Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway

Since I got to go shopping with my Mom yesterday and get some new summer dresses, it’s only fair that one of my lucky readers gets a new dress too ! Shabby Apple is an online boutique that offers really, really pretty women’s dresses for all occasions. I must have spent an hour on their website looking for the perfect dress for you, there are so many to choose from.

I had maxi dresses on my mind and this one called Piazza Navona is gorgeous…………

 

I finally decided on the Cortez, it’s a navy blue cotton poplin dress and has lots of great details like capped sleeves, gold metallic buttons and ruffles.

I think it would look stunning on you !

To enter:

1. Like BG Custom Windows / In Stitches on Facebook. If you don’t have a FB you can be a Google friend follower.

then for an additional entry:

2. Like Shabby Apple on Facebook

Leave a separate comment for each. This is open to US residents and a random winner will be chosen on Sunday, April 3rd at 9pm.

They have also offered you 10% off purchases for 30 days, just use coupon code “institches10off”

Bamboo Bar Stools

I must have liked these bar stools at some point because I bought them and intended to recover the seats in another fabric but it has taken me a while to get to it. 

Well, I finally found a fabric that I really like when I made new roman shades for the kitchen. It’s from Greenhouse and reminds me of a suzani print. Here they are covered in their new fabric…….

I know, the fabric is gorgeous and the palm trees have to go ! One way to get rid of them is to paint the whole chair. I’ve seen a lot of painted bamboo and I am a big fan. I love these lime green ones by Jonathan Adler………….

The red bamboo chair in Lonny is nice too……

But the flame orange on these chairs from Firstdibs is what I’m LOVING !

Did you know that most people either love or hate the color orange.  It stimulates appetites and encourages socialization. Sounds perfect for my kitchen !
Remember, my front door is orange (caramel latte, BM)

So, what do you think, would you paint them ?
I’m linking to Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday and
Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now
Be sure to enter my giveaway for a Shabby Apple dress !

Creative Camp Day 1

I just returned from a 4 day trip to The Custom Sewing Institute and it was amazing ! Susan Kostelecky started the hands on event in 2006 for medium to advanced level workrooms. Susan and her staff have it down to a science, everything has been prepped and ready for you to go to work learning and doing.

It is located in Navasota, Texas but there were “drapery ladies” from 20 different states in attendance. I had a great time meeting so many interesting and fun people and I look forward to seeing them again.

Day one started at 5:00 with a welcome ceremony and a wonderful presentation by Rebecca Day of Merrick and Day. She is a brilliant soft fabricator from England and we had fun comparing all the different terminology we use. I took her pelmet class on Sunday so I’ll go into more detail about her later.

And then…………. there was cake and spirits ! Donna Marie made this gorgeous ottoman cake that was almost too pretty to eat. (but we did and it was delicious !)

Stay tuned for day 2……… I learned so much that I may need to wait for the box with my notebook to arrive.

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. If you would like up to date window treatments that you are excited about send me an email.

Z is for Zig Zag Roman Shades

We are finally at the end of my alphabet series that started with Austrian shades. I hope you learned some interesting things or at least saw some beautiful fabrics and window treatments to inspire you. I just finished making new roman shades for my kitchen out of Zig Zag fabric.

The zig zag pattern is showing up in fabrics, floors and wallpapers and is a modern take on the flame stitch pattern that was so popular the 90’s.

                                                              Mary McDonald

You know the saying “go big or go home”……. looks like these people decided to “go big in their home” !

                                                    Image via Décor Pad

The reason that I made these shades was so I could be my own guinea pig to try out a new method of constructing shades that are safety compliant.  You can read my post about the new standards for corded window coverings here. I used Rowley’s encased cord shroud to make these and this is just one option, I will be learning about others when I go to The Custom Sewing Institute next week.

This is what I learned:

1) After the learning curve, fabrication is not that different from what I am accustomed to.

2) The stack is a little longer and staggered, which is fine in this case.

3) Depending on the fabric, training them may take longer.

4) I will make the client aware of what they look like from outside before putting these on the front of a house on the bottom floor.

5) I will definitely offer this option to my designers and clients.

This is what the back of the shade looks like when raised……..

Here is a close up of the encased cord……………

From outside the window………..

Before: Bye bye Teto and Jerome (yes, we did name our monkeys) !

Hello Mr. Zig Zag !

Are you a fan of the zig zags ?

Did you enjoy the ABC series ?

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. If you would like up to date window treatments that you are excited about send me an email.

Before and After of the Week

I have a different type of before and after for you today. My son finally decided to cut his long hair !

Before:  He couldn’t see a thing…………

After:  Big difference, the clouds parted and the sun came out…..

While he was getting his hair cut he told the stylist that she had an important job because she helped people feel good about themselves. He said, “Like when my Mom makes drapes and shades for people, it makes them happy.” 

There are many reasons that we cover our windows from privacy to safety and energy conservation but the best benefit is how happy you feel when you are in your home.

As a window treatment consultant I do everything from meeting with designers, measuring, sketching, estimating fabric yardages, bookkeeping, sewing and scheduling the installer. Then comes my favorite part …….. installing the  job and seeing how thrilled the homeowner and designer are ! 

                                                    Image via Hunter Douglas

So whether you need window coverings to block the sun or warm up you room, be prepared to ooooh and ahhhh !

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.