0 A New Look With Simple Trimmings for Home Decoration

Getting tired of the same old look? Some simple finishing and decorating can give your clothes, rooms or other home sewing projects that fresh new look.

Trimmings in contrasting colors work well, particularly with accessories in the same color. In the home these accessories may be some candles in the same color as the new finishing and decorating touches used on cushions or a table runner. A hair ribbon in the same color as the trimmings on kids' clothes may do the trick.
Important things to remember when using trimmings:

* Choose trimmings that suit the fabric, the piece of clothing or home decorating piece.
* Choose trimmings that create the look you have in mind, whether you a romantic, playful or modern look
* Too much decoration if often in poor taste.

Some great finishing and decorating ideas to get you started.

Top stitching

Top stitch a finished edge by machine, in contrasting thread if desired. Hand done saddle stitching or other decorative stitching may be used, particularly on heavier fabric and on sports clothing.

Bands

* Bands are applied as trims - often in the reverse manner to facings - that are turned to the outside. Bands may be ribbon or self-fabric; flat, gathered, pleated or tucked. For professional results, use the machine edge stitcher or zigzag stitch. Miter corners. Bands are often used to give garments or any other item for that matter a new look or repair a worn edge.

* Double band: Make two bands, stitch all around on three sides, right sides together, trim seams, turn and finish fourth side by hand, turning in raw edges. Used for ties at the front edge of a garment or for bows and other neckline decorative finishes.

* Bands are sometimes buttoned to garments for detachable trim. Make buttonholes in band, and sew buttons onto garment.

Lace trimmings

* Lace trimmings give such a beautiful, delicate and romantic look to pillows, bedroom accessories, garments, children's clothing, etc. A simple lace trimming can create a whole new look.

* To gather lace, pull thread at the straight edge to desired fullness, or whip stitch over edge, pulling up thread every few stitches to gather. Usually twice as much lace as the space to which it is to be applied is used.

* To make a lace insertion, baste lace onto right side. Use a satin stitch or fine running stitch at joining. Cut away fabric underneath, and hand roll raw edges, catching in lace. Or, appliqué with zigzag stitching, the machine zigzagger, hemming. Overhanging, or blanket stitching. To put a lace insertion in lace fabric, overcast or zigzag stitch.

Pompoms

Wind yarn around cardboard about half as wide as the finished pom pom is to be. Make yarn thickness about as wide as the cardboard is. Pull out cardboard. Tie through center. Cut both ends. Trim to a round ball.

Enjoy your whole new look with trimmings. There are really no limitations to your finishing and decorating clothing and other home sewing projects. Let your creative juices flow and the sky is the limit.

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0 Upholstery Basic Tutorials

Is your sofa looking worn and tired? Or maybe it just doesn't fit in with your new color scheme? Is that garage sale chair you picked up for $15 just sitting there...unused, untouched, unloved? Perhaps you just don't know where to begin.

As with any decorating project, you begin with a vision and a plan. You need a clear idea of how you want your furniture to look. Start by taking a good look at your furniture and your décor, and make some decisions. The answers to the following questions will help you choose well.

* Are you decorating or redecorating? Are you creating a whole new ambiance or just changing one or two pieces? Will you be integrating your reupholstery with a new or existing décor? Is the piece key to the scheme or does it take its cue from other elements in the room?

* What about style and ambiance? What style is the furniture you plan to redo? What kind and how much of a statement should your new cover make: Quiet? Tailored? Casual? Have you considered the trims as well as the fabric? Is the piece in everyday use, reserved for entertaining, or more decorative than functional?

* What shape is your furniture in? Does it simply need a new cover or will the reupholstery require structural repairs? This is an important question because substantial repairs make the job much more difficult and possibly more expensive.

* Is the furniture worth the investment in time and money? Reupholstery can be expensive and new upholstery won't transform a piece of moderate quality into one of great value.

Choosing Fabric
Fabric allows you to introduce pattern, color, and texture to your décor. Pattern may relate to or establish a style. When you think of styles such as country, lodge, French or English, Victorian or another period, distinct images come to mind for each. Color establishes mood and can change your perception of space or proportion - and some palettes are associated with specific decorating styles. Texture contributes to the way fabric reflects or absorbs light, and therefore affects its color. Fabrics can be smooth, soft, crisp, or coarse textures - or a combination of these.

A wide selection of upholstery weight fabric is available today. Most upholstery fabrics are often blends of cotton and other fibers. The fabric you pick should have a tight weave and should feel stable, but not stiff, when you handle them. Also consider the piece of furniture and the amount of use it will get. Always consider the scale of the furniture when choosing a fabric. A pattern that isn't in scale with the furniture may or may not be pleasing or look well in the overall décor.

Details
Trim, welting, decorative cording, tassels, fringe, braid, gimp, or even decorative tacks - add polish and panache to upholstery. Trims should usually be in scale with and have the same visual weight as the upholstered piece; however, there are times when larger or heavier trims are very effective. Trims come in a myriad of colors. A trim that makes a subtle or strong contrast can be more interesting than one that blends into its background. You can use trim to add interest and accentuate the lines of your piece.

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0 The Ideas of Decorative Drapery Hardware 101

Drapery hardware is more than just a means to hang your draperies or curtains; it is also a decorative element for your home. Decorative drapery hardware includes rods, finials, holdbacks, rings, and decorative brackets. Decorative rods can also be traverse. You want to consider the color, finish, and material of the rods. Finials add the perfect touch of elegance, whimsy, humor, and finish to your beautiful window treatments. All of these choices will affect the overall beauty and decorative theme and balance of your home.

Rod
Drapery rods are usually mounted 3" - 4" above the window. If you desire a layered look for your window, choose a double bracket that mounts one rod right in front of another. You can also use a standard curtain rod with a small projection underneath a more decorative rod on the outside to achieve the same look.


Traverse Rod
A traverse rod is a rod with a mechanism by which attached draperies can be drawn with a pull cord. A two-way traverse rod pulls the draperies to the left side and right side of the window. A one-way traverse rod pulls the draperies to either the left or right side of the window. Decorative traverse rods are used with top pleated draperies and pin hooks.


Finials
Finials can be considered window jewelry. They give windows a wide range of looks. Metal is more contemporary, while wood provides warmth and a more traditional feel. You might even consider glass finials to complement sheer fabrics.


Holdbacks
Add another finishing touch to your window with holdbacks. It's a beautiful way to coordinate accessories.


Rings
Rings are an easy way to attach curtains to the pole. They help panels slide along the rod easily while bringing decorative elements to the window. Rings have either a clip that you clip onto the drapery or they come with an eyelet and you use a drapery pin through the eyelet to hang the draperies.


Decorative Brackets
Use decorative brackets as a bracket for wood or metal rods, as scarfholders or as decorative shelf brackets.


Other Uses for Decorative Drapery Hardware
* Use decorative brackets for towel rings in the bathroom.
* Use any combination of decorative rods to display tapestries or wall hangings.
* Use finials as holdbacks at sides of windows.
* Mount decorative finials across top of window and drape scarves across or loop tab tops on finials for an innovative look.
* Use metal holdbacks as decorative towel hooks in the bathroom.

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0 Contemporary Interior Decorating Themes

There are a variety of decorating themes from formal to informal and everything in between. Which one best describes your decorating style?

Formal Traditional
Furnishings and designs from the Renaissance, Baroque, Early and Late Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival and Victorian eras. This style is shown with fine furnishings, elegant, refined and exquisite wall coverings, elaborate moldings, formal window treatments and Oriental rugs.

Informal Traditional
The same eras as above but this style has less refined versions of furnishings. There are more touchable elements, more earthy colors, and some urban archaeology without restoration is common. This style is comfortable and inviting.

American Country
This style holds furnishings from the 17th century through the present, all simple with the appearance of hand-crafted work. Two versions are popular today: Upscale Country with the use of more tactile, comfortable elements and very close to Informal Traditional but with a clearly country theme in all the furnishings; and Rustic Country, which sports a reused, recycled quality. The wall coverings and window treatments set the theme and the furnishings have a just-found-it-at-the-antique-market feel.

Country French
This style is exhibited in Classic Rococo, Neoclassic or Empire-inspired country furnishings. Wall coverings include florals, ticking, toile, and moirés depending on the level of formality.

Arts & Crafts
This simple style is also known as Early Modern or Organic Modern. The era focuses on hard, stained oak furniture with simple, straight lines.

International Modern
This is a look of ultra simplicity, hard lines, and smooth surfaces contrasted with abstract patterns and unusual textures.

Environmental
Designs in this theme contain colors, textures and very subtle patterns of the earth.

Romantic Victorian
This style still is a favored theme for rooms with lots of pattern featuring English garden florals in dreamy colors. Both fabric and wall coverings can be patterned, and clutter decorating - especially with accessories - is part of this look.

Ethnic and Primitive
This masculine approach has many faces from African to the American Southwest, from the lodge-look to the South Seas. Heavy or tactile textures coupled with patterns that are charming because of their lack of sophistication fit here.

Fabric and Wall Covering Themes
This is a wonderful way to decorate - by selecting a great fabric or wall covering that inherently features a theme. Some examples include sea and shore, sports, outdoor recreation, kitchen or domestic elements, juvenile elements, feminine floral themes, exotic designs from far away lands, and more.

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0 The Important Principles of Interior Design

Whether you are working with existing furnishings and fabrics or "starting from scratch" with an empty room, you should always use the elements and principles of design as a guide in choosing everything. The elements are your tools or raw materials, much like paints are the basics to a painter. The elements of design include space, line, form, color, and texture. The principles of design relate to how you use these elements. The principles of design are balance, emphasis, rhythm, proportion and scale, and harmony and unity.

Principle #1: Balance
Visual equilibrium in a room is called balance. It gives a sense of repose and a feeling of completion. A well-balanced room gives careful consideration to the placement of objects according to their visual weight. The elements of line, form, color and texture all help determine an object's visual weight, which is the amount of space it appears to occupy. Balance also refers to how and where you place the elements (line, form, color and texture) within a room. To maintain balance, try to distribute the elements throughout the room.
* Formal balance, often referred to as symmetrical balance, creates a mirror image effect.
* Informal balance uses different objects of the same visual weight to create equilibrium in a room. It is more subtle and spontaneous and gives a warmer, more casual feeling.

Principle #2: Emphasis
Emphasis is the focal point of the room. The focal point should be obvious as you enter the room; it is the area to which your eye is attracted. Whatever is featured, as the center of interest -a fireplace, artwork or a window treatment framing a beautiful view - must be sufficiently emphasized so that everything else leads the eye toward the featured area. You can add emphasis to a natural focal point or create one in a room through effective use of line, form, color and texture.

Principle #3: Rhythm
Rhythm supplies the discipline that controls the eye as is moves around a room. Rhythm helps the eye to move easily from one object to another and creates a harmony that tells the eye everything in the room belongs to a unified whole. Rhythm is created through repetition of line, form, color or texture. It can also be created through progression. Progressive rhythm is a gradual increasing or decreasing in size, direction or color.

Principle #4: Proportion and Scale
Size relationships in a room are defined by proportion and scale. Proportion refers to how the elements within an object relate to the object as a whole. Scale relates to the size of an object when compared with the size of the space in which it is located.

Principle #5: Harmony and Unity
A well-designed room is a unified whole that encompasses all the other elements and principles of design. Unity assures a sense of order. There is a consistency of sizes and shapes, a harmony of color and pattern. The ultimate goal of decorating is to create a room with unity and harmony and a sense of rhythm. Repeating the elements, balancing them throughout the room, and then adding a little variety so that the room has its own sense of personality accomplishes this. Too much unity can be boring; too much variety can cause a restless feeling. Juggling the elements and principles to get just the right mix is a key to good design.

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