Upcycled Juicy Couture Chain Link Dress: KCW Day 2

Kid’s Clothes Week: Day 2

This seasons theme: Upcycled, from Juicy Couture Chain Link DressKid’s Clothes Week, is a pretty exciting theme.  The process of going through my closet brought immense joy to Cadence, who found out that she can nearly fit my high heels! She was beside herself with glee upon the realization, and was in love with the idea of making something of mine into something for her.

The best part is, we were able to include not 2, but 3 generations in the mix! Cadence’s mimmi, my mother-in-law, gave me a beautiful, Juicy Couture chain link dress of hers a couple years ago.  However, it was a little too short for comfort, so it was an obvious choice for our projects: a hand-me-down to a daughter-in-law to a granddaughter.  With a few alterations, I created a much smaller version of the original. A very sophisticated dress for an 8 year old, I might add.

Juicy Couture Chain Link Dress

The original dress is shown below, and we decided to keep the same shape, just a smaller version.

Juicy Couture Chain Link Dress

The Adele Dress pattern by Violette Field Threads was the perfect bodice shape to help design a dress that would fit a smaller frame.  I also used this pattern for a dragon themed dress here.

Juicy-Couture-Chain-Link-Dress-6

 

Upcylced

The upcycled Juicy Couture Chain Link Dress was more than we hoped for! Cadence was in heaven being able to look and dress like her mimmie! We opted to sew the tag back in place to preserve the look.  What a fun project!

Juicy Couture Chain Link Dress

 

SEE OTHER PROJECTS

KCW February 2015

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Tufted Headboard Tutorial

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DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

Tufted headboards are a little girls dream, and in my case maybe an even bigger dream to make one.  When I saw the Eliza Tufted Headboard from Pottery Barn, I knew that I must have one for Cadence.  But with a price tag near $1,000, I turned toward my inner creativity (and my father!) to make one from scratch.  I had never made furniture or reupholstered anything before, but I knew with the countless tutorials on pinterest that we could succeed.  My favorite tutorial came from The Idea Room.  While I knew I wanted a deeper tuft than the one shown, I loved the step by step instructions, not only for the tufting, but the headboard frame as well.  

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

Originally, a tufted headboard was all we were going to attempt.  However, once I involved my dad, we got a whole entire bed frame! As I was not the one to make the bed frame, I cannot explain in detail how it was done.  However, I can show step by step how the headboard was constructed as well as do over points along the way.  Note: While the bed frame was made and prepped by my loving father, I had the pleasure of painting the bed which ended up with 3 coats of paint! My husband, of course, occupied the children during this process.  

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

 

need 2

  • Piece of MDF board cut to your specifications
  • 2 – 3 inch foam (we found ours at JoAnn’s)
  • Drill and 3/8 inch Drill Bit
  • Quilt Batting (Joanne’s)
  • Pillow / Doll Stuffing (Joanne’s)
  • Waxed Thread (JoAnn’s)
  • Upholstery Needle 
  • Spay Glue
  • Button Making Kit with enough buttons for your project (JoAnn’s)
  • Material for the tufted headboard
  • 2 sawhorses or 2 tables
  • Staple Gun and Staples

 

Make the frame.  Follow the instructions from The Idea Room and cut the MDF board to your own specifications.  We opted for a squared off look to offset how girly the tufted headboard is.  Decide how many tufts you would like and how far apart you want them.  Decide between square and diamond tufts We chose square to match the square frame.  Mark where each button will be and drill holes all the way through the MDF headboard with a drill and drill bit  We used a 3/8 inch drill bit.  Our headboard is 39×28, we have 4 rows of 5 totaling 20 buttons spaced 7 inches apart horizontally and 6 inches vertically.  

Step 2

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

Line up the foam (which may be more than one piece depending on the size of your headboard) with he MDF board.  With a pen, mark through the holes onto the foam.  Cut holes in the foam about the same size as the buttons with a pair of scissors or a knife.  Once the holes are made, line up the foam and the MDF and glue together with the spray glue.  This will ensure that it does not move!

Step 3

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

 I found that to get the perfect tufted look it was best to add balls of fluff in the middle of each tuft.  I carefully added the quilt batting on top, adjusting the balls of fluff accordingly.  

Step 4

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

Now is a good time to make the cloth covered buttons.  I ended up having to hand sew mine on as the fabric was so thick- taking me about 2 hours!  In the beginning, we tried following the instructions of sewing the buttons to the headboard to make the tufts, but they kept breaking.  Eventually we ended up sewing smaller, shirt sized buttons on with the waxed thread and upholstery needle to make the tufts, and then sewing the decorative buttons on afterwards.   

Step 5

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

Step 5 – shaping the tufts, was by far the hardest part.  My dad ended up helping more than he thought he would as it needed so much strength! We placed the foam topped headboard on two sawhorses so that we could get underneath.  After gently smoothing and softening, we pulled the button into the foam hole with the upholstery needle, and wax thread. My dad, being the strength, pulled the wax thread underneath the headboard until I told him the depression was sufficient (and eventually, evenly depressed with the others – as this is no easy feat) and he would then staple the excess thread to the headboard in a W pattern.  Surprisingly, the quality of the tufts was not determined by the depth.  In fact, we barely pulled the buttons into the foam.  The extra fluff and quilt batting is what made the tufts look full and round.  The 20 tufts took about 3 hours to make, but it was worth every minute! 

Step 6

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

After the tufting, assembling the headboard was a breeze!  After a little more smoothing and softening around the edges, we trimmed the excess fabric and stapled it to the back.  The headboard was complete!  All we had left  was to assemble the rest of the bed  and marvel at our masterpiece.

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

 

DIY Tufted Headboard Tutorial

 

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A is for Autumn: Fall Flag Banner Tutorial

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Autumn Flag Banner Tutorial + Front Porch Makeover

Fall Flag Banner Front Porch Tutorial

Autumn is right around the corner and we could not wait to get started decorating! With 14 days left until fall we are a little early, but anything to get our minds off this heat is worth it!
The project started off as a fall flag banner for the fireplace, however, after some thought, I decided to use it to decorate our front porch- the front porch that has never been decorated in the 2 years that we have lived here.

I have always wanted to have the decorating skills that are plastered all over pinterest.  In truth, I have never been much of a decorator- leaving most of the work to my husband who has a talent for decorating that obviously exceeds my own. Today, however, the kids and I attempted (and succeeded) in making a very festive fall flag banner.  We searched high and low for unused objects in the house to use for the fall porch makeover.  Fall Flag Banner Front Porch TutorialWe were able to use 2 black vases, our original doormat, a small pedestal, and three pumpkins.  The rest we went to find at Hobby Lobby and Lowes.

At Lowe’s, we picked up the plants: 2 purple 2.00-Gallon Mum with Grass Planters and 2 white 3.00-Quart Mum Garden Planters.

At Hobby Lobby, we found fabric and hemp rope for the Autumn Flag Banner, 8 decorative flowers, 1 flower bunch for the wreath, a basic natural grapevine wreath, a bronze initial, and a side table on sale.

 

The total bill came out to: $138.00 – pretty amazing!

Especially when compared with the before photo found here!

 Autumn Flag Tutorial:

So, I know there are a million fall flag banner tutorials out there, but the method of using Heat n’ Bond for the letters and sewing for the actual flag is my favorite.  Alternatively, you can use the Heat n’ Bond for the flag as well, however, the below instructions include sewing.

 

 

Fabric colors for 8 flags ( I used 5 colors in 1/8 yard each)

Muslin Fabric in 1/2 yard

Black Fabric for letters in 1/8 yard

Hemp Rope

Heat n’ Bond

Printer

Sewing Machine (if stitching)

Step 1

 

 

Print out the flag template from www.flairytale.com found here.  I resized it to fit an 8×11 sheet of paper to make a 10×7.5 inch triangle.  I then printed out the letters to spell “autumn” in the font: Script MT Bold 350pt.

Step 2

 

 

Using the template, cut out the fabric into 8 flags of your color choice, and 8 more in the muslin.  Set aside.

Step 3

 

 

Trace the letters backwards or mirror image onto the Heat n’ Bond paper side.  Once complete, place the Heat n’ Bond onto the wrong side of the black fabric and iron for 2-5 seconds.  Once cool, cut the letters out, peel off the sticker one at a time and iron them onto the fabric flag.

Step 4

 

 

Sew the finished front flags to the muslim backs right sides together.  Sew the long sides of the triangle together, leaving the top edge open.  Trim and turn right side out.  fold the top edges in toward each other 1/4 inch, press flat.  Fold edge down and sew a pocket for the hemp rope about 1/2 inch deep.

 

 

 

Finished Autumn Flag Banner

Fall Flag Banner and wreath Front Porch Tutorial

 

 

Before + After

Fall Flag Banner Front Porch Tutorial