Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Attempts at Furniture Recovering

Some of you might prefer the fabric as shown in the swatch below, but when one has furniture already in the same room whose primary colors are navy, maroon, and hunter green... the swatch below REALLY doesn't go. It had been bothering me greatly for quite some time. So, this morning I had had enough. I marched off to Walmart (the service was horrible!) and got some plain, navy upholstery fabric and then used some odds and ends fabric my mom had sent up along with the furniture they kindly gave us a few months ago (which served to make the piping). AND... after working all day (well, from 1:30-6:15 straight, finishing right before my students arrived). I am sooo excited with the results. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing nor how the picture in my head would actually look when finished. At least, it now matches the other furniture and does not have to hide under a throw rug anymore!!! :) (This ambiguous "furniture" is an ottoman, I think. I am really not sure what to call it!?! Any suggestions at the proper title?)


I should have taken a before-shot. The entire ottoman was covered in this fabric with a tiny piping of the same colors in place of my rather larger choice for piping.




The finished look... Please forgive the books stacked below. You should have seen our living area before Sean did a quick cleaning!!! The left over books and boxes simply had to be slid under the ottoman until later, and with my back feeling the way it currently does, I simply did not have the energy to pull them out prior to the photo shoot!







11 comments:

Beth said...

Very lovely Katie. Great job. I would either call it an ottoman or a bench. lol

Kelley said...

Very nice job. I love knowing how to sew. Not to say that I do it very often but when the mood strikes it's nice to know I can whip out something rather than having to buy it or pay someone else to do it.

Rebecca said...

Good job! It looks fantastic. :)

j.j. said...

Nice!! I wish I knew how to sew =) Mom decided to buy me a machine as a b-day gift, but the sewing lessons haven't happened yet!
Besides the piping, did this project require much sewing?...I was wondering if you used a staple gun!! =)

Julie said...

Nice job Katie!!

K. Humby said...

Thank you guys for your gracious comments. In answer to the question about sewing. The most I had to do was indeed the piping The other part which made me somewhat nervous was making the borders for the box whose seams had to be pre-sewn at just the right dimensions to slip with some effort over the sides and fit snugly with the seams right over the corners. Thankfully, with prayer, I only had to make a couple of adjustments. The rest was all done with a stapler.

Rachel said...

Great job!! I am sure it looks MUCH better with your other furnitute!

j.j. said...

Katie - can't find your email address. If you have mine, will you email me and send me your current address? =)

Elizabeth said...

Wow, Katie. I am IMPRESSED. First, that you had a sewing machine. Second, that you know what to do with it. Third, that it came together as nicely as it did. Upholstering can be hard, at least that's what I think.
So, where did you learn how to sew?

And you're right, the original fabric was pretty cute. Just not matching.

tracykwoodard said...

Dang you're good with details. Ya see, stuff like that, I completely fail, I'd have given up and stapled everything together, and tossed a tablecloth on top.

K. Humby said...

My mom taught me to sew when I was 10-14 or something like that. We made shirts, skirts, dresses, and etc. However, I always had a knack for putting holes in the garment when almost finished. I would be cutting excess trim around the neck and wham (!!!) place an unifixable hole in the most unappropriate spot. So.. we sort of gave up, if I remember correctly. However, that knowledge I am much appreciate for as I would never have the guts to attempt things as I do now. (I bought my own sewing machine at age 14.)