Help Find A Cure for Lupus

Aimee over at Fairie_Knits is raising money to support the Alliance for Lupus Research Walk With Us To Cure Lupus Walk-A-Thon. The Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) supports ground breaking Lupus research that will, hopefully, find a cure for this awful disease. My rheumatologist, Dr. Mishra, has a research project that is funded through the ALR. So you know that the money you give will go to the researchers who will help me and other patients with Lupus live a healthier life.

The walk will take place in Raleigh on Saturday October 6, 2007. Please take a moment to go over to Aimee's blog to donate to the ALR. She hopes to raise $5,000 for Lupus Research and I hope that you can help her reach that goal. If you like to knit, crochet or spin, there are a lot of great prizes that you can win if you donate. If you aren't crafty (or just crafty in a different way), you can still donate.

Thank you for helping us find a cure!

A Little Flower Power in the Living Room

Chair slipcover 1
Originally uploaded by Renee Antoinette

It has been a few weeks and I am still not sure how I was able to pull this off. Maybe it was all that "Project Runway" that I saw on DVD. Maybe I inherited the seamstress gene from my mom and grandmother. Despite my limited experience with my sewing machine, I was able to turn out a chair slipcover in one day.

The chair - an IKEA purchase from years ago - is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. I was heartbroken when I spilled red wine on it. Since the chair is discontinued, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get a cover from IKEA. So I purchased the fabric, "Flower Power" at Hancock Fabrics during a big sale. I glanced at a slipcover book and I was soon on my way. I draped muslin around the chair and pinned around the edges ("Project Runway's" influence I bet). Then I used chalk to mark where the seams would go. I took the muslin off, cut around the marked seams using a seam allowance that went from 1/8" to 1" - very sloppy. I sewed the muslin together and fit it on the chair. The fit looked surprisingly good given my slap dash pattern making.

I ripped out the seams of the musin slipcover and transferred the pattern to the fabric. Miraculously, the slipcover fit as well as the muslin. I poked holes in the fabric where the arms attached and put it all together.

Voila! One becomes three

I rescued this huge bouquet from the trashcan at work. It was left over from a board meeting and no one wanted to take it home. I can see why - it is a bit too formal to have in your house.

I knew that a little creative re-arranging, a vase and two re-purposed candle holders would yield wonderful results. So my house looks all pretty and it didn't cost me a cent! Don't you love it when that happens!