Tuesday, June 5, 2012

How to make a slipcover - Part 2

Alright, I'm back.  This next part was the most fun because I saw the vision coming into view!  I have never had a chair upholstered and this is the closest thing for me.  

Anyway, after we made sure all the pieces were perfect, we cut out our fabric.  Sorry, no pictures. I forgot.  A little secret my mom taught me is to put kitchen knives on top of your template fabric (which is on top of your nice fabric) to keep it in place while you cut. It worked like a charm.  She said my great grandmother used to do that. She passed away a few years ago at 108.  She was an incredible lady with a lot of artistic talent.  Way more than I could ever dream.  She quilted, made porcelain/lace dolls, painted, and much more!

We pinned the chosen fabric back on the chair.  Instead of pinning the entire thing back together, we started with the arms.  They were 3 pieces each.  We pinned those.  Made sure they were perfect, then started sewing.


The arms all pinned and ready to sew.  Do you see how it's 3 pieces?  The front of the arm, the actual arm, then under the arm?


Here's my mom's sewing machine.  She got it when she was 17!  Still works like a charm:)


My mom :)


Smith watching all the work go down.  He was thoroughly enjoying himself.  He loves his Gigi.


And another just for kicks.  He's just too cute.  

As we were sewing the arms, my mom discovered that if we basted the difficult parts before using the sewing machine then we were more successful.  So that's what we did.  


That way you can take the pins out before you sew and not worry about your placement.


The first arm down!  yay! Finally seeing it come together!


Smith enjoying the process.  I think he likes the chair better without the essence.  Friends reference...look it up :)


And both arms done!  And that's where we stopped that day.  It's much easier to do the chair in sections.  That way all the fabric isn't pinned together and you loose your spot or feel like you have too many pins poking you :)

Until next time!

3 comments:

Melissa@TheHappierHomemaker said...

Oh it looks awesome and I have a similar chair that needs this so badly! Do you know the name of your fabric? How many yards did you buy?

Alyssa said...

So pretty! Can't believe how big Smith is!!

Lynne said...

Great work. Love the fabric and thanks for all the details on how you all did this! Now, just to talk my mom into tackling a project together!