough time to frame and wrap it before the party, so I didn't have time to take a picture. Jamie (Olivia's mom) had to send me one from her phone later. 

It seemed that a lot of people at the party liked it, and one of my friends even suggested that I try selling other customized versions on Etsy. What do you guys think? Would you be interested in something like this, either with a child's first and last name or a whole family's first names and last name? Now that I have a 'template,' I wonder how long it would take me to make a new version. Regardless, I hope it has inspired you to try your own typography art. It really was quite simple...just time consuming!...but with a fun result.

Since Pintrest was a big part of my inspiration for this project, I've decided to link this post up as part of the fall Pintrest Challege, hosted by the lovely and always inspiring ladies at Young House Love, Bower Power, Ana White and House of Earnest. (I participated in their summer challenge here.) I could only dream of aspiring to their level of blogging greatness and general DIY coolness. 

As well as a couple of other link 'parties':

As always, I would love to hear your feedback! Do you have any cool typography prints in your house? Do you think this project has Etsy potential? 

As you might have noticed in our house tour post, things are still looking a little blah in the décor department. That might have something to do with my inability to make decisions about where to put anything. And the fact that much of it is still tucked in boxes in our breakfast nook, nice and out of the way... which you would think would be a good thing, but actually isn’t because it keeps me from tripping over and cursing at it every day, both of which seem to be prerequisites for motivating me to actually do something with it. I digress. Since I’ve been all non-committal about our other décor, I thought pillows would be a great place to start. They’re useful (Darren would beg to differ) and an easy way to cheer up or change up a space.  I figured I would just make new covers for our already-owned pillows (most of which currently match our hand-me-down couch)...but you probably know that’s easier said than done. Making actually requires doing, and I haven’t been doing any doing when it comes to décor this summer. Phew. Try saying that three times fast.  

Anyway, I got a swift kick in the motivation-pants over the past week when I read about a Pinterest Challenge being hosted on one my favorite blogs, Young House Love. Pinterest is like an online inspiration/project binder where you can create visual bookmarks of everything that catches your eye. You ‘pin’ things to a ‘board’ (essentially a folder) with a note to remind yourself why you’re obsessing over it. The problem with Pinterest is that I have pinned so many project ideas but haven’t done most of them yet. Apparently other people have this problem too, hence the Pinterest Challenge. Deadline: Today. Aw shoot.

And so, I paid a little visit to my Pinterest pillow inspiration (pillow pinspiration?), these beauts from Pottery Barn:

As much as I’m a lover of most things Pottery Barn – their stuff fits the casual but collected look I’m going for - we’re on more of a Target kind of budget. So at $25 per slipcover (not including the pillow insert!), these suckers were put on the ‘to make’, not the ‘to buy’ list. They look pretty simple after all...so it’s Pottery Barn knockoff time baby. (I accidentally typed ‘Potty Barn knockoff’ the first time and giggled to myself. No one wants a knockoff of that. Maybe you had to be there.)  

Back in March, a local Joann Fabrics store was going out of business and having a crazy 50-75% off sale. Knowing we would be moving in April, and anticipating making some pillow covers, I ran over there like a crazy person to buy up the whole store stock up on some fabric. $94 and $131.52 in savings later, I came home with a whole slew of future project supplies, including those for this project: 

Buttons: $1.25 at 50% off (org. $2.50 each)

Indoor/Outdoor Fabric (sturdy and washable to hold up to large dog and people abuse): Marlin Linen Spa , $9.99 for 2 yards at 75% off (orig. $39.98 - $19.99 per yd). 

Thread - $2.99

Pillows – already owned.

Sewing Machine - already owned. It's a White Sewing Machine from the 50's that I found at a festival for $30 - score! Even better, it was made here in Cleveland. I also adore that it's turquoise and had to share a pic.

You probably just realized that I have had the supplies for these pillows sitting in my house for 4 months now. Queen of Procrastination? This kid right here.

I made a basic envelope style pillow cover on Sunday - for which you can find many tutorials online – and realized that the Pottery Barn pillows were essentially just an envelope style pillow cover, but with the opening in front and a decorative-but-functional button closure. This (the back of the envelope style pillow I made on Sunday) vs. This (Pottery Barn's Textured Linen Pillow Covers):

See what I mean? So here’s how I did it. First, measure your pillow. Mine was 20”x20”. You will measure and cut one long piece of fabric to wrap around your pillow (why do extra sewing if you don’t have to?) and calculate it like this:

Front pillow length + Back pillow length + 2” for seams + 3” for envelope overlap. 

In my case this was 20”+20”+2”+3” = 45” for the length. For the width of the pillow, add ½” for seam allowance so you have a snug fit. The dimensions of the fabric I cut were 45”x20 ½” for my 20”x20” pillows. Make sure when you are marking out your measurements that you are doing it on the wrong side of the fabric (wrong side generally = unprinted side). Now cut.it.out (image 1). (Uncle Joey from Full House? Anyone?)

                  
Because you want finished edges on the envelope part of the pillow since it will be facing front, you will double hem the top and bottom ends.  To do this, you fold and press down ½” seam (image 2). Then fold it over ½” and press it down again (image 3). (You might need to pin it to hold it in place while you take it to the sewing machine.) Then sew a ¼” seam down the edge of each of your double hems. 

With the fabric laying right side up, fold in the top part (image 4), then the bottom part, overlapping them by 3” (image 5). Since I wanted my fold to sit just above center on the front of my pillow, I folded the top part down 9” and the bottom part up 14”. This left me with a 20” square with 3” of overlapping fabric (image 6).  I pinned the top, bottom and overlapping pieces in place, then sewed a ½” seam allowance up each open side of the pillow (image 7).

I clipped each corner of the pillow at an angle (image 8), then turned the whole thing right-side out and used a closed pair of scissors to push out nice points in the pillow corners (image 9). Aaaand insert pillow (image 10).

But wait! There’s more! 

I wanted my pillow to have that fun/functional button closure, remember? So with the envelope fold side of the pillow facing frontward, I measured halfway in from the side and positioned my button where I wanted it to go (image 11).

I made an inconspicuous little mark on the fabric underneath where the button would be for an easy reference point – it would be covered once the button was sewn on anyway. Then I attached it (image 12).  Sew So what about that loop thing that goes around the button? Well, I had to make that too, and it was honestly probably the only difficult part of this project. I suppose I could’ve just sewn one of my unused hair bands to the underside of the flap to create an easy loop closure solution, but I wanted the loop to match the fabric for a more polished look.

I cut out a 1” wide strip of fabric that was a few inches long (I didn’t measure since I knew I would trim it down anyway) and took it to the ironing board (image 13). With the wrong side facing up, I folded one long side so its edge was touching the center and ironed it (image 14). Then I did the same with the other long side. At this point, I realized that the skinny little flaps still weren’t laying as flat as I wanted, so I said screw it unfolded the flaps, ran some Fabri-Tac fabric glue down the center, and refolded the flaps. Voila. Nice and flat (image 15).  This was important, because I still had to fold the fabric AGAIN. This time completely in half. I pinned it closed (because it wouldn’t stay closed on its own) (image 16) and then sewed right up the center for the length of the folded fabric (image 17). The trick to this is not sewing your fingers off going really slow and straight since you don’t have a whole lot of wiggle room. When you’re done, you have a nice custom ‘cord’ for your button loop iImage 18)!

I fitted it around my button, crossing the ends in an ‘X’ on the underside of the envelope flap (image 19), then hand-sewed it on (image 20). There was some excess cording left, so I just trimmed it off.

And there you have it! Pottery Barn pillows for a fraction of the price...about $4.50 per pillow, actually (recap: free currently-owned pillow, $1.25 for the button, about $3 for less than a yard of fabric, maybe $0.25 worth of thread). I actually ended up making two of them. (The colors in the pic on the right are not very accurate - I took it at night and the lighting is bad.) I'd say the final comparison is pretty close: 

And where was Darren during all of this? Here’s a video that pretty much sums up his feelings about my pillow endeavors (thankfully he doesn't take it to this extreme).

Guys and their weird pillow issues.