Fabric, making decorations for a new room and craft!

NickiM

I'll be moving into a new house in September and have a lovely room there. It is basically a blank canvas to decorate and I want it to look nice. I've recently been looking on Ebay and have found some lovely fabric being sold. I'd like to make maybe some cushions or a wall decoration or something (ideas?!), but am actually hopeless at anything like that. Would this be too hard for me to do?

Any ideas welcomed.

Nicki

Racklen

google it on line and you should be able to find simple sewing projects with step by step instructions, cushions would be a good start as they are just basic squares,

good luck and enjoy your new home

Gingernutmeg

You might not be able to hang pictures but if you are, you could look for some nice frames and simply frame some of the fabric. I've done this with some toile fabric in my bedroom and it looks really nice, you just have to choose 'interesting' bits to frame lol. With the leftover fabric I've made patchwork cushions, mixing the toile with gingham (all from ebay ) It's not complicated sewing and you could easily pick it up

patchwork_cat

Cushions are very easy to make. You basically make an envelope. http://uktv.co.uk/style/thread/threadid/2941. For pictures, 1 thing I have seen is putting expensive wallpaper in frames.When you have matered that we will do curtains! Not hard just bulky.

NickiM

Thanks a lot! In our contract it says we're not allowed to make permanent change to the property, but I might email them and ask whether they would let us hang things on the walls.

Do I need a sewing machine?

Claero

I hand-sewed a cushion this morning - I got some fabric from the market and stuffing from Dunelm's ages ago that was just sat in my wardrobe. Anyway, it wasn't an overly large cushion and it did take a while to make. I was talking to someone at the time so it didn't seem like that long though. Really, if you want to do a lot of work with fabric (making own tab-top curtains, cushions, pelmets, etc) then a sewing machine would come in handy. Some places used do sell handheld sewing machines for about £20 but you might find some full-sized ones on eBay. I like handstitching though because I find it therapeutic and do cross-stitch for pictures and bespoke cushion fronts.

NickiM

Thanks. I am a useless sewer so probably would not be making stuff regularly.

Where do you find stuffing to put in cushions?

Claero

You can find specially made cushion pads on market stalls or in home furnishing shops (the markets I know will usually cut to size for you if you ask them), but for this one as it was an odd size I used the same stuffing used to stuff toys - £3.99 for a big bag of fluffy white stuff from Dunelms.

NickiM

Oooh thanks. I wish I was at uni, we have a really great market there, but not so much at home.

maytaurus

Hi
if you can't use nails,screws etc in walls have a look here for help .............
Put up and take down pictures, art, crafts and other small items as often as you want with these versatile strips, which are easy to apply and clean to remove.

http://www.3mselect.co.uk/c-360-for-pictures-posters.aspx

maytaurus

I think the best and easiest filling for cushions,quilting etc is an old pillow or duvet (hollowfibre or polyester type)just wash it through, dry it thoroughly, pull it into pieces & fill your cover
The pillows can also be very cheap to buy, compared to new cushion pads etc
you can also fill an old stocking or a leg off tights with it until it's the length/width that you want it before covering in material for a draught excluder
try old tights/stockings for filling as well (just keep washing them & putting them in a bag till you have enough)
My mum used to do this! :rotfl:
I have also used both of these for soft/knitted toys and quilting
I NEVER buy fillings!
Have a look here for more decorating/craft ideas
Home Decorating Crafts and Projects
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/decorations/index.shtml

and over 14000 photos for inspiration
http://www.getdecorating.com/interiors.cfm?CFID=8238229&CFTOKEN=32085244