Monday 26 September 2011

Handmade Monday - White Linen Transformation - The Finale (Part 3)

Good morning everyone happy Handmade Monday and a warm welcome to some new friends. I have been to visit your lovely blogs already, which was no mean feat this weekend let me tell you, when I lost the ability to 'comment', all sorted now thankfully. There are some great ideas out there at the moment.

Today I have the final episode in a series entitled 'White Linen Transformation' (or a before and after shot of a chair.)  If you're interested look here for Part one and Part two. My very good and very lovely friend is slowly turning her sitting room into an inviting oasis of cosiness (not that it wasn't in the first place mind) and as a finishing touch she asked if I would make a slip cover for a much beloved chair of hers.


So I took a big, no make that massive, no humongous GULP and said "I'd love to." It was a little challenging as I've never done one before and was a little out of my comfort zone. I read up a little, thought about it alot, and finally produced my first ever slip cover.


Lets have a closer look....

The cover is trimmed with piping........



........and I lined the skirt as I thought it needed a little more weight around the bottom (my curtain making skills helped me here).



I finished the back with a side velcro fastening for ease when slipping the cover on and off.




I'll zoom in a bit for a better look....


I learned new terminology like 'tuck in allowance' which basically helps the cover to sit tight and not move around when the chair is in use and discovered new equipment  like 'T-pins', which I didn't have but would consider buying if I needed to make more slipcovers, as my poor little dressmaking pins couldn't really cope.

Now remember this from last week........my little tease........?



Here's a few more......


I felt the chair looked a little barren and as I had some fabric left over, I made a little cushion to go with it. A piped cushion embellished with crocheted flowers and those gorgeous vintage market buttons.


It just helped to finish it off.

I did get a great deal of pleasure from using my existing skills and applying them to something different and learning new things at the same time and it looks just right in it's new home.  Just in case you're interested this book helped alot.

Courtesy of Amazon

Incidentally, as I started this project my eldest came in from school and said "Hey, that's really good!" but rather than feeling a warm glow of self satisfaction and pride in my work, his comment made me a tad deflated, as at the time I hadn't actually done anything to the chair, just stood it on my table for ease of working, without a piece of white linen in sight! I rest assured that he must have a keen eye for a good piece of furniture.

But I feel I must do something Christmassy now. I'm seeing lots of gorgeousness on all of your blogs and think I have a lot of catching up to do, but not of course before popping over to Wendy at 1st Unique gifts who has a brilliantly personalised gift to show us this week, I wonder what the other ladies have done?

Keep forgetting to say thank you to Sam at Sconchtextiles  for featuring me in her Folksy Friday a couple of weeks ago. Thank you Sam, make sure you visit her blog soon.




Happy Sewing!!!



19 comments:

  1. the chair looks great I picked up a couple of chairs about dare I say at least 3 months ago and was going to do the same sort of thing to them but have not got round to it thanks for the inspiration xxxxxx

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  2. OOh the cushion looks really classy, and finishes the chair off beautifully, I'd never have the patience to do all that x

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  3. Brilliant - well done. I particularly like the flowers on the cushion - but all lovely.

    Jill

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  4. Hello - very impressed with the chair cover!

    Thank you very much for the blog mention :)

    Sam x

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  5. What a great chair cover, the piping must have been difficult.

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  6. What a brilliant post and brilliant project. I love the finished chair and am impressed you added the cushion (embellished and all!).

    Your tips will come in handy for me as I'm planning to re-cover a sofabed (yes, I know!!) I got from Freegle, which will live in my new office/spare bedroom. It will have to wait until quieter times in January and will probably take me forever. I'm thinking the velcro tip will come in very handy and I'll look into that book too.

    Thank you!!!

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  7. Gosh Caroline that is gorgeous! I love the little buttons you made for the cushion - you could add them on so many other things and they would look great. If my sewing machine would work better I'd certainly have a try of more sewing (think I possibly need a new machine as its quite old now.)

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  8. The chair alone is a beautiful job but you were right to add that lovely cushion with its crochetted flowers. It wouldn't look out of place in any home.

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  9. I love the cushion and the chair cover. Very very beautiful!

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  10. Well done with the chair cover, you have made a fantastic job of it. Love love love the crochet flowers on the cushion, it looks really classy.Your friend must have been so pleased with it.

    LH
    x

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  11. Fabulous job, I'm super impressed! I have a roll of fabric in my garage waiting to do the same thing to a chair in our lounge. The tutorial I found was on Pinterest - hope it works out as well as yours!!!

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  12. By the way, thank you for your comment. I've just about stopped leaping - they've even mentioned me on their Face Book page - Woohoo!

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  13. So elegant, well done and love the flowers on the cushion

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  14. That's SUCH a transformation - well done. Bet your friend is thrilled. Matching cushion is really cute too with the pretty little flowers - so simple, so stylish.

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  15. Gorgeous... a beautiful makeover, so elegant. I wouldn't know where to start making a slip cover, I can tell that it would be so much more difficult than I may imagine! Your friend will be so thrilled I'm sure, especially with such a lovely little cushion to go with it!xx

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  16. Hello Caroline:
    Gosh, your chair slipcover looks very professional indeed!! We should have had no idea where to start, there are so many elements involved in creating loose covers for furniture. However, the final result looks wonderful and we are certain that your friend must have been thrilled.

    And, the cushion, an inspirational touch. It really does make the chair look as if it is beckoning one to sit and rest awhile!!

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  17. A great post, I enjoyed reading it, I love the cover and the shape of the cushion is lovely, it all looks co elegant.

    Jan x

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  18. This is absolutely lovely. wish I had the time to make covers like this!

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  19. Well you're all quite right - I am more than thrilled! The chair looks SO elegant in its corner and the cushion, which was a total and delightful surprise, looks absolutely perfect with it. The only problem is that my sofa covers are being shown up now... er, Caroline...?! Vx

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