I found this small loveseat during a trip through our local GW store a few months ago.
It had a great price and looked virtually unused. The frame was sturdy, the fabric clean (even though it was the wrong color!), and there wasn’t a stain or scratch on it.
I hoped it would fit into Alix and Kate’s room. Since they have loft beds, there isn’t a lot of seating space for them. They are sociable girls and love to have friends over, and they often invite the 3 little girls into their room to watch a movie together.
It was the perfect size for their small room and they loved it.
But of course the color of the fabric just wasn’t our style. But that’s easy to change….with drop cloth.
I knew this would be a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I could make a new slipcover, and at the same time teach Alix and Kate how to measure and sew a slipcover themselves. Hopefully, one day, knowing how to do this will be a help to them.
Before we cut the fabric, we talked about what we wanted the slipcover to look like. Details like whether to use piping on the seams, whether to make a ruffled vs. pleated skirt, how to do the panels on the cushions. It didn’t take long to figure out. And in the end we are all three very happy with how it turned out!
(the sofa isn’t crooked, the floor is!)
We even made a cute little pillowcase from remnants of an old tablecloth, for added comfort.
Now all they need is a sleepover and a few girlfriends and cousins to come try it out!
How cute! Very good idea. It's like they have their own little living room.
ReplyDeleteHa! That's exactly what I thought when I sat there! You need to come over and we will squish in together with all our girls and have a nice cozy chat!
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely precious!! I love the ruffled panels on the cushions...I've made a few slipcovers but haven't tried that yet. It adds such a feminine touch to the loveseat! Would LOVE a tutorial on the panels ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cindy! All I did was measure about twice the length of the boxing panels. The width of the panels was 6 inches (including 1/2 seam allowances for the top and bottom cushion pieces). Measuring from the back of the cushion, I took a soft tape measure and went all around the panel piece until I got to about 3 inches across the back on the opposite side. I doubled the length. So for these cushions, it was about 90 inches all the way around. I've don't this before and I don't measure the entire back panel - instead I start about 4 inches in on either side. I don't need the panel to go all the way around the cushion because I make the top "square" of the seat cushion piece long enough to fold over the part of the cushion that meets the sofa back, like an envelope. By doing this, I don't need an enclosure for the cushion - no zippers, no buttons, and for these small cushions - not even Velcro. So when I cut out the top and bottom of the seat cushion pieces, I make the top piece longer than the bottom by several inches. In this case it was around 8-10. I didn't need to bunch the boxing panel all the way around since it would only be visible across the front of the loveseat, so I started about 4 inches in on each side of the front of the cushions. I bunched it very tightly together, pinning as I went. To get even bunching, start by pinning both outer edges first, then pin the center. Then divide each section into halves repeatedly, gathering and pinning it to the top seat cushion piece. Stitch it and then do the same thing again along the other edge of the boxing panel, now pinning it to the bottom piece of the seat cushion. Stitch it, cutting away excess fabric at the corners and double stitching each of the corners - top and bottom pieces - to reinforce the stitching. Now you should be able to slide the seat cushion into the cover, folding over the top piece in back. We kept this one simple - no piping or any other "frills" b/c we thought the bunching (or shirring/gathering) was enough.
DeleteI hope this is clear! :) If you were here, you would see me stop typing every other sentence so I could "show" you what I mean with my hands. If you need more pictures - I am happy to send some. It isn't complicated - just time consuming. I tried to pretend like I had nothing else in the world to do except make these seat cushion covers. That way, I wouldn't hurry.
Oops - just noticed I forgot to add that after measuring the length of the panel around the cushion - which was about 90 inches - I "doubled" it up to around 140 inches or so. Since the bunching/shirring doesn't need to go all the way around the seat cushion, I didn't think it needed to be exactly doubled.
DeleteMake sense?!
Love the rushing or shirring on the edge! How innovative! Will definitely keep that on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Mary!
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