sewing table – A Diamond in the Stuff

Sewing Table Makeover

Courtney Carmean — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:00:53 +0000

Sorry for the radio silence this week. I was getting ready for a huge maker’s fair this past weekend. As promised, it was amazing! My only issue is that because I’m selling there, I don’t get the opportunity to walk around and see all the other maker’s stuff. Sad face. The turnout was great and it was a beautiful day!

Now I want to introduce you to a beauty that made a first appearance at the makers fair this weekend…..

My Sewing Table Makeover began pretty shabby. You may remember seeing this old sewing table in a Thrifty Thursday post awhile back. The top of the wood table was warped and damaged. Basically the only thing that I could salvage was the iron base and the drawers. Which is exactly what I did.

We removed the wood top and old sewing machine from the base. The base was a little rusty so I gave it a good coat of clear spray to keep the rust in check.

A new top of cut out of 3/4in plywood. We used the existing holes in the iron base to attach the plywood top.

I have been collecting old yard sticks for months and months now. I used a bunch on my last Yard Stick Sewing Table but I still had a bunch to use up. So we cut the yard sticks to the length we needed and even wrapped some around the sides. They were attached with wood glue and a nail gun. Then I gave the whole top a few coats of polycrylic to protect and smooth things out.

The end results were amazing.

The variations of color and character of the yard sticks is just awesome. I love the typography of it all.

What was once a discarded old mess is now a beautiful table. And let me just tell you almost everyone in my booth this weekend had to “pet” the table as the walked through. It’s just that beautiful.

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Want more sewing table inspiration? Here is my Yard Stick Sewing Table makeover…..

Yard Stick Sewing Table

Courtney Carmean — Tue, 13 May 2014 10:00:34 +0000

It’s been a few weeks since I worked on a furniture project and I was just itching to get to one. I of course always seem to have a stock pile of furniture projects in my garage at all times. It’s usually just a matter of being inspired with an idea and then actually being able to get around to the project. I had the idea for my Yard Stick Sewing Table for two years. Two years. This time it was a matter of gathering all the right supplies.

I shared this old sewing table over two years ago in a Thrifty Thursday post. I couldn’t believe that it’s been two years since I found this sweet little table, but it has. On one hand I’m ashamed that I kept it that long awaiting a makeover, on the other I’m glad that I held out for exactly what I wanted.

The top of the sewing table had some veneer that had been pulled off. It looked like it had been hacked off with an axe, honestly. It was completely rough and really unusable as is. I knew that I needed to cover the top of the table somehow. Then it dawned on me…..yard sticks. They would be the perfect cover for the ugly table top and it’s such a fun vintage nod to the sewing theme.

I ended up using spray primer and paint for the table, Heirloom White by Rustoleum. I sometimes like to spray pieces that have legs, spindles, etc. It seems easier to me to smoothly and evenly paint those areas while avoiding missed spots and drips. I distressed the table with my sanding block then used a clear spray top coat.

The yard sticks were not as easily found as I thought they would be. I did a fair amount of searching for a long time, in every antique and thrift store I would pop in. I finally found a bunch of yard sticks at one antique mall and excitedly brought them home. We began cutting them to fit the top of the sewing table and wouldn’t you know it? I didn’t have enough to finish the table. So it took be a bunch of more months to finally get enough yard sticks to fill up the top.

I glued all the yard sticks down with some wood glue and then weighed them down to dry. Most of the sticks were pretty rough so I added a few coats of Polycrylic to smooth things out and protect them. The top may be a bit uneven because of the different thicknesses of the sticks but at least they are smooth and glossy.

My Yard Stick Sewing Table took quite some time to actually produce but I’m so glad that I waiting for all the right materials. It totally paid off and I love how it turned out. It’s simply vintagey beautiful.

So what do you think? Was it worth waiting for?

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Want to check out my LATEST Thrifty Thursday finds? You can find them HERE and make sure you chime in on what I should do with them!!!