Need a seamstress??

I've had several people ask me about pricing as far as having things sized/taken in/hemmed/etc. I thought I better write a reference post for those interested in this. I can adjust uniforms, (karate gi, soccer shirts, t ball, softball, football elastics, etc), school uniform pants/shirts, scrubs, police uniforms) clothing, special occasion wear, or any other special requests, feel free to ask!

**Please read special instructions below!!**

Shirts:
Taking in down the sides: $6.
Adjusting length upwards: $6.
Making t-shirt into tank top: $6.

Pants:
Basic hem: $8.
Bringing in the bottom (to make the bell smaller): $8

Any other special repairs/etc, prices will be quoted on a case by case basis.

**ALL ORDERS must reach a $20 minimum for alterations.** 

Thanks!
Contact: Sierra Marker contact@simplysewchic.com

I'm back!

I had to close my store due to being extremely busy with State with my cheerleaders! They did awesome at state! We placed 5th out of 17 teams, and that's pretty darn good if you ask me!

(Lily and her cheer entourage!)

Anyway, I'm finally going to be re-opening my store! We had opening day for Lexx and Caleb's softball and t-ball games, so that will be a whole new thing to keep us busy, but I'm ready for the task!

I'm going to revamping prices, options, etc... so I will be posting a whole new Tab about that and I will link you to that when it's available! But first, I want to share the girls room transformation!

You may remember the items I bought on consignment from THIS post. Here they are in action!

Well there you have it!! :)

Draped Ceilings

Have you ever been to a wedding with draped ceilings? It's got to be the cutest way to instantly offer a romantic vibe to any space. Which is exactly why I decided to create a look inspired by draped reception halls for my daughters' room. What says dainty cuteness more than loosely hung white fabric? Nothing.. I know!!

So here we go. I bought the remaining fabric of the lightest fabric walmart had marked in the $1.50 a yard fabrics. I have no idea what sort of fabric it was, I'm not a fabric pro, mmkay? However, it was light, semi stretchy, pretty transparent and cut nicely without fraying. Worked for me! I ende up with about 9 and a half yards.

I didn't really have a plan (don't you just love when that happens?). All I knew was that I had 45 minutes to get Caleb to tee-ball practice and it was go time.

I started by stapling an end to one corner of the room, and pulling it into different directions to see the look it would offer. I then realized my dilemma in that the girls had a light and vent that couldn't be covered. I decided to drape it from corner to center of the room right near the light, and then I'd just place a new light fixture that looked like a button over the ends.

After draping, stapling, having dust falling in my eyes and my arms burning from being over my head for so long, I finally managed to drape from each corner to the center without too much of a fight.

I ran to Lowe's and picked up a really cute light fixture that was 2/$21.00 (what a bargain!). I then ran off to practice with Caleb and my wonderful husband installed the new fixture for me.

It turned out so cute, I couldn't be happier with the end result.

Wall Art.. Easy!

I've been redecorating my daughters' room (as you know). I was looking for the perfect art to go with their vintage/modern/country chic bedroom. Do you know how hard that is? I could picture it, but I couldn't find anything worthy of their focal point in their room. I wanted something bright, cute, vibrant, different and sweet (as all girls rooms should be!)

Well, that was a bit of a tall order. As I perused through the wall art section of Hobby Lobby, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Nothing was what I had pictured in my head. And then.. wait for it... there was a light bulb moment! Why don't I just make it!? Come on, Sierra, you should know that is option number one, how could you skip over it and resort to retail therapy? You're better than that! ;)

So, I scurried over to the canvas stretcher isle (see where this is going?)

I'm not above admitting that I, Sierra Marker, am a giant fabric hoarder. Oh yes, what you don't see in my sewing room pictures is the giant 5 ft. pink filing cabinet in my garage that houses 6 drawers of fabrics organized by color. Some of which, I've bought, looked at undecidedly and put back into the drawers in order to save them for a moment that I would gloriously declare, "I know what you'll be!"

Okay, I'll tune down the dramatics. How easy it is to make a whole plot out of my trip to Hobby Lobby when I got a brilliant idea. Again, I digress.

So once I decided the sizes of art pieces I was going to make, the rest was simple. I went with 32" by 36" (2 of each) then 10" by 12" (4 of each to make 2 more).

When I got home I picked out the fabulous fabrics that were awaiting their destiny to become adorable wall art. The largest piece needed a cute accent of some kind, so I decided to make a giant bow on it. I appliqued an elephant on one of the small ones, and left the other alone because the print speaks for itself.

Next (with an added layer of canvas behind the outer fabric) I stretched the fabrics just as I did here.

A little nip/tuck and trim... and viola! Super cute wall art!

Junkerific Thrifty Finds

So, I have decided to re-design the girls' room into something fabulous. The look I'm going for is sort of modern, trendy, shabby chic with a vintage vibe. A lot of color inspiration has been pulled from rooms like these:

(More can be seen HERE) 

I ventured out to a couple of my favorite thrift stores... looking for basically anything that caught my eye. In my mind, I was looking for nice vibrant colors that would stack well together, and hopefully not look like I just grabbed a bunch of random junk and stuck it in the room. (Which, to be honest, I'm not worried about.) Once I incorporate the textiles I'm sure it will flow nicely... until then, I've been scouring blogs and Etsy for inspiration that I can hopefully replicate (in a cost efficient manner, ya feel me?). As much as I'd love to go crazy at Anthroplogie, I'd rather keep the cash in our account and have a little scavenger hunt to achieve this fabulous look. Besides, then I get all the bragging rights, right?

Here's what I grabbed today!

Here's the group. 

This mirror/wall hanging was $10.

This embroidered muslin piece was $4.00. I'm going to back it with a soft minkee and have it draped over a vintage child's chair (that was actually mine when I was little... and it was vintage then! Ha!)

This bowl was $4.80 and the tray was $5.00. I loved the colors of both. 

This corner stand was $9.00. I was going to repaint it, but I kinda of liked the scuffed up look once I cleaned it. 

This is a 70's food tray. I might make it a magnet picture board. Was only $2.00

I actually had 2 matching pictures to this, so I had to buy it. I'm going to steal the 2 I had hung in the bathroom and hang them in the girls room. $8.00 (which I thought was steep considering I got the others at a yard sale for $2.00 total). 

This is a tin food tray. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but the colors were so vibrant (even under a layer of dust) I had to get it. 

Well there you have it! I'll be sure to update as I complete projects in their room. I have a feeling it's going to be a LOT of sewing. 

Tangled Party Dress

We're back from vacation, which means it's back to work!

I have several orders that came in over the weekend, and I'm working on them in the order they were placed! It's been great! :)

Today, I finished a custom dress and bow for a friend's daughter. Her birthday theme is "Tangled," so of course she needed a party dress!

I ordered the bow center from HERE. 

It turned out so cute!

Canvas Stretching Tutorial

Well good morning!

I thought I'd squeeze one more tutorial on to the blog before we head out to good ol' Las Vegas, NV for the weekend! 

I try to give unique, personalized, well thought out, and hopefully handmade gifts for Christmas. I like to give something that I know for a fact that person doesn't already have. This year, I decided to get photo canvases made of pictures I had taken. I used THIS site to have them made. This particular canvas measures 12" X 18". 

1. You will need 4 canvas stretchers, each measuring 2 inches shorter than the canvas. For my canvas, my stretchers measured 10" and 16". You will also need the canvas and staple gun. I had to use my husband's because I couldn't find my girly one. :( It was a little harder because it requires more muscle.

 2. Close up of how the interlocking stretchers look. You can get these at most craft stores with a canvas section. 

Close up of the canvas.

3. Slide each adjoining stretcher into it's corresponding slot. This takes a little muscle. I felt like a dude during most of this project.

This is how it will look once it's in place. Do this to all ends. 

4. You may need to use a rubber mallet to make sure it's all as even as possible. You can check this by measuring from diagonals and checking if they are the same.

5. Lay the stretcher on the back of the canvas.

6. Stretch the canvas and staple one staple on each end.

7. One each side, staple two staples on each side of the first one. Continue to do this in a circle until you reach the corners. 

8. Once you reach the corner, fold it like a hospital corner and staple it. 

It should look like this.

8. You can hammer down and staples that stick out slightly. This wasn't my best canvas due to the heavy duty stapler. I wasn't able to get as close of a staple. 

9. Staple a string, wire or ribbon to the back to hang it.

This is how it should look. 

 11. Hang and admire your work. You might feel like a totally awesome carpenter. Like Jesus or something. Bask in that for a moment.