Emptynest Stole my Heart

 

It has been kind of a bad day. Not to complain but the repairman told us we need a new water softener, then the knob of the washing machine came right off in my hand.  Hopefully Hubby will be able to fix that. 

In the past month both daughters have needed car repairs. The list goes on ... I am sure just like at your house.

Yet it is a lovely day out. One of those days you wish you could can for the cold harsh days of winter. So I went out to enjoy my yard. 

Near where my daughters parked when they were home I found this nest on the ground under the maple tree.

My daughters have long red and blond hair so it is very hard to say which daughter's hair this is but it warms my heart to see how much this bird valued the hair.  

I hope you enjoy the sight as much as I do.

Review of the Ikea SY Sewing Machine

As previously posted I used the Ikea Sy to make a slipcover and headboard for my daughter's apartment. I hope you scroll down and check the posts out. I have 2 other sewing machines that when I bought them they were the top of the line. I have been sewing for a good 35 years from home, factory to a drapery shop.

Ikea Sy sewing machine 

I had read some other reviews as I was a little worried about it sewing through the double sided quilted fabric.

 I had to hand turn the wheel over the thickest part.  I have a habit of doing that with every sewing machine as the tension adjusts when the pressure foot has been raised by the bulk of the fabric. This is the most common reason for a broken needle. That could upset the timing of your machine, so I avoid the near occasion.

 I was somewhat concerned that the needle position was close to the rear of the pressure foot but I had no issues. 

Ikea Sy sewing Machine

The 13 stitches are somewhat misleading as  3 of them are straight stitches, one of which is a basting stitch. You adjust the stitch length by setting between the stitches. 

I also  used the zigzag stitch and that worked fine also.

I was very happy to have the zipper foot. I didn't use it for a zipper, but the pillow covers I used for the headboard had piping on them and it would have been impossible to sew those as the seam allowance was quite thin so I had to stitch close to the the piping. The zipper foot worked a charm for that. 

I didn't use the buttonhole foot so I have nothing to report on that foot. 

The machine comes with 6 bobbins one of which was filled with pink thread that was loaded in the machine. I image they tested the machine before packaging it. I thought it was a generous amount of bobbins. 

They had a whole book about oiling the machine but did not provide even a small amount of  oil. Needless to say I assumed it had been oiled in the factory and would only needed to be oiled on a later use.

I didn't have any trouble with the speed of the machine but I am a fast sewer and they were mostly long straight seams. 

The price of $69 is a reasonable price. We saw it tagged for $59 upstairs in a display and asked for a price check but alas we paid $69. Still for what I had to get done it was still a good price.

All in all I was happy with the sewing machine and was happy that my daughter would be able to use it if she found a need to sew something while away at school.

From Ikea Bedspread to Headboard Part III

In my previous post I have shown you how I made the slipcover. I hope you read those.
Now comes the headboard. In my opinion the Bed frame is plain to encourage you to make it your own. We wanted to have more comfort and to have pillows keep from falling through the spaces.
  Ikea FJELLSE Bed frame, pine

The pillow covers that came with the bedspread had a great piping detail so I wanted to keep that intact. I opened up the two long sides and one short side of the pillow cover. One of those long sides had a zipper. I saved that for some other  project. (You never know when you need zippers )
The pillow covers now covered most of the front and back of the headboard.   

 I added center panels from the left over fabric from the sofabed slipcover. I then added the top strip to the front first and back. The top strip is the contrast side of the quilt. I have to admit I forgot the old mantra  ( Right sides together) but it made a nice added detail to the cover.  I added a strip of the binded edge left overs to the bottom of the front so it would look good and tuck down between the mattress and frame and finished the back edge.
I then had to built up the cover to give it strength and comfort. I used a cardboard box for a backboard and covered it with a 3 thin foam squares. 

 

It all worked out well and I even had left over fabric. When I visit this winter I will make some contrast pillows with the left over fabric from the bedspread and the zippers. 

 

From Ikea Bedspread to Slip Cover and Headboard Part II

All projects start with tools. Ours started with the sewing machine from Ikea.

Ikea SY Sewing machine

It was the right price and after reading different reviews I was sure it could handle the job.
The same goes for the bedspread. We picked the royal purple one in King/queen size for the most fabric. Ikea KARIT Bedspread and 2 cushion covers

I then laid out the  bedspread on the sofabed and carefully planned where to cut it. "Measure twice cut once" I turned it inside out and pinned the back seam to fit snugly over the back of the sofa.

I then mitered the front corners to fit the seating area. Then I cut the excess off the back. I still had the Pillow covers that came with the bedspread and the extra fabric. I was optimistic that I could make the headboard with what I had left. That will be my next posting.

 

From Ikea Bedspread to Slipcover and Headboard

Recently we helped our daughter move into a new apartment. She had a sofabed as a bed last year and decided to use it as a sofa and buy a bed this year.
        Ikea FJELLSE Bed frame, pine

 They are both from Ikea
  
Ikea EXARBY Mattress

but the sofbed that she has doesn't have a slipcover that fits it.
 So we had to get creative.
After a few trips to our local Ikea store we decided that the quilted bedspread gave us the most fabric and looked like it would hold up to wear. Plus is was a great color. Ours was purple.

We also had to buy the sewing machine at Ikea as space in the car for the 19 hr drive was tight. Check back to see it all come together and to see the review of the sewing machine.

KARIT Bedspread and 2 cushion covers