Sewing Project: Couch Slipcovers- Fabric Choices & Planning

I'm planning to sew up slipcovers for our two playroom couches. Crazy?  Oh, yes.  But I'm going to give it a go!

The couches themselves are about seven years old.  They are identical (which will hopefully make the sewing a bit easier) and currently upholstered in a cocoa colored microfiber that I chose because the design consultant told me it was super durable. Of course, my kids have destroyed the fabric anyway.  I'm sure the dog helped.

Dexter the Pug nests in the cushions regularly.  He likes to cuddle.

The couches themselves are still very comfortable and in pretty okay shape. The back cushions are down filled and the seat cushions are down wrapped foam. To reupholster would be roughly $3,000 and to replace them with the exact same couches (La-Z-Boy "Daphne") would cost $3,200.  In either case, the fabric is only going to be destroyed again.  The couch and chairs in the living room are leather (and twice as expensive) for this very reason. 

The Plan:

I own Custom Slipcovers Made Easy by Elizabeth Dubicki, which, while the images are certainly dated, has step by step instructions and tons of photos detailing how to make well-tailored and fitted slipcovers.  So tailored and fitted, in fact, that I'm intimidated whenever I flip through it.  She wants you to start with an upholstered chair to get your feet wet.  Pfft.  Two couches for Rebecca!

The Internet, in all it's DIY-blog glory, has been more of a cheerleader. Here are but a few of the brave ladies who have slip covered their family sofas and shared their tips with the world:

Bibbidi Bodbbidi Beautiful:  A much uglier couch then mine turned into a beauty by simple white canvas.  Pleated skirt too!

Midwest Magnolia:  An ottomon with piping!  This done in a far more tailored way then my current ottomons. Love the corner pleats.

Honeybear Lane:  A more modern shaped sofa, like mine with the sharper corners. Great tutorial!

Pink & Polka Dots:  Super inspiring results with a sofa, chair and ottomon!  I think the fact that she tackled the main part of the couch in one day was amazing.

I purchased the $10 Pink & Polka Dot "Lazy Girls Guide to Slipcovers" PDF.  In comparison to the Custom Slipcovers Made Easy book, Pink & Polka Dot's approach is way less detailed and far more encouraging. Plus, her blog is just stuffed with slipcovered success! My plan, so far, is to follow her rough outline and try to incorporate the more "professional" techniques where I am able.  I'm going to skip the muslin draft like she does for sure as that just seems like a waste of both time and fabric. If you leave a big enough seam allowance to make corrections I just don't think there is a need. I've decided to do piping which will add some difficulty, but I am NOT going to do a skirt so hopefully that will balance out in terms of expended effort.

The Fabric:

This was tough.  You'll note in all the links above the sewers have chosen white duck or canvas for the fabric.  White slipcovers are classic and I do admire the way they look. Everyone swears it is so easy to just throw them in the wash! But I know I'd be washing them everyday.  I decided quickly that microfiber was out since it hasn't stood up well so far and I wanted something that could resist the randomly spilled cup of juice and muddy dog feet, so 100% cotton was out too.  My outdoor furniture is uphostered in Sunbrella fabric and has worn excellently despite being out year round and is really easy to clean (you just get it wet and scrub it down with a brush if you need to, but you rarely need to) so I decided an indoor/outdoor fabric was probably the way to go. 

I ordered a bunch of fabric samples from Fabric.com in a wide variety of fabric types and prints.

Fabric.com sends good sized swatches, FYI.

Fabric choice, unfortunately, was limited by the room itself- there is a 30' dark redwood wall on one side, a brick fireplace hearth in the corner, fantastic stone tiles with an ever so slight pink undertone on the floor and an exposed wood celing.  I know Rustic-Modern is in vogue and all, but it isn't exactly easy to decorate around if you don't live in a Dwell magazine spread.  Which I'm totally willing to do, btw.

No fluffing.  Keeping it real, folks.

You think your cobwebs are bad?  Bats hide up here.

Sofa, tile, maple, redwood and brick in one shot.  It's an insane combo to work around.

So yeah, finding fabrics to pull that all together was not easy, but here is what I came up with:

Final fabric choices altogether in rough proportion. It'll be happy! 
Should also make the room both warmer and brighter.

$8.98/yard, need 38 yards.  Total $341.24

The sofa slipcovers will be Premier Print's Indoor/Outdoor in "Dixie Yellow", a 54" 100% polyester, mid- weight fabric. The washing directions say to use cold water and a mild detergent like Woolite, but to NOT dry it in the dryer, air dry only, which is a bummer, but still totally workable.  It is mildew, stain, water resistant and fade resistant up to 500 hours of direct sun exposure.  Not that sun is a problem in the playroom- next to the kitchen it is the darkest room in the house which makes it good for TV.

This is way brighter on my screen then in person. 
$10.99/yard, 2 yards needed.  Total $22.00.

I've tentatively chosen to make the piping with Joann's 45'' Home Essentials collection in "Picnic Spice Red". It is a dark coral pink. This catches the pink undertones in the floor without being PINK! and coordinates with the brick too.  100% cotton so I'll wash it before making the piping to allow for shrinkage.  My reservation is that it's a little juvenile to have contrast piping, though it is the only casual room in the house so I should embrace that, I guess.  We do call it the playroom afterall.

$11.98/yard, need 3 yards.  Total: $35.94

The couch throw pillows will be made in Marco Valdo's new Charlie home dec corduroy line in "Orange".  It's pretty heavy duty, definetly made for upholstery, but our pillows take a fair beating, being used as walls for blanket forts and floor cushions for cartoons so it is appropriate and surprisingly soft.

$19.98/yard.  Not cheap!  Need 4 yards.  Total:  $79.92.
Again, less pink, more of a dark coral-ish-red in person.

The two ottomons I already slipcovered once before will now be redone in Richloom's Cynthia "Kalidescope".  I've been toying with making (or having made) some curtains for the room in Cynthia as well, but one project at a time! The ottomons will be what makes the whole scheme work- it has the orange, the yellow, and the dark red-pink. It looks good on the tile, next to the redwood, the brick and the maple.  If I pipe them they will be self-piped, I think.  Just so many decisions!  The fabric also has some of that crazy green that ties into the playroom bathroom, though technically you can't see one from the other.

This is by far the biggest sewing project I've taken on.  
Wish me luck!

2011: The Year I Learned to Sew

My mom loved this stupid blog despite the fact that I update only when I feel like it, make no effort to promote it and take horrible pictures, usually with my phone.  She died the day after Christmas; she was 56.

In fact, my mom loved all my lame attempts at making stuff.  My Etsy shop was a thrilling endeavor in her eyes and she'd patiently been waiting for me to hurry up and finish a damn novel since I was ten. For my 35th birthday in October she and my siblings bought me (a sure to be awesome) serger that ought to arrive in the next week.  I'll be posting my enthusiastic attempts at creation with that machine too, so watch out Internet.   

I haven't made anything yet this year, still working things out in my mind and haven't had the focus or drive, so in the meantime, here is a rundown of the sewing and craft projects that didn't make the blog in 2011 because I couldn't get my act together to get them up:

1.  Abby's mermaid costume:  made for a winter-time "Mermaids & Pirates" themed birthday party thrown by one of her best little friends.  The dress is a simple pinafore in crushed panne velvet.  It is unlined because I figured she'd only wear it once anyway.  I used an iron on mermaid patch that Abby fell in love with at the fabric store on the front and used Velcro down that back instead of buttons.  I had many things going on at the time so pictures are what the are:


Best full length photo I took, sadly.




Poor Ariel had to field a lot of questions about how she can live underwater.



Abigail the Angry Mermaid:  Nap time!

The fin is made of some sort of sparkly synthetic material and backed in the same crushed velvet-  trust me, it was awesome, despite how it might look in these photos.  I made it without a pattern, just drew it on the back of the fabric (on the fold so that it would be symmetrical).  I inserted matching ribbon so that it could be tied on like an apron and easily taken off if she wanted to ditch it (she never did).  I stuffed the bottom of the fin with fabric scraps.  If I made this again I would use thick batting instead so that it wouldn't shift as much.  The shell necklace is a souvenir from a long ago trip to Hawaii and finally had a real purpose.  The most fun for me was the hair clip which was made in about 15 minutes right before the party.  I'll be making way more of these, just better. 

2.  My Cleopatra costume:  made for Halloween, I didn't finish it in time because Abby got sick and I went instead as the Statue of Liberty, a homemade costume I purchased the year before.  The Cleopatra dress is made with crepe back gold satin (very pretty and high quality), lined in bleached muslin and absolutely festooned with tacky rhinestones. 

I used a fantastic product called "Jewel It!" to attach the sparklies.  It worked great and is completely washable. 

The weird cape/wrap thing wasn't easy to sew.  The material is terrible.  The Greek key ribbon looks okay now, but it was an absolute pain in the ass to attach properly, both at the bodice and along the edge of the skirt lining.  Fitting it was ridiculous because I don't have a dress form.  I'd have to mock it up in muslin and then try it on and awkwardly pin and mark myself using the mirror in the bathroom.  Eventually I found it easier to take photos of myself in it so that I could see the how it fit without contorting my body and messing it up.   A dress form is definitely on my list of things to look into in 2012.



Tip for beginners:  The least effective way of fitting a garment is to do it on yourself with a cellphone.


3.  Canvas chalkboards:  I have a joke of a number of standing appointments each day- kids to school and back, gym classes, lessons (piano, dance), sports (soccer, t-ball), personal training, therapy, doctor's visits, vitamin shots, etc.  Oh yeah, and work!  I realized at some point that my husband had NO IDEA what I was doing everyday or why I was always running out the door again.  I bought a set of pre-stretched canvas squares at Michael's and painted them with chalkboard paint leftover from the Library Book Box. 

They've gone crooked a bit, haven't they? 

Abby is my Cleverbucket and Henry is my Smartypants.  FYI.

I used a sponge brush to cut down on brush marks, but if you look real close you can see them.  It took a couple of coats.  Writing on them was not as easy as I'd hoped since there is no backing to press down on in the middle, but the chalk pens worked okay. These serve as a basic template to each day of the week.  There are always changes and things come up but this is the outline of my life. 

The list of rules for what needs to be done when we get home from school each day has worked especially well with the kids.  I just point to it when I get any fuss about changing out of uniforms or getting snack before lunchboxes are cleaned out.  For whatever reason the fact that the rules are posted makes it harder for my kids to argue a point, despite the fact that they can barely read.  Rules on chalkboards work well in the playroom too.  These were made reusing the Dollar Store chalkboards from Abby's birthday party.

4.  Kid's chore charts:  same goes with the chore charts, having them posted makes getting them to do it way easier!  I made these with my Cricut and a laminating machine.  I've had this set up close to a full year now and it's stood up pretty well.  They are velcroed to the file folders and then hung on clipboards in the kitchen.  I made a few blank ones so I could write down any special tasks or things they don't need to do regularly with a dry erase pen.  At the end of the week they get a coin (penny or quarter whatever I have on hand) for each star on their chart. 




Mostly pictures because I made these before Henry could read at all.



The book and pencil used to be for writing practice but Henry now interprets it as homework.  Which he has everyday so I need to make more.  I never had homework in Kindergarten! 

Clorox wiping the door knobs is probably her most serious "job".

Stars!  I should earn some stars for making them do their chores- that's the hard part after all.

The only downside to the chore chart system is that you have to monitor and enforce it as the adult and a lot of times I'm just too lazy.  Chores are done haphazardly in our house.  Some weeks I'm on it with the kids, other weeks, not so much, but they are still really young and the chores (other then feeding the dog and brushing their teeth) are not exactly high priority jobs or even really "jobs"-  more like "life tasks" that will get done regardless of whether or not I chart it.  I've found being lazy is the biggest impediment to good parenting.

5.  More Doodle Stitching:  I worked on these while at the hospital with my mom.  They were already traced out originally for Abby's mermaid costume.  As a person who has spent a lot of time in hospitals (and I have in the last several years, way more then I'd wish on anyone) I will tell you that eventually you find yourself  bored out of your mind.  It is a particularly draining kind of boredom since it festers beneath worry and helplessness whether you are the patient or not and I have been both.  Embroidery is the perfect task in that it is portable and easy to start and stop.  It is both mindless and focused. 

I have no idea what to do with these now.  More nautical hair clips for Abby?

Embroidery keeps you busy, but keeps you in the moment-  it isn't engrossing in the same way a book might be and you can chat and seem generally available to nurses/doctors/family/friends.  I did forget to bring both scissors and thread though.  Tip for (hospital) beginners:  dice and a pen and paper can save you from terrible anxiety.  My sister keeps dice in her purse (because she's awesome) and she once kept me company in a surgical waiting room by playing Kismet for, like, three hours. No joke. Also no joke?  I bought a pound of dice from Amazon for my husband for Christmas. 



I should organize this drawer.  This looks like we are hardcore gamblers. 


He was... confuzzled.  I thought it was a fun gift!  Who doesn't like dice?  I still need to throw a Farkle party.

Other Crafts: Thanksgiving Weekend Mayhem

The sewing has taken a backseat this month because I've been busy doing super important things like... arranging plastic foliage and cheering along as people way too old to be photographed doing it played beer pong in a garage.  The pilgrims would be so proud!

Centerpieces, Decorations, Food & Nonsense (no particular order):

Originally, I  planned to use these fake leaves to make a garland, but decided to save myself a few hours and stuck them in vases and wrapped them with ribbon.  Since I had all the stuff I think this cost me $3.

To non-Americans, I assume dressing your child up in paper bags and feathers to celebrate a culture your ancestors decimated must seem pretty odd, but it's done with love and respect. 

I was in charge of the Thanksgiving Feast for Henry's school.  Pumpkin pie for everyone!

The kids' "feast" included me making 50 turkey & swiss sandwiches and buying 3 lbs of dried cranberries.  Also, 250 feet of kraft paper.

While I was turning the parish hall into a Thanksgiving Party Zone, my husband and his siblings were hauling (delicious, delicious!) crab out of the ocean.

Mike & Harry planning their reign of Saturday night beer pong terror.

Their reign did not last long.

Serene & Kim:  breaking the beer pong glass ceiling.

All the world needs is more crayons.

Our real centerpiece.  None of my fake leaves.

MORE PIE!

Other Crafts: Feathers, Novels, Tap Shoes & More!

I haven't been posting, but I have been keeping myself busy with all sorts of wacky projects that are being done with my usual massive amounts of enthusiasm and limited skill.  I'm having a costume party next week where I will unveil Cleopatra and a surprise costume!

First up is my attempt at a feathered fascinator!  This project was inspired by a dream I had several weeks ago where I was stuck in India, but dressed as a Gibson Girl.  I know, right?!  You have to act on something like that!  So I made this at my dining room table while my sister sat across from me with clear concern for my mental health.  The look on her face as I arranged feathers and tacky rhinestones was totally priceless.  I may or may not have been drinking.

Nothing says "I doubt anyone reads this blog"  like posting a photo taken with your phone while wearing an orange hoodie and no make-up and  making this face.

I couldn't quite get the angles on the feathers to complement each other right.  Next time!

Sparkle!  Feathers!  Tacky! 

Since I do sensitive HR stuff I have to do all my own filing and can't pawn it off on anyone else at work.  Which sucks. I've been threatening my co-workers with a Friday Filing accessory of some sort for several months.  I considered hats, wigs, even wore a crazy enormous necklace once to make my dutiful filing of important documents more palatable so this madness will actually be worn.  I make no apologies!  Filing is boring.  I'll do whatever it takes to entertain myself.

Notes on the project: 
Feathers are messy.  And I don't know how to use them properly.  I read all the directions on how to thin them, how to curl them, how to shape them, etc., but all I ended up doing is making them shorter and then randomly gluing them to felt.  Oh well! 

Cost:  Less then 40 cents of stiff felt, a hair clip I already owned, left over rhinestones from Cleopatra, and probably $2.00 worth of feathers (more then a few of them were sacrificed as I learned how to cut them).  Took me probably 40 minutes of fooling around.

Verdict:  My sister was surprised that it didn't took entirely insane once it was in my hair... which I guess I'll count as a conditional success?  I'm totally going to make more regardless.  Feathers for everyone!


Next Up:  Nanowrimo 2011 is currently barreling through November.  In case you are unfamiliar, this is National Novel Writing Month where you are challenged to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  I'm including it here as writing is one of my preferred crafts and probably the only one that has ever led to actual achievement... though not with Nanowrimo.  I'm a repeat failure at that.  I've participated with varying degrees of dedication for the past eight years.  EIGHT YEARS, people!  And no, I have not finished a novel yet.  Currently, my Nano-novel for 2011 is at 5,000-odd words, so I'm considerably behind on my word count, but I'm not stressed about it. 

I want this so very, very much.  You can order them restored and ready to type!  Not cheap though and I cannot possibly justify purchasing it. 
Boo.  :(

Notes on the project:
Titled "The Diplomat's Peace" the story is a sci-fi adventure (my first time taking a swing at that genre) about a boy named Oliver who discovers he's not entirely human when his mother dies of an alien-specific virus endemic to the galaxy.  Forced to take refuge among those who would undermine human dominance, he is quickly put to use as a spy, but his divided loyalties put him at risk from both sides.  

Cost:  About a gazillion dollars at the coffee shop.

Verdict:  Likely to fail. I'd have to write like 3,000 words a day for the rest of the month including Thanksgiving. 



Then there is tap dancing which is probably more of a talent then a craft, not that I have any, but I always wanted to do it and so I am. Yes, I am 35 and no, I don't care how I might look. 

When I put these away in my closet I realized that I own 5 pairs of black patent leather shoes.  I think I've been trying subconsciously to get myself some tap shoes for years now.

Notes on the project:
I am not very good.  At all.  But it is so much fun!  I begin formal lessons in January.  So far all I've mastered is the Tap-Touch-Shuffle, but it looks like real dancing.  There will be no video uploads for the blog.  Sorry to disappoint!

Cost:  $40 for the shoes, $0 for clothes as I have endless amounts of workout clothes that can double as dancewear with a pair of fishnets, and $80 for the first set of lessons. 

Verdict:  more fun then exercise, I'll have to skip a Monday night spin session to go to the class and I can't decide if that makes it a life fail or a joy win.


Then I made this bracelet.   My kindergartner got in the car about two weeks ago and told me I was worth lots of rubies.  He'd learned the Biblical proverb at school: "Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies."  Really, outrageously sweet.  I then turned on the radio to hear, back to back, Alicia Keys, "A Woman's Worth" followed by Toni Braxton's "He Wasn't Man Enough For Me".  It was '90s R&B awesomeness.  I haven't heard those songs in forever! (Retro Lunchbox on Alice FTW!) Anyway, it stuck with me, the idea of rubies and value and not forgetting that a 5-year old boy (at least) thinks I'm amazing. 

I need to find my real camera, it has been missing now for like three months.  These photos are terrible.

You can't tell in these photos, but this is asymmetrical and far cuter in person. 

Notes on the project: 
crepe-back satin is a surprisingly easy material to embroider, though it does pucker a bit if you pull too hard, but the same can be said for cotton.  It is prettier in person, more depth and shimmer.  I enjoy embroidering and I'm going to do it more often I think.  It really is too bad that I can't draw.  I need someone who can draw for me!

Cost:  Free.  I had everything on hand.

Verdict:  I also need a stamp that says "Validated!".  You know, like they have for parking? I can go around stamping other women's hands with it when I seem them doing something they don't actually need to be doing.  I think the stamp will accessorize nicely with the crazy feathers and tap shoes.

Halloween 2011: Homemade Kids' Costumes FINISHED!

 Halloween did not go smoothly this year.  My daughter and I are both sick.  Poor Abby has missed a week of school.  My husband lost me and was nearly convinced I'd been kidnapped (I was waiting for him at the end of our driveway... with a flashlight).  My costume is only 90% done on November 1st.  We only trick or treated about 6 houses in total.  It took us longer to drive into town. All in all, a poor showing considering the amount of forethought put into this holiday. That said, the kids sure looked great!

No jacket version with whip and idol.

Henry's costume was a huge hit at his school.  He had to leave the whip at home since it is technically a weapon, but he brought the legendary artifact, "The Glittering Gargoyle".

I tried to get Henry to make up an adventure to go with this "artifact" but his tale sounded suspiciously like the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. "And then there is traps!  And a big rock!"  He knows better then to mess with a classic, I guess.

This was made with a Dollar Store statue, some gold spray paint and about a thousand rhinestones.  And hot glue!  I burned the hell out of my hand before realizing it was way easier to spread the glue directly on the statue instead of trying to dot glue to the back of each tiny stone.  I'm an idiot. 

Indiana Henry prepares for adventure surrounded by his sidekicks.  His "girlfriend" is the mermaid on the end.  Dr. Jones is a ladies man.

Jacket version.  I have no idea why he is winking. He's a charmer!

The whip started life as a complicated five strand weave.   I was using a two lengths of yarn for each "strand" so that it would be thick enough.   This was a disaster that required a glass of wine before I started over.  I gave up on the 5-strand/pair approach quickly.  I ended up braiding two sets of three and then plaited them with another set of two strands of upbraided yarn to make it.   The handle is duct tape as you can see, (which was super stable and by far the easiest way to make a handle).  The tape was wrapped in black ribbon in an overlapping x-pattern at one point, but that did not last until today.  I'm too lazy to re-do it so you'll have to trust me that it looked fine. 

Pumpkins from the garden behind her... we never carved them.  We're slackers.

Snow White, while very ill, posed like a champ for these photos.  Her collar and cape were made without a pattern because, again, I'm an idiot.   I buy patterns and then just do what I want, apparently.  I've yet to follow an entire real pattern.  I alter the hell out of them despite the fact that I don't know how to sew.  I have no excuse!  Her accessory here is a tweeting blue bird like the ones that follow Snow White around.  Abby also has a plastic poison apple that did not make it into the photos.

Don't forget the sparkle shoes! 

The collar I drew freehand straight onto the satin and used standard interfacing on both pieces to make it stiff.  To get it to fold over properly, i.e. to frame her face but not block her vision, I sewed small pleats into each edge.  I used Velcro to attach it to the inside of the dress-  I sewed the prickly part to the collar and ironed in no-sew Velcro (soft side) into the dress.  If I'd been smarter I could have sewed it to the lining before assembling the bodice, but I didn't think of that. 

The cape, since I didn't follow the pattern, was super easy.  I seamed two rectangles of red stretch velvet together and used a simple hook and eye as a closure.  To keep it from falling over her shoulders and obscuring the laborious puff sleeves I tucked the edge into the back of the dress between the collar and the bodice- the fabric hooked a bit on the Velcro hidden back there and so didn't slip out.  The cape didn't serve to keep her warm since I didn't have it covering her arms, but it was nice enough here in California that it didn't matter.  The velvet draped really well and I'm glad I didn't use more of the cheap satin. 

A grand curtsy.

Notes on the projects:  Indiana Jones was easy, in part because I bought the pants, shirt and jacket... which is kind of the whole costume.  Really I only made the whip, satchel and idol.  But I did hunt down the hat!  Snow White was much harder and required a whole list of things I'd never done before, including (sort-of) using a commerical pattern and all that entails:  a tracing wheel and pattern paper, cutting notches and matching dots, etc.  Plus, the dress itself required me to sew darts, make sleeves and do insets all of which I'd never done before.  I also tried corded gathering for the first time which didn't work out and I was forced to take in the bodice (alterations!)  and use all sorts of materials I'd never worked with (velvet, satin, metallic trims).  If I made Snow White again using this bodice pattern I'd for sure raise the neckline and narrow the shoulder width.  Oddly, there was never any directions for sewing a seam up the back of the bodice which was weird, but I guess it is pretty clear that it needs to be done.  The true work was done by my housekeeper who cleaned up after me.  It's amazing how many bits of thread and scraps of fabric I can create making small children's clothes.

Verdict:  Boo!  Did I scare you?  Halloween rules.  Learned a ton making these costumes.

Cost:  I estimate these costumes cost me between 2,000 pesos and a gazillion euros.  Maybe 600 galactic credits?  I really don't know.  A LOT is the answer. 

Update on Cleopatra as soon as it's finished-finished!  It's crepe-back gold satin and bejeweled!  I know you can't wait.