Sewing Stylish Home Projects

Everyone needs a little luxury in their life. Sewing Stylish Home Projects brings interior designer Linda Lee's rich and creative aesthetic to accessories that can be made to add that special touch to any home. Pillows, throws, napkins, curtains, and more are created to accent four distinctly styled rooms: a modern country bedroom, a Victorian parlor, an Asian dining room, and an Americana living room. From the boudoir pillow to the silk and lace throw, each project in this book will add style and grace to your home.

Introduction

1 Modern Country Bedroom

2 Victorian Parlor Charm

3 Asian Dining Room

4 Americana Family Room

5 The Basics for Sewing

Resources

I have been a practicing interior designer for 30 years and a hobby sewer for many more years than that. For most of those 30 years, I simply designed the various products that I used in my clients homes such as pillows, drapery treatments, and table covers. I designed them on paper, but I did not make them. I never gave that aspect a thought. The engineering of how to construct something was why you took the ideas and the materials to an interior sewing workroom. I was never taught how to make anything in design school. And the subject of sewing was never approached.

In 1993, I purchased the Sewing Workshop in San Francisco. One of the first phone calls I received was from one of the big pattern companies, asking me if I would be the content editor, sample maker, and script-writer for a PBS television series called Sewing Today. Of the 27 shows to be written, about one-third of them featured sewing for interiors. Suddenly, I was thrown into the world of having to figure out how to make things that I had never made. I was soon making ribbon-woven table skirts, tailored linen roman shades, ruffled pillow shams, and insulated place mats and napkins.

Soon after I was involved in the sample making and technical writing for two books on interior decorating products -- pillows and slipcovers. The deadline was so fierce on both projects that I ended up making most of the projects myself so that I would completely understand how they were made and I would know how to write the copy. I was getting my feet wet in a hurry. My learning curve was huge, but I was enjoying every minute of it. After the dust had settled on these projects, I became aware that this was where the sewing industry was headed with a new marketing emphasis on home decorating. My design background and my knowledge of the inside of the interior design world plus my sewing skills borrowed from fashion sewing were a perfect combination. I knew I wanted to make things for my own home and for my clients.

At first glance, there seems to be a separation of fabrics available for use for the sewing industry and for the interior design industry. Sewers think that only fabrics they see in the retail fabric stores, which also tend to be discount stores, are available to them. But there is a huge world of incredible fabrics that are available to the trade only, meaning that only interior designers can order them. But a common misconception is that interior designers will not deal with a client who is interested in ordering fabric only. In fact, you can go into a designers sample room, work with or without the designer to find what you want, and order yardage in any quantity that you need. Of course, you may be on your own to figure out the bugs in making your project work, or you may be able to pay the designer a fee to assist you in the mechanics of making the item.

As a sewer who has been primarily interested in learning couture sewing techniques, I have been able to blend the fine details and strong dressmaking skills into better sewing for my interior design clients. On two different occasions, I used two workrooms to make things that had mitered corners -- one was a bordered table runner and the others were sheer window panels. Upon inspecting the final products, I noticed that the corners on both pieces were sloppy and not really sewn, only pressed to simulate a miter. Thats when I realized that workrooms do not always know the precision details that we, as fashion sewers, have worked so hard to learn and perfect.

I have also noticed a trend in home interiors of using fabrics that have been traditionally used in fashion, such as silk dupioni, silk organza, silk charmeuse, and handkerchief linen. The good news for us is that these fabrics are more readily available in better fabric stores across the country, they are less expensive than their cousins as ordered by interior designers, and they are more manageable on our home sewing machines. And of course, they are so luscious. Heavy cut velvets and tapestries with thick latex backings take a lot more effort to wrestle around your sewing room, and some home sewing machines are not suited to sewing these fabrics.

This book is designed to integrate good sewing techniques and materials borrowed from the fashion industry and to introduce them into sewing for your home. The projects are manageable with relatively small amounts of materials, and you can accomplish them in a short time. This book is about taking an already rather complete room and adding personality, character, and polish. Your touches will define the house and who lives there.

Its rare that we want to take on the project of making large quantities of draperies for our homes. It takes a lot of fabric, enormous table space, and specialized equipment. Plus, it is not all that creative. But imagine the creativity in planning and making just the beautiful tiebacks.

Upholstering a chair requires a hammer and nails and some brute strength. A simple slipcover, made with fabric, needle, and thread, changes a chair instantly, and you can do it yourself. Pillows are the new artistic accessory. Mail-order catalogs, magazines, and every imaginable kind of store (Ive even seen them in the grocery store) show them for every reason and season. And some of them cost a fortune. Pillows are the easiest way to use beautiful fabrics, combine them in interesting ways, and add some exotic trims. Pillows provide the canvas for playing. Throw them on a tired sofa, and it is rejuvenated.

Dining table accessories are pretty ordinary in the stores. And have you ever really found the perfect color to use with your dishes anyway? Splurge on a great piece of fabric, and sew a place mat in a new and interesting shape. Add a napkin with a satin monogram, and trim it with a piece of jewelry as a napkin ring.

Shop in your own stash of fabrics. You will be surprised to find how many fabrics you own that you would not actually wear as a garment but that might be perfect for your home. Dont save them for the next special occasion that never comes. Use them now!

I hope that this book will inspire you to look at your home with a new eye and see how you can update the look with small handmade accessories.