Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I am Sewing Again! Starting on those Printed Chair Covers...

I mentioned in my NY shopping blog that I was in love with these printed linen chair covers I found in Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic store in Soho (isn't the printed crown on the chair back lovely?)
Anxious to get started making my own, I headed to Joanne's Fabric over the weekend. I found some great "faux linen" to use, this is going to help save a significant amout of cash since I need to make six covers for our dining room table.  I am really hoping the chair covers will add some more style and brighten up the look of our dining room.  However, I'm still unsure of what designs we will use on the back, but it will most likely be numbers or even a fun vintage design... feel free to send any ideas my way!
Caffeinated and feeling ambitious I got started cutting the fabric into the 2 pieces (one for the chair back and one for the seat).  I will be sure to get more detailed pictures of all the steps when I work on the next 5 covers.  Oh, and yes, I have to use our dining room for my sewing space for now since we haven't put together our office yet (boo).
 After cutting the fabric (and putting on my pajamas I guess, whoops), I got started sewing the covers.  I admit, I haven't sewn in a while, so I was nervous.  I used to sew clothes all the time, but nothing for home other than curtains and pillows. So this is a challenge for me! 
 After about 2 hours, I was able to complete one.  I learned a lot along the way, so I am guessing the next one will be much easier and faster (and the quality will most likely turn out better than the first- I hate how that works!).  Here is the chair before...
Here is the after with the cover!  I can't wait to add numbers or letters to the back!  The fabric looks plain white in this photo, but the texture is similar to my linen blog background with hints of greys and browns. 
I'm going to try and crank out 2 more of these this week and 3 more next week.  After finishing I will get started on the designs for the back!

8 comments:

  1. You are so talented. How do you feel about helping me make slipcovers for my couch?

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  2. Fantastic little blog you have! I found you from Layla's site. I recently relocated to Alabama but was raised in North Minneapolis (46th and Colfax N.) and lived there for 19 years. I read through your earlier posts and am so glad you decided to purchase in NoMi. It's a great neighborhood with lots of charm. It saddens me that people are so fearsome and skedaddle to far off "lands". I'll definitely be bookmarking you to get inspiration for our home.

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  3. OMG...I'm very impressed! I wish I could sew!

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  4. Hi Lora, thanks for commenting, nice to hear from fellow NOMI's! I think there is a trend of things changing around here, there are a lot of young couples and families that have moved here to be closer to downtown and still have a house and yard, and the homes in NOMI are so beautiful! I have great neighbors and I love the rich history of the area. I still get a giggle out of people that think it is scary or something that I live in North- just makes me think they have never been here at all! I hope you check back, I have a few blogs about the neighborhood and maybe some volunteering coming soon!

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  5. For a gal who hasn't sewn in a while you did a GREAT job! Can't wait to see them all done!

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  6. They look fantastic!! Wow two hours!! Thats crazy fast!! I don't even think I could cut it right in two hours!!! I need to learn, I have to chairs in my basement screaming my name but I'm scared!!

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  7. After spending 3 hours meticulously measuring my dining room chair, cutting out wrapping paper & sticky taping it together to draft a pattern, I had an idea and typed "DIY Chair Covers" into Google.... And found this article!!!! WHY didn't I do that at the start?! LOL

    Thanks so much for this article, I'll give it a go this week! xxo

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kelly! Your comment made my day! I love hearing if my tutorials work or help people, glad you found it. Let me know how it goes or email me if you have questions!

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