Use a Book As a Vase

 Hello Readers. I really liked this idea and couldn't wait to make this project. My thought was that it was a great use for older, damaged, no longer read-able books. (Please don't use your great grandmother's first edition, valuable, family heirloom. You should save and insure that.) This project was meant for books that your kids liked but damaged through reading over and over again or an older book that has lost some pages over the years. 

A book as a vase? Read on and see.

 

Here is the book I wanted to use. It was published in 1963. I really liked the illustration on the cover. It has such a great retro look. I did read the book and it was comically unrealistic. It was marketed to young girls as an adventurous idea of what they can do when they grow up. It was so innocent and sweet, I don't think Hollywood is anything like this book but I am not an expert.
 

I had a few artificial flowers that I wanted to use. These colors worked with the color scheme of my book. You can use any colors you like.

 

The pages need to be folded or turned in. My book had quite a few illustrations through-out the book. I wanted those to show so I turned my pages in at the places that would show some of my favorite drawings. 

 

I used a glue gun with glue sticks to add a few small blobs right in the center of the book. This will secure the pages and keep them turned in towards the book. That gives me a spot for my flower stem and shows the illustrations that I like.

 

I just put a few blobs in the center of the open book and tucked the pages into the glue. 

 

Now my book is able to stand by itself with the turned in pages stuck in place. I can add the flowers now.

 

I put a floral piece into each rolled up group of pages. I pushed the stem down until it was steady and in place.

 

I added the flowers and bent the flowers out and made the whole group of flowers look as full as possible.

I wanted the arrangement to be as large as possible. 

 

I liked the color combinations and the drawings together from this view of the inside of the book.

 

I also liked the colorful cover with the flowers too. 

 

This book is a bit different. A few inner pages were cut in half height before they were glued in place and the flowers stand lower in the book. 

 

This is a fun kids book that got damaged and was missing some pages. The colorful illustrations are fun with the floral arrangement. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Dressy Overalls?

Hello Readers. How are you doing? Are you OK? I hope so. I am trying to stay up to date and informed but also not over-load on all the bad news in the world. Its a tough balance. I am also sewing to stay sane. So, let's talk about that.

This dress was fine. It was in good shape and would have been great for Easter Sunday. (If we had gone to church. Thanks Corona!) It fit pretty well but it showed a lot more cleavage than I was comfortable with. It has been hanging on my refashion rack waiting for me to get inspired.

I finally figured out what I wanted to make. I started by separating the skirt from the bodice. I just unpicked a lot of stitches to open the waistband and made sure that I did not cut the zipper. I unpicked the stitches around the zipper and left the zipper intact. 

This is what I had to work with. I started working on the skirt piece.

I spread the fabric flat and used a pattern to make some shorts. I used the bottom hem of the skirt as the hem of my shorts. That saved time. I didn't really need to make a waistband either. Why?

I was going to attach the shorts to the bodice of the dress. That would be the waistband.

When I connected the 2 pieces I put the zipper in the back of the shorts.

I had a cute pair of overalls. I have been wanting a pair of overalls for a while. These are a little fancier than denim but still loose around the waist. That is key after all the Corona snacking I did.

I was comfortable and pleased with the final result. I always liked this floral fabric but the overalls seemed less dressy than the dress. And since we are all at home I am not dressing up much. A shirt underneath took care of the cleavage problem.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.