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From: mommydionne
Date: 10-19-2006, 12:32 PM (1 of 14)
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I'm considering making slipcovers for my living room furniture, over the past 9 years the kids have destroyed it and are still in search and destroy mode so there is no point in getting new stuff, I have a book on it, so I'm looking for tips, ideas, don't do this cause it doesn't work stuff, Rather plain sofa and a "chair and a half" and a rectangular ottoman, will likely pipe it, all cushions (including the backs) are removable so that may make my life easier. t'anks a bunch Jeanette
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User: mommydionne
Member since: 01-08-2004 Total posts: 838 
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From: beachgirl
Date: 10-19-2006, 02:34 PM (2 of 14)
I'm really no help to you at all on this project. Just want to say I admire you for taking the plunge. Many moons ago I did couch cushions on a Danish modern set & those turned out great. Doing an over stuffed piece I haven't attempted simply because I don't want to mess up a lot of expensive fabric. I do know to make a muslin cover first & to pin the fabric wrong side out. If that fits great then that's your pattern. At least that's what the books say that I have read. Sounds simple enough but o 'Oh to ruin all that expensive fabric ". I dearly hate those Sure-Fit things. They don't fit so good & kids can mess them up real fast without even trying. I'll be watching this post & maybe take the plunge. Couch is in great shape but tired of the design.
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User: beachgirl
Member since: 08-31-2004 Total posts: 615 
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From: Sancin
Date: 10-19-2006, 04:17 PM (3 of 14)
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Jeanette - I am hoping to do the same thing but to prevent a new light coloured chesterfield from wearing out thanks to an intractable dog. And a chair that does not quite match in colour and cries out for a slip cover. I watched my grandmother and her sister make slip covers every couple of years for furniture in our house. It did not seem difficult. The biggest difficulty being handling the amount of heavy fabric as they did not make muslins. Note I said I plan to .... I have already purchased the material. Several years ago I purchased some very cheap 1 inch squared fabric, simply as it was available and on sale, from Fabricland to make a muslin, but could not find any fabric I liked so didn't even make a muslin. Last week Fabricland had a bin of heavy cream fabric in 10 meter bolts. I brought a slip home to check and discovered that the colour does look OK and I believe the fabric to be a mix of cotton and linen. Fabricland doesn't alway list the fabric content and I definitely wanted it to be washable. I have purchased slip covers (SureFit) in the past and found the chintz type of fabric too lightweight to hang well and look well. And while they did wash well they got a little dingy looking after washing. I would love to say I would sew along with you Janette but I am not sure when I will do these due to other plans - I just got the fabric because it suddenly became available. I have several friends who have heavy cotton slip covers and they love and wash them frequently. I now have to preshrink the 16 meters (1x10M and 1x6M lot). I don't anticipate any problems either making the pattern or sewing the covers other than bulk - which may in fact be a problem to me d/t arthritis in my hands and elsewhere. I anticipate it will require greater skills than making drapes or curtains and about same level of difficulty as fitting something like a suit. As my chair already has binding I haven't decided whether bindings on slip cover may be a difficulty. I am also going to do an ottoman and I have that one stripped down as I needed to replace the top cushion. I guess the purpose of this message is to give you courage to begin!!  Good luck and if you start before me let me know. As I will if I start before you. One hint I did get was to put either dowels or rolled paper along the back of the covers to keep them from easily coming out.
*~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895 
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From: Magot
Date: 10-19-2006, 05:19 PM (4 of 14)
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I've made covers for the dining room chairs and my "I wish I thought of that early enough" moment was scotchguarding. Damnably hard to wash and tomato doesn't come out. I have even considered that silicon spray you put on tents and suade shoes to waterproof them! You don't want your hard work going down the tubes so soon after you will have wrestled those covers on.
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626 
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From: Cindy Lou
Date: 10-19-2006, 05:25 PM (5 of 14)
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Hello everyone,just thought I'd put my 2 cents In about the slipcovers.Last year I bought some very beautiful fabric from Hobby Lobby and got It half off.I had originally planned to re-upholster my living room chair.But the more i thought about It the more scared I got about cutting the fabric. So then I got the idea of making slipcovers. Still haven't cut the fabric yet.Just waiting til I feel brave enough...LOL... I've done a little web surfing on making your own slipcovers and still haven't gotten the nerve up to start. If anyone has any Ideas on this or even a web site they would like to share....I'd really appreciate It...Blessings,CindyLou
"Life Is A Coin,You Can Spend It Anyway You Like,But You Can Only Spend It Once."
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User: Cindy Lou
Member since: 10-13-2006 Total posts: 16
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From: mommydionne
Date: 10-20-2006, 08:39 AM (6 of 14)
I will definately make a muslin, I may even try that before purchasing the "real" fabric, there is also a good series of articles in threads regarding slipcovers, very step by step, the book I have (checked it out again) has pretty pictures etc but not enough detail, if one was not an experienced seamstress it would be very frustration, looks too "homemade" The threads articles are written by someone who does this for a living, very professional results or as she said, "I would be out of business" I'm going to swing out to Fabricland today (wonder if they will honour my Fabricville membership the companies have the same website hmmmm) Scotch guarding... good idea!! Jeanette
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User: mommydionne
Member since: 01-08-2004 Total posts: 838
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From: lsoutherla
Date: 10-20-2006, 04:31 PM (7 of 14)
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I've slipcovered before and it's something I don't really enjoy doing. I bought a cheapo vintage stuffed armchair and after placing it in the dining room and roaming around it for a week or two I proceeded to dive in. The fabric was my Mother's - something she had bought back in the 60's when she had our sofa reupholstered - so I really didn't want to mess things up too much. Unfortunately, at that time in my life, I didn't do much researching and had the (still have to a lesser degree) tendency to just jump in. The top of the arms and the back were one piece that resembled a ski slope. It also had a T-cushion and the inside back was an attached square back (not a tight back). I think my only real problems (other than not knowing what the heck I was really doing at the time) was determining how much tuck-in ease to allow and how to piece the back to the inside arms. This was probably 8 years ago. It worked out well finally and has held up well over the years. I'll attach a pic one day soon. I've also slipcovered some childrens "armchairs" and parson type chairs. I recently wrestled a gorilla into a tutu. That is, I made some cushion covers for a wicker set that fit so tight. I mean I'm sitting on the floor fighting this thing! I couldn't tell if I was having a hot flash or broke a sweat! Ended up making over 47 yards of welting. Such fun. I actually prefer to upholster than slipcover now and have done several chairs (again I'll post one day if you guys want to see) and love seats, etc. If I had to offer any advice it would be to read everything you can and then some. Take measurements at least twice. I find that the books I have generally give instructions for a generic chair - never the style I'm going to work on and so I always do the following, and I know this sounds stupid, but feel the furniture - close your eyes and push your hands into the cracks and crevices. Get a vision in your head of how the pieces will go together. And, of course, do a muslim. Something I never did. Oh, instead of paper towel rolls or dowels down behind the sofa/chair seat, get a length of PVC. It's heavy enough to keep the fabric from slipping out. From what I've read of your posts, you sound very talented and you'll have it together in a snap. |
User: lsoutherla
Member since: 05-04-2006 Total posts: 72 |
From: VenusElaine
Date: 10-20-2006, 09:37 PM (8 of 14)
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I have made many slipcovers and my biggest ordeal was the constant fitting. I never made muslins, as the clients usually required their furniture back in a timely manner, and I refused to do it at all without the actual piece present. Some thought I could measure, wiggle my nose, and Viola! Slipcovers generally take 1 to 2 yards more fabric than actual reupholstering because of the tuck-in. The more generous that is, the better it stays in place. I agree with the post about PVC. It is larger and heavier than empty paper towel rolls or rolled paper. Washable slipcovers should be topstitched to one side, rather than welted, as most commercial (for upholstery)welt cord consists of paper fibers that will not withstand laundering. Cotton welt cord is available, but you should also consider that the welting is the first place that shows wear due to friction. It all depends on the look you want versus the longevity you need. VenusElaine "Always put as much effort into your marriage as you do into your wedding."
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User: VenusElaine
Member since: 10-22-2005 Total posts: 126 |
From: Sancin
Date: 10-21-2006, 12:14 AM (9 of 14)
Venus - thanks for the tip about the welting! I had wondered about that. I have made welting and it is boring and time consuming.  I think the look I am going for is Casual Chic... or whatever it is called this year. If they don't turn out it isn't a problem as essensially my chesterfield is only several years old. The wonderful heavy cotton/linen I bought was on sale 1/2 price. May be cheaper in time and fabric to get rid of the dog!
*~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895
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From: VenusElaine
Date: 10-21-2006, 07:18 PM (10 of 14)
It was called "Shabby Chic" when it first came out and caused me a big headache! I knew how to make it to fit, but the shabby is slightly loose, so how loose do you make it? Every customer had a different image of their final product!VenusElaine "Always put as much effort into your marriage as you do into your wedding."
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User: VenusElaine
Member since: 10-22-2005 Total posts: 126 |
From: mommydionne
Date: 10-22-2006, 05:14 PM (11 of 14)
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oooo that could be painful. I want tight covers, I made a muslin friday of the chair, different idea of sewing but not toooo bad. Fabricland starts thier buy one get two metres free sale tomorrow so I may head that way, I think it will take me close to 30m to do our large couch and "chair and a half" and ottoman. So the 66% off will make a huge difference in price, must remember to pick up some heavy duty needles, thread etc as well. I think I will make my own welting b/c this MUST be washable. My set is not bad b/c there are no T-shaped cushions (just plain old rectangles) and the back cushions are slouchy so they will be easy to do. I'm not doing a pleated skirt etc, just straight to the floor. I'm also doing a plain textured fabric (was scouting out fri am when I found out about the sale) therefore no repeats, no matching etc. working on the KISS principle here 
Jeanette
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User: mommydionne
Member since: 01-08-2004 Total posts: 838
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From: Sancin
Date: 10-22-2006, 07:17 PM (12 of 14)
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Venus - I meant Shabby Chic - I am having so much trouble remembering correct terms. And it really bothers me as I am a reader, have/had a large vocabulary and love words. Both my mother and my grandmother had dementia and I get worried every time I can't get the right word. My physician says to start worrying when I don't remember what things are or what they are for - but it is embarrassing. Tho some others seem to think it humorous with the terms I do come up with. Jeanette - 60 m seems like an awful lot of material - I only got 16M for a large chesterfield, ottoman and drum chair. And I got several extra M. The upholstery material was 120 M wide. You should probably check out what you want at FL, come home and recalculate before you buy - unless, of course, you are a math whiz and can do it in a store without paper, pencil and calculator! I hope they have a bin of that nice material at your FL as what you want sounds like what I purchased - but one never knows at FL. To make matters worse FL has different 'quality' stores. My fabric was $16.95/M and I got it 1/2 price. Make sure you prewash and shrink the cording for your welting. It is usually cotton and I have found it shrinks a lot - unfortunately I didn't preshrink last time I made some, and it made a mess, especially as I made the cover on the bias. Good luck and do keep us/ me informed. Especially about how long it takes. Didn't you say you were going back to work soon? *~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895
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From: mommydionne
Date: 10-23-2006, 10:40 AM (13 of 14)
30 m for the whole shebang but as my van is in the shop this may have to wait for later in the week, and I am estimating generously, my kids were laughing b/c what I do is measure off an area about 60" by 3m and lay out pieces to see how much I need, works for me. If it is wider I'll do the math. I like math, weird eh?? was playing math games with my 9 year old, they teach it in a manner that seems to make it harder. go figure,
Jeanette
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User: mommydionne
Member since: 01-08-2004 Total posts: 838
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From: Gaevren
Date: 12-05-2006, 07:21 PM (14 of 14)
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I recently decided I needed to make a slipcover as well. We have a lovely couch/loveseat set, but they're leather so I can't reupholster really. And my 4 year old took scissors to the arms of the loveseat...she said she was playing tic tac toe!! And the way the cuts are and the placement of the, it's not really repairable. Which kind of burns me because they were less than a year old. I found this tutorial on making a sofa wrap...like a slipcover but it looks much much easier. http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/t00029.asp |
User: Gaevren
Member since: 04-07-2006 Total posts: 9 |
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