My ~ Score Of The Century!!!!!

I went thrift store shopping the other day...and look what I found!!

I got both pieces for $40.00!  That's $20.00 each piece! They look sort of white/silver, but they are a mint green which has faded to a very light aqua.  A cat had it's way with the corner of the loveseat. But I will slipcover them both.

Isn't this chair C~U~T~E ?!?! I would love to put a white slipcover with a little pleated skirt on it.  The skirt will come just to the bottom of the seat. Those adorable little legs will still show.

Look at the little metal balls on the bottom of the front feet. And the flaired out back legs.  I love this chair!!

The loveseat is just the sweetest little thing. I usually put the refurbished furniture in a local consingment sotre, but....I think I'll have to keep this set for myself.  I don't think I'll ever see this deal again.

Come back later to see how they turn out!

Kelly

Part 2~~ Sorry I took so long...Covering a cushion~~

After covering many cushions, making mistakes, using how-to books that make it look so perfect and easy..Ha! Yea Right.  I came up with my own version of covering a cushion. You can see part 1 here

Take the 2 short pieces and sew them to each end of the zipper piece. Next. Sew the long "front" piece to either  of 1 of the short pieces. This way you have a very long strip with an open end just incase the pieces don't fit exactly. You will be able to adjust and cut some off when you reach the end and meet them together.

Start pinning, and pinning, and pinning. I used to try to wing it. DON'T TRY THIS! It WILL shift and turn out all tweaked.  No fun. I don't pin the cording in at this point. That never worked for me. I tried many times, and the fabric seemed to bunch up in the pins. You'll see how I solve this as you read down.

I use a ton of pins on the corners. This helps when sewing. You can work your way around the curves, taking pins out as you  go. I take out 2 at a time. Sew. And take 2 more out. Working my way around the curves.

These pics are a little dark. Darn camera! Anyway, I start at the back. Where the zipper is. With right sides together,  put the cording between the two layers. Use the zipper foot to get close to the cording. Make sure all of your raw edges are to the outside, and butt that zipper foot right up to the cording. Start sewing about an inch from the beginning of the cording. Leave that in loose.  You can see the reason and detail a little later.  Sew through all layers.

Start sewing adding the cording in as you go. When you reach the cruves, take about 2 pins out at a time. Your fingers have to be like an Octopus. Working your way around and keeping everything in place with your fingers making sure the cording is in there too .

Still working your way around. Putting the cording in as you go. You might get a little bunching, but if you take the pins out a little at a time, there's less of a chance.

Now here's a little piece I make to finish the cording at the end. It's about 3 inches long. Fold in the sides evenly.  Now keep scrolling down to see the rest.

Insert it between the 2 ends of cording. Line up all of the raw edges. That is...the 2 cushion pieces-the cording-and this little piece. The next picture will make sense.

Fold the little piece over to hide the raw ends of the cording...

And sew!  NOW.  Cut off that little excess piece and that's one side done. Lets start the other side.

Lay your finished piece right side up. Put your other piece on it right side down, so the right sides are together. See the corners?  Take one corner and pin it in the orther corner. meeting exactly.

Do this to all 4 corners first. Now make the area between the corners meet the best you  can. You may need to adjust here and there a little. Now pin, pin, pin. Work your way around adjusting as you go. The reason I don't sew the cording to the seat or boxing first is because it causes that piece to shrink when you sew it on. I've just found that if I do it this way, everything stays in it's original size and shape.

It's almost ready to sew!

Start at the zipper end again. Leave the 1 inch open at the cording end. Sew all the way around again. taking a few pins out as you go. As you go down the longer srtaight areas, you can use way less pins, and sew right through pretty fast.

Put in the little piece to cover the cording end again. Fold it over and sew.  Then when finished, feel around through the fabric for the zipper pull. Get it open. Turn the cover right side out and ...YOUR FINISHED!!

Now stuff the cushion in. For the "T" , I get one side in, then fold the other "t" over. Stuff it in, line up all of the edges with the cushion edges. Zip it up. And see if you like it.

Remember, come by for any and all of the questions you might have.
Good Luck with this project.
Kelly

You Can Make This Slipcover!~Before and After

AFTER

BEFORE

Thanks for visiting! You can see lots more makeovers here at Between Naps on the Porch with Metamorphosis Monday and here at It's So Very Cheri with It's So Very Creative.

  Here is the rest of the chair. You can see PART 1 here  I think if you have ever made a dress, clothes for your children, or any kind of sewing that consists of putting pieces together, you can do this. It just takes patience and time.

NOTE  Remember you will be cutting a right side and left side for some of these pieces. When cutting those, be sure you have your fabric wrong or right sides together. Don't cut them going the same way.

MAKING THE PATTERN click on any of the pictures to get a closer look. And the easiest  thing to do, is follow the  existing pieces and seams of the chair when making the pattern.

 

First of all, get some muslin or even an old sheet to make a pattern. Nothing too strechy or flimsy though.

Also if you plan to wash your new slipcover, be sure to prewash all of the fabric. I wash mine in sections. This way helps cut down on the wrinkles.

 If you have "T" pins for this it makes it much easier. You can find them at fabric and sewing stores.

Pin a piece of fabric on the chair and draw in the cracks. I use my fingers to feel and follow along. When you cut out the  pattern pieces; don't cut right on the line. You will want to be able to see it.

(I folded back the fabric so you could see where I end the piece.)

OUTSIDE WING

Below is how it will look. Cut this out showing the tracing line. Being perfect will come when you actually cut

the slipcover fabric.

OUTSIDE  SIDE BASE- Use the T pins to hold the fabric and trace in the cracks.  Here's where you have to use your imagination. Notice how I stopped it right at the "roll' of the side of the arm. I folded back the fabric so you could see.  You will see in the next 2 pictures what I"m talking about.

Here's 1 picture of it.

And here's where it shows it all. This will make a clean seam down this side when you attach the botttom front.


 INSIDE ARM-  I always mark arrows, cutting hints to myself, and top and bottom hints all over my pattern. It helps when cutting. ATTENTION- I marked 5 inch tuck...This was too much. Cut about 2-3 inches of tuck. Maybe a little more if your chair doesn't have a separate cushion.

BELOW-I did this wrap around area to meet with the outside piece in a straight sewing line. You will see farther down how  this all meets up. It will become more clear when you see all of the pieces together.

This little piece below looks like a panty shield. Cute. I had to cut another one though. My first one didn't seem to fit together with the other arm pieces when I went to fit it together.

Does it all make sense now? See how the pieces fit!?!  Next we'll make that front bottom piece. Notice in the picture ABOVE, the darts and the way the piece goes straight across the seat. That's the way we'll make ours.  See where the little panty shield fits in. And remember to mark those arrows!
Click the inside arm picture above and notice I  always make an arrow at the top of the arm. It helps when you try to layout all of the pattern pieces on the chair.

BOTTOM FRONT-

First step--- Measure from end to end. ( arm area all the way across the front to the other arm area.)And then the depth up the  bottom front to the seat section. If you aren't making a skirt, measure all the way to the floor on all pieces. Mark these measurements on the pattern and cut what will be a long rectangle. Or strip of fabric. Lay it in place on the chair. Pin at the arm, gently bring it across the front and pin on the other side by the other arm area.

It will look like this pic on the left. Now pinch up the darts at the  corners. Just work with the fabric until you have it where you want it. Pin close to the seat. Do both sides.

Cut a seam allowance above the pins.

Here's what the piece will look like. When I cut out this piece, I fold the pattern and lay it on the folded slipcover fabric. It seems to cut better this way.

When you  sew this piece. Sew each dart and that's it for that piece!  Easy huh?

INSIDE BACK- In this picture, I jsut lay the fabric over the chair and mark just inside the crease. Remember I wrote 5 in. tuck. Again that was too much. I had to cut some of mine off. When you cut the added tuck area, you will have to be sure to narrow it at the top of the chair/wing area. There's not much  tuck area up there.

INSIDE WING-

Do the same type of pinning and marking as the other pieces. It will be bunchy going around the curve. This is where the darts will be. I make mine facing down. I go ahead and pin them and then cut the excess off while its still pinned on the chair. Make some marks between the dart area like the picture below. Click the picture to see the detail. I laid the piece out so you could see the way it will look. When you sew the real piece on, you can put the pins back in and machine baste the darts in place first.

THE SEAT   For the seat, measure the back, front, and depth. The front will be only up to that rectangle piece we  made the darts on earlier.  Mark the pattern fabric and cut; adding the extra tuck fabric on the 3 inside areas. Again make your arrows to show the front and back direction. Note.. I also make a small mark at the top of the pieces of slipcover fabric pieces. They all look alike when you have them all sitting there. It's hard to tell the outside, and inside back pieces apart. And which way is up or down.

OUTSIDE BACK  Cut the back piece like this.

You can see the picture below how to cut the extra tuck in allowance. But remember I cut too much. 2-3 inches is plenty.

Then the next picture is where I folded the back piece pattern in half, length wise and cut 2 separate pieces so it's open down the middle. Be sure to cut it a little wider and finish the edges with a serger machine or zig zag stich, so you can  fold it back and put in the buttons and button holes. I add about 2 inches. You can cut some off. But you can't put it back on. I also always add about 2 inches to the width of the back piece if I'm add ing a zipper. This way you make sure you have enough fabric to pull the corner together. Again. You can cut some off, but you can't put any back  on.

This is how some of the pieces will look while cutting out the fabric. A little too much tuck though. But you have to cut the extra like this.  Below is a picture of the Back piece being cut for the buttons. Fold the pattern length wise, and extra added.  In other words...this is the wide back piece folded in half.
Am I repeating myself too  much???

Here is another option (a sofa I'm working on) A zipper. Just turn under the open seam down one side of the chair. Make sure the zipper is upside down.  Opens from the bottom up.

A funny thing happens as you're sewing the slipcover. It starts morphing into this giant thing you keep dragging over to the  sewing machine as you work. I start by sewing the inside wing piece to the inside arm piece. Pinning everything as you go.

Then I add the outside wing piece. You can add cording (see here here for directions) I add it to the cushions and a few other areas on the chair. You  can take it back to the chair to fit those darts at the top of the wing. Pin the pieces to fit together, and sew.

  Now find that side  piece and pin and sew it to the inside arm,  and outside wing.  I know this probably sounds so confusing. "outside, inside, wing, base.... Just ask questions anytime.  See how it grows.

Sew the outer  back piece to the inside back piece across the top of the chair,  and follow the seam down the back sides. One side if putting in a zipper. And if you're doing the buttons, fold back the button area, and sew to the inside back piece (up at the top. SEE PIC BELOW) with those pieces overlapped. Sew each back piece down the sides, leaving the middle open. See below. Yea, down therer. :

This picture shows  the way some of the pieces fit together.

Next

Next sew the seat section along the bottom back, and along the 2 arm inside pieces.

Then you can sew on that bottom front piece.  Pin up the sides (there at the bottom of the chair), across the little area in front of the arm, and across the seat. Then follow the rest of the way across. Sew.

If you are adding a skirt, measure the lengths from leg corner to leg corner around 3 sides.  At this point you can cut to make sure the chair cover is even all the  way around. I measure from the floor up. I mark with a pencil on the cover all the way around about every 4 inches. Then I cut off the excess all the  way around following the little marks. Also, I line the skirt  pieces with a thin muslin or sheet that matches. For  the skirt section that meets up with the buttons or zipper, you have to get those measurements. Put the zipper all the way down through the skirt. Remember to put the "pull" at the bottom.

As always... Ask questions! If I can explain it in writing where it makes sense, I will be more than happy to!

Let me know how it goes if you try this!

Kelly

Tutorial~ Covering A Chair Cushion Part 1

I'm going to attempt to help any of you with moderate sewing skills make a boxed and corded cover for a seat cushion. Please ask as many questions you need to. I will be here to answer ALL of them. Some of the pics seem to be out of order because I added some and had after thoughts. I think you can make it work with these directions.

~ABOVE~ This is how you will measure the width of your cushion so you can cut the boxing strips. Most will be 3,4, 5 or 6 inches. (most new sofas cushions) I measure just between the cording. If your's has none, measure the exact thickness of the foam. You will cut an extra 1/2 inch seam allowence to the width. Add 1 inch to the length you cut, this will be the 1/2 inch on each end when you sew all of the pieces together.

Make the pattern like this. I feel the edges with my fingers as I'm marking. My markings are down in the gully of the cording around the cushion. If no cording, mark exactly the edges of the foam. Be sure when you cut your pieces you add your 1/2 inch seam allowance all the way around. Cut 2 of these pieces of your fabric. 1 for the top and 1 for the bottom.

Here's a side view of the cushion I'm covering. Notice how I cut the boxing in separate pieces. It's so much easier this way. I'll say this again as you read down. You have the long piece across the front. The 2 short pieces along the sides. And the zipper piece in the back.

This is a "T" cushion. Usually you cut your boxing just at the bend of the "T". (like pic above) That way you have one length across the front...just going around into the curve of the T~1 length for the zipper ~ and 2 shorter pieces along the sides connecting all of them together. If your cushion has no "T", make seams at the 2 front corners and wrap the zipper in the back. You will have very short pieces down the sides between the zipper and the front corners.

Here's a pic of the wrap around zipper.

OK, getting started. I'll take care of a few steps first. Here's a pic of the boxing that has to be cut. ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU NEED ANY EXTRA HELP. YOU CAN DO THIS!

When you make the zipper boxing add a 1 inch (instead of the 1/2 inch) seam allowance to the width because you have to turn under 1/4 inch to attach the zipper to it. I'll detail this a little farther down. In other words, make this piece wider than all of the other boxing pieces.

When you measure your length of boxing, look at the piece you're covering. With a tape measurer, find the exact length of each piece and add 1 inch seam allowance to the length of each piece. You will be sewing them all together later. So you will need that little extra added length for the seams.

This part will come later. Another Oops

Note~ Sometimes I use an old sheet to make my patterns.

Measure the zipper on the cushion and purchase one the same size. They usually wrap around about 3 inches or so. Have your's do the same thing. Make the zipper boxing the same length as the zipper. But remember to add the extra 1/2 inch width. Cut this piece down the middle of the length of the boxing piece. Turn under about 1/4 inch all the way down, iron.

The 2 long strips will lay on the zipper like this.

Pin all the way down. It WILL shift while you're sewing if you don't.Attach the zipper foot to the machine. Be sure the open side is closest to the zipper, so you can sew close to it. Sew down both sides. Take the pins out as you sew along.

Sew all the way from end to end.

These next 2 pics go together. Here is the back. Attach this little piece to cover the zipper latch. Sew from the back so you can see that you don't hit the zipper. At this point you may need to cut the little excess off the end of the zipper to fit it into your seam allowance.

I used a different (thinner) fabric for this piece because my fabric is soooo thick!

Now here's how to make cording. I just cut across the width of the folded fabric. I cut a few strips and sew them together. Then I attach them to the cording. See below.

I cut mine about 2 inches wide.

Lay the cording on the strip, and use the zipper foot again for this too. It lets you sew really close to the cording

And that's all there is it making custom cording!

When you have to add more length to the fabric, just put right sides together like the pic. Sew together, open the seam, and keep going (see below).

Now these next pics should be in part 2. Oops. Well you can see how to put the cover on the cushion. And then see the finished results at the end.

Part 2 will be putting the whole thing together!

You have to fold the other "T" over and shove it all the way in. Put the other part in it's 'T' section. Then pull the rest of the cover down and zip it up. You can smoothe it all around so it's not tweaked.

Here's the cushion on the chair.

Part 2 is coming right behind this post.

Good luck! I know you can do It!!!!!!!

Kelly
By the way~~ Today I'm tagging my friends blog. http://jessicasinteriorsetc.blogspot.com/

Go by and check out her awsome Holiday Placemat Idea. I love this!! She's such a talented artist and interior designer. I can get lost looking through her blog. Stop by and tell her what you think.

Slipcovers I'm Working On/don't throw it away, slipcover it!

I met this very sweet girl/ lady who said she always wanted white slipcovers. Her husband wanted a natural color... So they asked me to make a set of each. She said she would use the white for company, and the natural for everyday kids and family use. You can see the rest, and the before when you scroll down.

Now this is a $35.oo thrift store find I'm going to cover in something really cool. Don't overlook these things in the thrift stores. They have so much character!

So far I've just spray painted it ivory. The best is yet to come. :)

OK, Here's the before of the chairs I'm covering. They are big and so comfortable!

Here is one of the white ones. There are 2 chairs, and one ottoman. (which I didn't get a pic of) I did a pleated skirt on the white one (so cute) and a plain skirt on the natural one.

This is the natural cover. It's so soft and cozy.

This is another pic of the natural cover. I will cover their couch in one of each too. It's on the way over. I'll show them when I finish.

Here's an ugly pink $15.oo wingback chair I found at a thrift store. I love the big wings on it.

This is a nice thick fabric with a weave to it. If you click on the picture you can see the detail.

I'm this far on it so far. I may do a short pleated skirt on it too.

I'm gonna put buttons down the back, instead of a zipper down the side. I don't even have a place for this chair, but I hate to get rid of it. I'm really, really loving the way it's turning out.

I'll update all of these when I'm finished.

Thanks for stopping by to look!

Kelly

Mirrors Over The Nightstands

Perasonally, I love this look. Our local thrift store has these things come in in droves. Sometimes they are so ugly in their original state. Some are plastic, most are covered in dust.
But, look at the lines. Picture them painted ivory, bright white, black, or maybe silver leafed.
Pastel pink or hot pink would be adorable in a little girls room. Tirquoise or aqua would look amazing too. How about bright, sunny, high gloss yellow. Spray paint comes in so many colors these days. Brushing on a custom paint color is easy to do too. Once I painted them white, then silver leafed the raised "carved" areas. It was so pretty.
However you do it, PRIME first for best results.
I usually find them for about $15.00 to $25.00 for a pair. They come off of old dressers, I think.
I have so much fun fixing these up.

I Succumed To Wallpaper...And I'm Glad I Did!

The chair is a thrift store find I got for $7.00. I painted it and recovred the seat. I may change the Koi fabric. Still pondering that one. I've had the table for a while. I put left over tile from the kitchen on the top.

The wallpaper is in the foyer only. This is just a sample of it so far. I'll show the rest as soon as I finish.
The plan was to go bold and graphic, but I chickened out at the last minute and did this very mellow print. I still love it. CLICK the picture to see the detail.
It's white pearlized Dahlia flowers on a cream background with beige vines and leaves.