leg dilemma - i need your opinion!

Do you remember my first slipcover I made? Remember those cute little wooden legs I found when I ripped the original old skirt off the chair?

Well I still love the legs, but the color was starting to bother me. I felt like the brown was too dark and heavy for the light paisley print. I found myself staring at them all the time wondering if I should paint them or possibly add a longer skirt to my chair or maybe just leave them alone?

So a few nights ago I grabbed my chalk paint and went to painting to see if I could improve them. But I'm still not sure. {Sorry about the pictures. It was night time so I had to use my flash. The white isn't quite that bright in real life}



So I need your help! What do you  think? Do you like the white? Should I sand the white off and go back to dark? Or neither? Is it maybe that there is too much leg showing and I need to add more skirt to my slipcover? I would love to know your thoughts!!

interrupting the slicover marathon for a very important message!

Friday I got my hands on my very own can of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. I am in heaven!

I have been listening to Marian and Shaunna and many others rave about Chalk Paint for several months. I've been dying to try this product, but there wasn't a stockist in my area and shipping for the paint is pretty pricey. I knew it would be worth it, but I didn't have a specific piece of furniture in mind that needed painting so I decided to be patient and wait until I actually had something to paint.

But then I received an email from my sister last week that there was a stockist in my area. I was beyond excited and emailed Stacey at Faux Studio Designs immediately. Turns out she had just placed her first order of Chalk Paint and was opening her new store on June 1st.

I still didn't have any new furniture to paint, but I couldn't resist heading over to meet her and check out the Chalk Paint. Stacy was awesome and I had a great time talking to her. I felt like I was meeting Birmingham's version of Miss Mustard Seed. We talked about painting furniture, buying old furniture, auctions, craigslist, yard sales, slipcovers and of course Chalk Paint!

I bought one quart of Old White because I know I will love that color on anything. I can't wait to try some of the blues and greys too, but I need to find some furniture first! Plus, I am making myself finish the slipcover before I start any new projects!

If you are in the Birmingham area check out Stacey's new shop, Faux Studio Designs! She is stocked with Chalk Paint plus she offers furniture painting classes and she paints custom pieces too.

She's located at 2116 Old Montgomery Hwy Suite B in Pelham.

I finished the arms and the seat of my slipcover tonight. Post on those coming next!

I might be crazy....

Last night at 11:30 pm (I must have been delirious) I ordered 15 yards of white cotton duck

(great picture, I know)

to make a slipcover for this hideous thing

What have I gotten myself into?!

Adventures in Slipcovering - The Finale!

I have finally finished my first slipcover!

Can you believe that is even the same chair? I was sort of shocked when I did the side-by-side comparison!

This has definitely been my biggest project undertaking thus far. Thank goodness for Miss Mustard Seed! I feel forever indebted to her and and her video tutorials!

My Mom and my washable, blue, fabric marker deserve a shout out too - couldn't have completed this project without them either!

My previous slipcover posts were only pictures of my prototype made with canvas drop cloth. So here are a few pictures during the process of making the real deal. * Just a note. Sorry most of the photos aren't that great. I snapped them very quickly as I was working on this project. Since I have a toddler at home I was usually working after bedtime so the lighting was never great.

Here is the beginning. Just laying out the fabric and cutting the pieces.

Here's where the blue fabric marker came in handy. I had a hard time pinning in some areas, especially the little crevices and around curves. For the crevices, I would push each piece of my fabric into the crease and draw a line with the marker. Then I would match up the two pieces and pin along the my blue line. On the cushions I used my marker to mark all the rounded corners because I found it impossible to make a straight pin form a rounded corner. How Miss Mustard Seed does this without a fabric marker I have no idea. She is magical.

See the faint blue lines below? And it washes right out when you wash the slip cover. Or if you dab some water on it.

Here is a close up of the front arm piece. It's the only piece on the body of the chair that I piped. Piping and I have a love-hate relationship. I didn't have to use my seam ripper once during this project until I got to the piping. Ugghhh. I am glad I only piped the arms and the cushions. Any more piping and I would have thrown the whole chair and the slipcover through my dining room window.

Here is the completed body of the slipcover. I was pretty happy with the body. I am so glad I did a prototype first. I really learned a lot and this second time around my seams met much smoother and whole body just looked more neat and clean.

I did not do a prototype for my cushions for several reasons. One - I didn't have enough drop cloth and two - I have sewn pillows and I thought sewing cushion covers would be similar. Well, I guess they would have been without that darn piping! Looking back I wish I would have done a prototype. I think if I had I would have decided to cut the size of my cushions down slightly before making my real slipcover.

Below is a picture with the top cushion. It's just fits a little too tight on the sides. I knew it was a tight fit when I cut the foam, but I thought the covers would pull the foam in a little making a perfect fit. I was wrong. My cushion looks much taller than the old one too. However I swear I traced the old cushion exactly so I don't know how that happened.

Here it is. Finally complete - both cushions piped, skirted hemmed, all done.

This is not a perfect slipcover, by any means. There are a lot of mistakes. A LOT. And if I look at some of the details up close I see all the imperfections. But if I stand back and look at the big picture I am pretty pleased. Especially considering this is my first slipcover and really my first big sewing project. Before this, I was the girl who sewed so infrequently that I had to get my manual out every time I hemmed a pair of pants to remind myself how to thread the machine. :)

The color of the fabric looks more pale in these pictures than it is in true life. At least on my computer.

If you are a first time slipcover maker and you decide to go with a patterned fabric, this is the one to go with. It's very forgiving when it comes to matching. I really didn't match up the pattern on any of my pieces and I don't feel like you can tell.

I am really happy with the back. I love the bows. I decided to go with this option because I thought it would make for a better fit and would be easier to take on and off when I have to wash it. And with a wild toddler in my home I definitely plan on washing it a lot.

The picture below is probably the most accurate, as far as color. Still not perfect, but better than the rest.

And just for fun....the before and after one more time. :)


Next slipcovering project......my couch! Wish me luck!

Linking up with Miss Mustard Seed, of course!!

Adventures in Slipcovering Part III - The Prototype

So....I have not revealed the fabric that I am using for my slipcover yet because I thought it would be a fun surprise. But I will say this - it was a custom order and it took quite a few calls and about a month to get a hold of it. Needless to say, if I mess it up (and the chances are high since this is my first slip) I would be really upset and it would not be easy to replace.

So, I spent $13 on a giant canvas drop cloth and went to town on a prototype to get some practice first! Here are pictures of the prototype progress.

I really can't continue this post without mentioning Marian from Miss Mustard Seed, for many reasons.
1) I don't think I would have been brave enough to start this project without her amazing slipcover "webinar" series she did (you can get it right on her website for free).
2) She gave me the awesome idea to try first with a cheapo canvas drop cloth.
3) I just think she is generally awesome. If you haven't checked out her blog then you are truly depriving yourself. Go check her out now! You won't regret it!

And just so you know I wasn't lying about my love for Miss Mustard Seed and her slip tutorial, here is a picture of my little set up. Chair in living room (so jealous of all of you with craft rooms), lap top with in viewing distance so I can watch above mentioned tutorials while I work.

Very beginning stages. All fabric is cut and the pinning is about to begin.

I skipped a lot of steps here because if I showed them all it would be a zillion pictures and my post would never compare to MMS's tutorial.

So instead I have skipped to this picture where I have sewn the top half of the slip - the back, the front, the arms and the sides. This is actually the first sewing project I have ever done that I actually enjoyed. I really did have fun with it.

Here is everything above plus I attached the seat to the rest.

And here is everything plus the front "apron" as she calls it. Don't mind that ugly floral pattern peeking through. That wasn't supposed to happen but I ran out of canvas drop cloth so that was as long as I could make it. My real slipcover will cover all of the floral - promise ;)

And here is it with the cushion pieces added on so you can see exactly which parts are going to show once the cushions are in place. I also didn't have enough canvas to cover the cushions, but I've done a lot of pillow sewing so I think I will be Ok on those without a prototype.

Overall I am really pleased with the finished prototype. It is not perfect by any means, but I am OK with that. And it's actually much better than I thought it would be so that is just icing on the cake!

What do you think? Are you excited to see what the real fabric will be? Have you ever used drop cloth for a slipcover before? Did you check out Miss Mustard Seed? Did you love her as much as I do??

Linking up with A Beach Cottage for Good Life Wednesdays
and with none other than

Adventures In Slipcovering

The little man is a cutie, but the chair....not so much. It's hard for me to believe that at one point in time someone thought this floral pattern was actually attractive.

So here goes nothing. I may be getting in over my head. My plan is to make a slipcover for this ugly duckling. I have *some* basic sewing skills, but working with furniture is a new endeavor for me.

Of course, I've done my research and I've read and watched lots of online tutorials. They all tell me the same thing - for your first project pick a chair with clean, simple lines. And cushions that are in good condition. Well I didn't exactly get to pick my chair. It sort of picked me. It's my husbands' grandmothers' chair. It's been sitting in my in-laws basement for over 5 years. Kyle has refused to part with it and instead has insisted that one day he will spend the money to have it reupholstered. And then, as luck would have it, I went and got all obsessed with DIY and design blogs and of course he jumped at the chance when I told him I thought I might try to slipcover something.

Clean, simple lines? Not exactly. I didn't notice it until we got it home, but it has this back cushion that looks like a separate cushion, but is actually attached. As you can see above, it doesn't make for a very clean line at the top of the chair. Cushions in good condition? Not exactly. Even if it did make a clean line, the back cushion is lumpy and deflated. And the bottom cushion isn't much better. After a lot of hemming and hawing last night and a brief conversation with my mom who has slipcovered before, I had decided there was no way I could slipcover over this back cushion. So what's a girl to do?

She gets out her scissors!

I was a little nervous what I might find when I started cutting. But I was pleasantly surprised that the back cushion actually came away from the chair quite easily and in one piece.

I know that looks like a really disgusting stain on the back of the cushion, but I believe it is just the old, dried glue that was helping hold it to the back of the chair.

I found a lot of dust and what I believe to be a Christmas ornament hook during my demolition.

My husband confirmed that this chair did, in fact, sit right next to his Grandmothers' Christmas Tree every year.

Ever since we brought this chair in to the living room this morning, my son thinks it's his personal throne. I had an impossible time taking pictures because he wanted to jump in every single one. When I texted my mom this picture and told her I had removed the cushion. She texted back and said "Is that burlap or horse hair?" Ha! Horse hair? Really, Mom? But apparently they used to use horse hair for cushion stuffing and insulation in walls. You learn something new everyday. It's burlap, by the way. Please excuse the dust and cobwebs. Aren't these little legs cute? Why would anyone hide them under that ugly floral skirt? I had originally thought I would make a skirt for my slipcover, but I can't hide these cuties. So I busted out my scissors again and cut that old skirt right off. Anyone want some beautiful, floral fabric scraps? You know you do.

Ahh, I like her so much better already after removing that skirt.

This week I will be making a trip to the fabric store to buy foam and a few other items needed for new cushions. I will keep you posted as I attempt to transform this beauty. Follow along. You won't want to miss this adventure.

Have you ever slipcovered anything? Were you happy with the results? I'm more than happy to hear your tips!

I'm linking up with Miss Mustard Seed.