Another slip cover! This one was for the rounded-arm chair my mother gave us for the living room.
Before:
During (with the slip cover my mother made for it, before it came to live at our house):
And after:
This another project I did with my Sewing for Your Home e-course students, working on making a template by draping a piece of furniture, and then creating a slip cover from the template. I love, love, love this ikat print, and am so pleased with the new slip cover. The greens really bounce off the wall color, and I think it makes the whole shape so much cooler.
I didn’t dislike the original cover, actually, the upholstery, I mean. I love a good mustardy acid green, myself. But this wall color moves between lime-ish and spring-y and jade depending on the light, and the yellowish of the original didn’t play nicely. Plus, it was filthy and ratty–am pretty sure this was another of my mom’s curb-side finds that she brought home.
The fabric is a fantastic 50s-style bark cloth with such a nice texture, but it’ 100% cotton, so it’s soft and lovely to touch. The ikat is understated and not trying too hard, which tends to be my mantra in design–I like cool and chic, but not trendy or over-the-top. I want my things to be timeless so I don’t have to do them all over any time soon.
I’m really pleased with how the shape and the fabric work in our living room, alongside the wall unit and the blues-and-greens soothingness we have working in there. I’m still hunting for the perfect Whipstitch yellow fabric for the sofa–I found one that’s a herringbone weave that might be a winner, but I’ll have to feel a swatch before I’ll know for sure.
I still want to tweak just a bit to get the cover slightly snugger, and might add a small shaped pillow at the seat back, but other than that, I think this was a giant step in the right direction! Hooray for slip covers!
I’ve also got a guest post over at Plum and June’s Advice for New Bloggers series–check it out, and join her blog hop for new quilt bloggers going on right now! Lots of great tutorials and guest posts, along with events and linky goodness. Beth has done a great job of getting new bloggers to meet and share with one another–I’m flattered to have been included!
Claire
May 29, 2012 at 2:37 pmI like the designs. Thanks for sharing this with us. I am looking forward for more awesome post.
Claire Jain
May 29, 2012 at 3:05 pmNice! The chair makeover looks great. It does go so well with you fab mid century wall unit 😀
Diane Christy
May 29, 2012 at 5:33 pmSniff! My Shabby Chic slipcover now looks just, well, shabbbby against your delicious Ikat cool kids fabric. I’m OK, just give me a moment. It’s the way things work, right? The child surpasses the parent? No, I’m not banging my head against my desk. I’m not, really.
Deborah
June 1, 2012 at 12:02 pmI should point out a few things, actually:
(1) I didn’t stage the photo of the old slip cover AT ALL, so it actually looked a lot better than that;
(2) the new one still isn’t perfect and the fit could be adjusted just a smidge;
and (3) you could totally have made this exact slip cover if you’d been into that, but you had other stuff to do–I might not have gotten around to it for YEARS if it hadn’t been for my class motivating me!
You are still the Chief Grasshopper, dude.
Beth
May 29, 2012 at 5:38 pmOoh, the chair looks fantastic! Last summer, I had the idea to update my glider with new fabric since I was going to be using it for the third time with daughter #3. I looked around online for a tutorial and found advice to take off the current cover, cut it open and use it for a pattern. Since this was my first time, I didn’t want to take the chance that I couldn’t put it back together with the new fabric so I abandoned the project. Having read this now I’m wondering why I didn’t just consider draping the fabric and making a slipcover – okay – off to pick out some fabric! Thanks again for the great guest post and for writing about the series here!
Deborah
June 1, 2012 at 12:00 pmIt makes such a giant difference, and really feels like a brand-new chair–even though I paid nothing for it (and neither did my mom). Just jump in and see what happens! The worst result is you don’t like it and decide to go back to the way it was before, right? 🙂
Melissa
May 30, 2012 at 12:46 amThat looks fantastic! Wow! Your post over at Plum and June was really great, thank you for all the wonderful advice!
Deborah
June 1, 2012 at 11:59 amOh, thank you so much–I’m so pleased it was useful for you! 🙂
Narelle @ Cook Clean Craft
May 30, 2012 at 1:45 amOoo – what a great pop of fabric colour and fun in the room. I’m really looking forward to moving into our new house so I can start adding my own little touches like this. Thanks for the inspiration!
Deborah
June 1, 2012 at 11:59 amOh, thanks so much! It’s nerve-wracking to try and choose a fabric, because there are so many great ones out there, but getting the project done is way more rewarding than I can put into words. Congrats on your new house–will look forward to seeing what you do with it! 🙂
elsa
May 30, 2012 at 9:31 amWOW, what a great sewing job you did on this slip cover! Quite impressive and love the fabric you’ve chosen. It looks great!
Are you planning on any more home dec courses this year?
Deborah
June 1, 2012 at 11:58 amI’m not doing the Home Dec class again this year, but I’ve had some requests to turn portions of the class into smaller, micro-classes–I’m working on it and will keep you posted! 🙂
DynnaLou
May 30, 2012 at 9:31 pmThose are really great covers and I must say that the last one was the best for me.. Looks neat and perfect for its shape..
fern
May 31, 2012 at 9:20 amLove your wall colour and the slip cover!!! 🙂
Deborah
June 1, 2012 at 11:58 amThanks so much! We spent so long choosing a wall color when we finished the basement at the last house that we just painted everything the same color when we moved here–hee!
Barb N
May 31, 2012 at 9:24 amYour slip cover looks so nice! And the chair blends in perfectly with the rest of the room’s decor. Well done!