DIY Vintage Rag Rug

I love rugs! What woman doesn't? We have a "No Shoes Allowed" policy in our home. This is mainly to keep dirt and public filth being tracked into the house to a minimum. Besides, I grew up helping my grandmother shake out and beat out her throw rugs. As I got older she would wash and hang dry the rugs at the end of every Winter and Spring.

Here is my first attempt at making a DIY Vintage Rag Rug!

I checked my favorite spots for ideas- www.Pinterest.com and www.Google.com. To make my DIY Vintage Rag Rug I followed a simple tutorial you can find here.

My supplies were bought at the local thrift store for pennies on the dollar! I used old cotton sheets/linens. For my tool, I used a hair barrette! It was small enough to weave, strong enough to hold fabric strips and long enough to handle and maneuver through loops.

It took me a few weeks to put this together. I would spend maybe ten or fifteen minutes once or twice each week. The final project may take up to four or five hours total.

I will be making more of these! I have already started a rectangle rag rug to match this one. After the kitchen rebuild is completed, they will be the rugs for in front of the sink and stove!

Enjoy!

DIY Nursing Poncho

We are expecting our baby girl to be born around the end of November! There have been many things we had to purchase or ask for in order to prepare for her arrival. The "Music Room" has now been turned into the "Baby Nursery". So, dad had to give up his personal space, but he was happy to do so for the baby.

Almost everything we have in the Nursery has been purchased from second-hand shops or been given to us by friends. It has been ten years since my first child was born. Over the years, those items were given away to people in need.

A little history-My son was born two months premature so I was not able to continue breastfeeding as long as I wanted for him. With baby girl I want to breastfeed for at least one year. In honor of that...I have chosen to make a DIY Nursing Poncho!

A friend gifted me about a yard of fabric printed with sea turtles and another with coral reef sea life. I have been pondering what to create for over a month. So, I did what any intelligent woman does...browse www.Pinterest.com and www.Google.com! There really was a lot of tutorials for the Nursing Cover with the boning in the neck area (so that you can view baby). This did not suit my needs because it did not cover all the way around the body. If I have to lift my shirt or something odd like that, then I want full coverage. I seen a tutorial for a Modern Nursing Shawl made from knit material. This looked great and got me thinking about how to make mine out of non-stretchy cloth material. I wanted to make a basic poncho style cover!

DIY Nursing Poncho Tutorial (beginner)
Due to me being nearly six feet tall and what most people call "Plus Sized", I opted to make mine a little wider and longer to ensure proper coverage. This is a very simple and easy tutorial.

1) Cut two rectangle strips from fabric- I used 30 x 35 inch rectangles. Most women could use 18 x28.

2) I followed this pattern of sewing- Basic sewing pattern for poncho.

3) Then, I created a very simple rolled hem around the outside edges of the Nursing Poncho. I used no more than 1/2 an inch total.

4) Next, I finished cutting the neck hole. I cut the extra material off and did another simple rolled hem all the way around the neck hole and reinforced the two areas where the material was sewn together.

This was my first attempt at creating a Nursing Poncho.

You can wear this on both the shoulders or with one arm outside of the poncho and off only one shoulder. The neck hole is large and allows for privacy from passers-by or you can lift to check on baby.

If I can make one, anyone can! Happy nursing!

Small Bedroom Rebuild

We finished the third bedroom! It was the smallest of the bedrooms and had a huge window in it. This part of the trailer was leaning and the roof was leaking very badly. The original walls were tan basic Sheetrock with paper overlay. We removed the entire ceiling and installed two layers of insulation. We rebuilt the back wall, took out the huge (broken) window and installed an exterior door.

The sign is sitting in the broken window. The subfloors needed no repair.

Trailer was releveled. Back wall was replaced with 2x4s.

First layer of R-19 went up next to rolled metal roofing and held up with plastic sheets and staples between trusses.

Second layer of insulation was rock wool lain over top stapled up plastic. Plastic was used on all walls for vapor barrier.

This picture is looking toward same back corner and huge window through the area where the new guest bathroom was built. The hallway is to the right of the black pipe.

Once the window came out we walled that section in and put an exterior doorway at the end of the hallway. The bathroom was built first. We moved on into the third bedroom and began putting up the drywall for walls and ceiling. Painting and trim came next. I decided upon wood flooring for that farmhouse look. We went cheap with 1/2 inch plywood. Those were zipped into 8 inch wide x 8 foot planks. Once they were put onto the subflooring and screwed down I sanded them twice, stained them to match the trim and polyurethaned. The floor feels like walking on silk! Our most favorite room to chill in at this point in time for sure is the blue room! Take a look at how she looks now.

This is the back corner! The tv is where the huge window was. This is the media center project from earlier in the blog.

The door lets natural light in during the majority of the day. This exit will have a 10 foot x 24 foot porch on it soon.

How about this for plywood flooring! Hallway leads to third room.

All his hard work gave him a room to play movies, music and video games.

The hardest part of this floor from my thinking it up to final product was the measuring for the screws to be drilled.

This is a small room. The ceiling is a spanish knife that took me about 3 hours for this room and hallway.

The floor as seen from the doorway down the hall.

We spent so much time on trim and I am now a professional stainer and floor finisher. The floor is what made us want to continue on with the complete rebuild of the house! If you have questions or want to know more about any of the work, colors, design or how-to please feel free to contact us.

 More to come!

Guest Bathroom Rebuild

We have finished the guest bathroom rebuild! We started with a 1985 mobile home. The exterior walls were rotted through to the interior. The interior was a typical trailer with brown flowers on the thin wallpapered drywall and plastic fixtures. The toilet had been leaking for many years and created quite a bit of rot along the baseboards. The walls were damaged by water, the tub was busted, the sink was plastic, the ceiling had been leaking and a nest of carpenter ants were living in the wall. So, we ripped it all out and here is where the demolition ended and rebuilding began on the guest bathroom.

The exterior had to be completely rebuilt using 2x4s.

This wall, toilet and flooring all came out!

Here we are repairing the floor joists. The tub was moved for optimal support.

The joists had to be reinforced and repaired from the water damage. The subfloors were replaced with new wood and the walls were moved out one foot to allow us a larger bathroom. All walls were rebuilt using 2x4s. I insisted on using plywood for walls instead of drywall to alleviate water damage to drywall in the future. 

We used plywood for the ceiling and walls. They were sealed with Kilz then painted. We opted for a natural feel. We started with white trim, we later replaced it with wood trim to match the rest of the house. 

The toilet was replaced with an enviro-flush bucket system 1.6gal water and 10+ rating for flush! (Home Depot $80)

All fixtures in bathroom are brushed nickel.

Window for fresh air and natural light. The trim stain is English Chestnut.

The baskets were a thrift store find at $5.35 total.

Reclaimed interior door cleaned and painted. (Free)

Nice sturdy tub surround that screwed directly to the plywood walls.

Made in USA steel tub! (Home Depot $109)

CFL bulbs are used in new lighting throughout the house. Window up high from optimal privacy.

Recessed toilet for privacy in case children bolt in the bathroom door. I plan to repurpose a dresser or cabinet for beside the sink for medicine cabinet/toiletry storage. Hooks will also be placed on small wall beside tub for robe hanging and extra towel drying. 

Give us feedback. We hope you enjoyed the before and after! More to come!