Thursday, October 17, 2013

Peacock Blanket & Find out How to Make some Extra $$


I finally feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief!  There are two times of year that I look forward to, but also kind of stress about.  It's consignment sale time!  I am a consignor and volunteer for Just Between Friends in Central Florida.  It can be a lot of work, but totally worth it.  Have clothes, toys, or other kids stuff that you want to get rid of?  I'm sure you do!  Kids are always outgrowing everything!  Why not make a little money off of it.  Plus you can shop and buy them new clothes and toys at discounted prices!  Win-Win! 
 
Getting ready can be pretty simple, as long as you don't procrastinate (like me!)  Simply create tags on their database.  Print them out and attach to your items.  You can create your tags as you go, throughout the year.  When the sale date comes, bring your items to the sale and place them on the sales floor.  Now, just wait for the money to come rolling in.  That's what I'm doing now!!  So fun to check the nightly reports to see what sold.  Big items, baby equipment, and toys always sell well.  There are always a lot of clothes, but they add up and you can make much more than at a garage sale.  You earn a percentage of your total sales.  Volunteer to help during the sale, and that percentage increases!  If all your items don't sell, pick them up or choose to donate them.  You can always store them and they are already to go for the next sale!  Check your area for a Just Between Friends consignment sale or ask around about other sales that are big near you.

 

Now to share the next project I completed for my daughter's peacock bedroom makeover.  I had bought some material on sale with blue and teal peacock feathers on it.  I bought some home décor fabric in the same print, which with it we made the upcycled Fabric Covered Stools at the end of her bed.  We found a solid comforter for her bed, that way we could add in other patterns to accent it.  Or, it may have been that there were NO peacock comforters to be found under $300!  So, sewing my own peacock blanket for the end of the bed was the answer. 


You will need two coordinating pieces of fabric and blanket binding long enough to go around the outside edge.  The size of your blanket is up to you.  I made mine a smaller, throw sized blanket, with the width being the width of the material.  I used the peacock fabric as the top of my blanket and navy fleece as the back.  Lay your fabric out with wrong sides together.


Pin your pieces together all the way around the outside.  I also pinned the two pieces together in the middle with safety pins to keep them from slipping as I sewed.  Once they are pinned, make sure your two pieces of fabric are the same size.  Trim any excess.


It is time to sew on the blanket binding.  I used satin blanket binding that I found at JoAnn Fabrics.  Find one edge of your blanket binding and place it in the middle of one of your sides.  Sandwich the two fabrics between the binding, butting the fabrics up to the fold.  One side of your binding is shorter than the other.  Make sure this side is face up.  Set your machine to zig zag stitch.  Position your needle just off the binding and zig zag stitch, making sure to catch both the top and bottom layers of binding as you go.  Stop about 3 inches from your corner, leaving your needle down.  Tuck and pin your binding as shown in the picture above.  Make sure the top and bottom corners are doing the same thing.  Now sew to the next edge and pivot at the corner.  Continue on until you reach your starting point.  Overlap your edges, tucking in your extra corners into a triangle.  Sorry I don't have a picture of this.  Here is a good tutorial on attaching satin blanket binding.  Zig zag stitch to the end of your binding and then up the edge of your triangle to create a clean finish.  And you're done!


Your blanket is ready to throw on the end of your bed or cuddle up under with a good book.  Cute and cozy!  Plus an easy way to add that special detail when it is not readily available in the store.  Seems like you can always find some good fabric if you are willing to do a little work yourself!





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