A bookshelf for Khloe

I have been vigorously cleaning out Khloe's room lately and I decided that it was more than over due time to finally build her the bookshelf I told her I would build. I thought for a long time on what it would look like, just like I do with sewing projects.

So, here is what I did:

I measured the spot I wanted to put the bookshelf
I measured her tallest book (Her closet has shelves and the tall one was 13 inches in the interior and plenty tall enough for her biggest book)
I decided on the wood width of the shelves
I decided on the design of the bookshelf (I knew I wanted it to be more open than an all enclosed bookshelf)

I decided on:

1x6 shelves that had a miter on the ends to give it more of an Asian feel
The bookshelf being approximately 55 inches tall (later I am going to put her Directv box and Blue-ray player on the top shelf and mount her TV above the bookshelf; that is where I got the height from...so it won't be uncomfortable for her to still watch TV)
I wanted the 2 lower shelves to be 13 inches apart for big books and the the top 2 to be 8 inches apart for small books
I wanted to use the paint I already had and since her furniture is mostly black, I went with black. This meant that I would need polyurethane to protect the color and our carpet!

Since I have been doing so much wood work lately, I decided to invest in a "saw-horse". This one below holds the wood for cutting and can hold a project in place for hammering and such. Underneath it is my new saw I bought about a month ago! I sure do love my power tools! 

Once I had my pieces cut, I sanded them with 220 sand paper. You will notice the pink wood below; this is wood left over from the treasure box project. I decided to use some small pieces for feet for the bookshelf. I used beautiful wood...so don't hate me for painting it black!!

Once I had all of the pieces painted, I took them to the garage to poly them.The smell was getting to me and I already did not feel good. Plus it was colder outside and it would dry faster out there. I added this step because my paint was a flat finish (paint I used for the pallet chairs). I got a semi-gloss in the poly and only put one coat on the wood. I am not a high-gloss kind of gal! 

Once I had the base done I went ahead and put the feet on it. This is the only part where I used screws. I used the self-taping screws like I did with the treasure box, but I got shorter ones (1 1/2 inches). Here are the screws I used. I got them at Lowes, but their website is not being nice and letting me select what I actually have. I bought the square head ones that are 8x 1-1/2''. 

Next, I tried to decide what kind of pattern I wanted to make with the supports. Below are the 2 options. I decided on the bottom one and then...I started thinking...how was I going to nail the next layer on if all of the shelves were exactly the same (in other words, if the supports were lined up). Answer: I wasn't!

After completing the above picture, I realized the dilemma and stopped for the night. This morning, feeling much better, I knew I had to change the pattern every other shelf. I also realized that every store-bought bookshelf I have ever put together (and there have been many) it was always built upside down! That was my *Duh* moment number 1! (Yes I numbered that because, yes, there were more) So, I started from the top and attached the supports to each section and then attached the sections together. Here are the nails I used. They are awesome...they say they don't bend...they lie...I can bend them! But they hold really well! Seriously, check out the link...it says so on the box! I also used  them in the treasure box. This first picture is the very top section. I flipped it over and then added the second shelf to it and so on...

Then...Voila! I flipped it over and it was complete! Notice it fits perfectly under the TV in our room...but, alas, this one is for Khloe :)

Below is her bookshelf in her room. After I finished it I realized that I should have used a center support on the second and fourth selves to create natural bookends. It's okay though, she absolutely LOVES her bookshelf! She is reading more now than she has been...why...because she can SEE her books!

Annnnnnd, my *Duh* number...well, we will just skip to my last *Duh* moment. If you think, "It would be dumb if..." then it probably will happen! See...

This is what happens when you are holding the wood while hammering and think, "It would be really dumb if I nicked my hand with this hammer." Yes April, it would be very dumb! At least I got all meat and no bone. It squished my skin and it broke in those 2 places. It actually doesn't hurt...but after hitting my index finger and my thumb I decided that this was kind of the ultimate *Duh* move! 

Happy New Year everyone! Remember, you can do any project you "put your mind to" as long as you are dedicated enough to actually do it!

Children's Blankets

Khloe asked me to make her a blanket a few months back. So, I did...then she said, "Mommy, you should make one for my friends at school!" Thus, the idea was born to make these little tykes blankets for Christmas! Including her I had 16 to do...not too bad...until I realized with cutting, pinning, sewing, flipping, ironing, closing-in, and top stitching it would be roughly an hour per blanket! So, mid-October I started with asking the parents I knew what their kid liked and the ones I didn't get to ask I asked the teacher to ask the child. After I had the character/colors they liked, I went on the hunt...and when I say hunt, I mean hunt! It took me days to find some of these prints! I had no idea that Thomas the Train was considered "vintage" fabric!

After a few weeks of searching it was time to purchase. I made a Google documents with the children's names, their color, their character, order date, ship date, received date, and made date! I would NEVER remember who had what color or which princess fabric if I had not written it down...but you better believe Khloe remembered! I tried to get all different fabric so none of the kids had the exact same thing. With that said, there are about 3 Spiderman blankets, 4 princess blankets, and others but none are the same...only some have the same color on the back in minky fabric (so soft!).

I tried to find as many panels as I could so that I did not have to cut that fabric any more, but basically I put the character fabric (face down) on top of the minky fabric (face up) and matched the selvage edges to get a straight line. Some fabric I had to straighten up and then cut out. Each blanket is about 36'' x 44''. Once I got all of the fabric in I immediately washed it all! I wanted it to preshrink if it was going to before I cut it and I wanted to make sure the fabric I ordered was clean before I gave it to anyone! 

Naturally, I did Khloe's blanket first just in case I made any mistakes. In the beginning, I cut each blanket and sewed it one at a time. However, once I had 10 blankets left, I decided to go ahead and cut all of the fabric and then roll the two pieces of each together and set it aside until I had to sew it. It took me an hour and a half to cut all of the fabric for 10 blankets! Goodness, it was taking me an hour to do just one complete blanket before this point! After that, I could sew, iron, and finish a blanket in about 25 minutes...maybe I got better at cutting and faster at sewing! 

So, without further ado...here are the blankets! 

Below is the fabric after washing and ready for sewing! Laying there is doesn't look like much...

Here is Khloe's blanket. I put outside facing outside with the minky on the bottom. Then I pinned the fabric in place and sewed all the way around 3 sides and then almost to the end of the 4th side. 

Then, I flipped the blanket right side out through the hole and ironed the seams down to prepare for my top stitch. Below is the hole I flipped the fabric through. I had to finish it on top. 

 Here is my top stitch when I was done. It makes for a nice edge and helps to keep the fabric in place :)

And finally, here is my helper/model! She LOVES her blanket!

 Here are the last 10 blankets I had to do. I cut them all and then rolled them together to prepare for sewing. 

And...here are the other 15 blankets I did for her class!

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

  

  

 

 

 

I have 2 left at this point! I will upload them after tonight when I finish them. Their party is tomorrow and I want them to be done by then :)

Here they are, the last 2! I hope they have a great day today at their party and enjoy these blankets for years to come :)

 

 

Below I have all of the blankets ready to go to the kids! I have already given one blanket to a little girl because she moved this month, but here are the other 15!

Here's to the next project! Happy Sewing!

April