Knittingirl40….the (oh so good) life and times

I found this tutorial on Pinterest ( I <3 Pinterest) and decided to go for it. http://www.soyouthinkyourecrafty.com/2012/05/hammock-swing-tutorial/ I used upholstery fabric that I got from a sweet friend, I found the dowel on a curb during Trash and Treasure, and my newly found sewing skills. The rope was the only expense; $17 at Menard’s. It was quick to put together and super fun to sit in! Our friend Pete came over for supper last night and hung it up for me to take it off Nate’s to do list. Thank you, Pete:) I know….it’s a little lopsided. I have this terrible habit of waiting to take pictures until the  item is perfect. Meh….whatever….you get the idea:) I’ve already made another one but I need to get more rope. Today, I’m going to start a third for Pete’s Manzebo. which I’ll post pics of sometime because it’s awesome. And then a couple for my brother’s house. I’m hooked.

No need to point out that I need to paint the new bricks. The cool thing is that I can’t see them when I’m sitting in my new chair:) A short cut to this project could be tab topped curtains. I had picked up a couple of tab topped curtains last year at Goodwill, I think they’re made of canvas or some other kind of really heavy cotton fabric. Anyway, I was cutting one up to make grocery bags (another post, I promise) and I noticed that the tabs on the top of the curtain are almost identical to the tabs on the chair. And they’re already done!!

Yes, I see that I forgot to clip the threads. If I went to get a scissor to clip the threads before I took the pic I probably would have gotten distracted and never came back. The curtain had ten tabs across the top. I cut it in half so I could put five tabs on one side and five tabs on the other side. Sweet. Because cutting and sewing together the 14 tabs for the other chair and then pinning them in place to sew it all together was what took the longest. I love shortcuts that work! The upholstery fabric that I put in the middle was to add strength. It’s a double layer which I think is probably overkill. The next one (I have one more curtain!) will just have a single layer. The top part, where the pillow is…..I was going to cut that fabric off when I realized it might be nice to have the pillow attached so I just sewed the pillows into that pouch. Perfect! The pillows I used for these swings are from Goodwill, Savers, and Salvation Army. To do this project frugally you could find fabric at second hand shops or garage sales. Maybe a couple of old beach towels. An old canvas tarp. Use your imagination! The dowel could be a shovel handle, a long length of pipe, a sturdy branch. Again; use your imagination! Excuse me now while I drink my iced tea and ignore the flowers that need to be dead headed. (Below is the view from my chair.)