Sweet 17- a couch of the ages

YOU: "It looked so much better in the store" ME: "I know. The oxygen in World Market should be classified as an opiate."

Have you ever walked in a daze around one of the big chain home decor stores and batted your charmed eyes thinking "I want my whole house to be like this"-then you buy something, get it home, and it looks disappointingly cheap and frumpy? That papazan chair looks like a dog bed and those accent pillows scream: I robbed an Ashram!

Then you feel my pain. And in this story, Kelly's pain.

Kelly is in that "I am sixteen going on seventeen.." part of life where personal taste gets a little mature, but still funky. (Personally, my development may have arrested here). She bought a slumber-worthy single futon from World Market that looked so delectable on the dance floor and not so in the light of her room. I zipped right over and to examine: the cushions were monochromatic white in the cheapest white canvas (in the World) with itchy tags on the outside (?!) and no style. These lumpy dumplings were not what she had wanted.

This couch would be a feature of girl parties (see board games under couch) and probably travel with Kelly from high school to college (where she intends to major in Business: smart girl!).  A poor match for Kelly's meticulous and classy self-styling around her room, something had to be done.

Not an open and shut case, the wild card in this situation is the wild duvet. Take a look.

Woah nelly.

We took a pillow case to the fabric store and all three: Me, Kelly, Kelly's Mom, wandered around in a search-and-collaborate mission. There was a little bit of "Which pink do we go with?" and crystals vs.bobbles in the great trim war of 2011, but we finally all agreed.

The first fabric we choose for two of the pillows was a black and white fancy print, a bold, modern throwback to an antique design. This had been my inspiration immediately after seeing Kelly's black framed photo arrangements, her beveled sweetheart mirror with silken bow, and embroidered script "K" pillow.

Next we found a durable mustard fabric for the main body of the futon that happened to evoke a nearby white and orche bobble trim perfect for pillows.

Less easy was filling in the blank. How do we connect this garage-girly duvet cover? We combed the store. I thought "Pink". They said "Which Pink?" We held up our samples to any pink that would have us and decided on this lovely pink-lavender raw silk that could work with both the bedspread and the couch-to-be. This interchangeable pink was our bridge fabric and completed the look we found we wanted: Sophisticated + Girlie.

"...innocent as a rose"

A magic moment. We exhaled and mom swiped the card.

I bought matching threads, oiled up my bobbin case and fired up my machine. I built the new covers and cases onto the old for durability and avoid spending a fortune on new zippers. (Did you know one of the Girl Scout virtues is Thriftiness?)

A few short weeks later I met Kelly's mom and we dressed the futon in its new wardrobe while Kelly was away doing Tennis or Youth Leadership or just being a brilliant young girl.

Does it tickle your fancy?

and for another look

I received a gracious and exuberant report (and a fat tip) from Mom, saying "Kelly loved all of it" with double exclamation marks so you know she means it!!

This mom and daughter project, bridging the gap between sixteen and seventeen, between teen Vogue and French Vogue, between  World Market and personal expression, was another sewing joy worth telling on.

So I leave you with this readers: Make it yours.

No World Market couch, shoot, No World is going to suit you without your participation. Don't get discouraged, Make it yours!

love and buttons,

Little Miss Sew and Sew

Move over Marie Antoinette, that chair is mine

I must've been channeling the Queen of decadence, which went over well. Every time I asked myself "What does this need?," I let myself answer "tassels" or "another print" or "something pink." Really, it was a WWMAD? For those of you not hip to the abbreviated or acronymed fab, the modern incarnation of the valley girl, i.e, saying "btw" or "din" or even, my favorite, the abbreviation of abbreviation, "abrev," I mean "What Would Marie Antoinette Do?" It worked. My first re-fashioned armchair sold within 24 hours on the store floor. Some lovely woman from Richmond snapped it up and paid me exactly what I had wanted. As Winston Churchill said, "These are great days."

First, the end, then, the means.

"Oo la la" you say, as if you were in a french cartoon.

Napoleon is really catching some z's on that handmade feather cushion in Parisian and hand-dyed silks.

Note: this, right here, is why I am a dog person. If I came home one day and found this chair shredded and my remorseless cat doing figure eights around the legs, I might sling him around like Elvira. Napoleon, on the other hand, just sleeps 22 hours a day and occasionally I find a tiny bone in my boudoir pillow.

Now, brace yourself for the before:

You can taste the dust.

Napoleon's cuteness is no match for this abandoned in Grandma's garage ghost chair. That awful brown hardly does justice to how gorgeous and intact the carving actually is on this thing. The feet also become lost, which is a shame because they look like little platform heels.

But I saw how lovely and vibrant it could be, so I brought it to life.

It's a little bit baroque, a little bit shabby chic, a little bit regular chic, a teaspoon of kitsch, a splash of gyspy.

Also keep an eye on me at www.ziabird.com, the jewelry store hosting my home jewels.

Furniture- the clothes of your house

You may have heard me say that I believe furniture to have almost supernatural subtleties that affect the interior landscape of your mind, but I'll say it again. Naturally having fitting furniture for you is the goal, but how exactly do we do that? Identity is like trying to hold onto a ferret, as soon as you've got a grip on it, they slip right out of your hands.

This is why I don't recommend buying all your furniture (or clothes for that matter) in the same place because it will inevitably look not yours. Some people dig that "i like living in a hotel" look, but I'm of the temperament that too much sterility or impersonal-ness breeds madness.

I painted these wild curtains from plain panels to Pollock-inspired pretties for my stylish neighbor who felt submerged in white. Juxtaposed with her lovely feminine, clean and attentive mix of old and new in her magazine worthy apartment, my pair of Pollock-ed panels added an energized element.

I also get a rise out of mixing centuries, genres, and themes together (with varying success) to create a place entirely new, not reminiscent of something else. This is the road less traveled, but the stylish nomads out there will agree on the worthiness.

Might I add that when you leave it all up to somebody else you pay handsomely for that service? Especially when the items are all brand new. Some couches at Ashley home furniture cost more than my car. And they still look like knock offs!

So, I guess this announces my foray into upholstery and hopefully this thrift store find (below) will be my first project. I've done slipcovers and pillows and curtains and all the kind of three-dimensional covering, but this lovely mock-Victorian sofa would call for a whole new applique.

Note the most fabulous hand-blown glass chandelier in the world from 18th-19th century Italy. Seen in the Columbia Museum of Art while I was recently passing through. If ever OMG were appropriate, this is the time. This baby is about 10 or 12 feet tall. Standing by it phrases like "let them eat cake" and "pass the foie gras" come to mind.

Now, to save the absolute best for last....

Firstly, would you believe this fit into a VW bug? My dear friend Sarah and I went marathon antique shopping in the surrounding counties ("it's always cheaper in the country") and I came across this beauty, a '1920s' steamer trunk that I now believe to be even older, turn-of-the-century or 1890s. Information courtesy of my neighbor who came over for a glass of sweet tea and made me feel like I was on "Antique Roadshow." I plan to leave  it be or restore it, all the while using it to house my delightful spools of thread and fabric projects in process.

The bottom drawers fold into one combing large drawer so as to not crush the plumes of the feathers on your hats. Oh, I croon for the olden days. There are even little pockets in the bottom right to slip one's shoes in while relaxing in your train car. The hangers are designed to hold an entire outfit and to stay pressed while traveling.

As Sarah and I helped the old antique's man load this puppy into the hatchback of her new bug, he said "now we're gonna slide this in just like a coffin." This comment would have phased me, but when the hatchback clicked closed, we raced away like bandits (the trunk was had at a very reasonable price).

Unloading with just the two of us proved to be more difficult. I mentioned "this would be a really good time for a boy to show up" and about ten seconds later, one did, and the three of us waddled this big trunk into my abode. Thanks Universe!

Poppin' that collar

My mom gave me this fabulous vintage fox collar from the 1930s. Why not try it freestanding over a casual tee?

Ever since I saw this waitress in some famous coffeshop/brunch spot in Greenpoint, BK> she was wearing a Russian fur hat, a big poof on her head, and it was some how fabulous. It was also winter and her animal hat kept her so warm she could afford to show a little shoulder while hustling perogies.

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