From Old to New

I am going to interrupt the very behind blog to insert an accomplishment for me!  I love to sew.  I learned a long time ago as a kid making clothes for my Barbies.  This developed into a talent that I love.  I made my wedding dress, blessing dresses and regular dresses for my girls.  The more I do it, the more I am willing to accept challenges.  Sewing for a couple of interior designers has given me a great opportunity to try things that I wouldn't have otherwise: throw pillows with piping, roman shades, bolster pillows, 9 foot curtain panels, shower curtains, and cushions for a couch to name a few.  It is always a fun thing to try something new with someone else's money. 

I have had three experiences with recovering furniture. 

1. When Brent and I were first married, my grandparents gave us their old couches.  I bought some fabric and a staple gun and recovered them.  I didn't sew anything just covered it.  I look back now and wish I did it a little differently.  They did the trick for us then.   Good thing we had them when Wes was a baby.  There are pictures in his baby book of the couches.  It looks like we bought new couches when he was about 10 months old!  The old ones are long gone...given to the missionaries in Idaho. 

Cute baby Wesley, his daddy and Grandpa Prime

2. I made some new couch cushions for an interior designer in Salt Lake.  It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it.

3. Then a friend in Florida had a glider that she wanted to recover.  So we took on the challenge together with her mom.  I can't say that I did much of the sewing.  I did more of the directing and teaching of the project.  I thought it turned out pretty cute.

 When Wes was born I got a glider rocker.  I loved it.  I would rock and rock.  In fact, I rocked so much that the screws just popped off at the bottom.  So when we were expecting Janiel, we decided to get a rocker recliner.  It was awesome.  I could rock her to sleep and just put my feet up and sleep as well.  I enjoyed it a lot.  It went through all the rest of the girls.  But over time, the fabric got sticky, then peeled off.  It was kind of weird.  It sure looked ugly.  But it was still so comfy to sit in and worked great.  So we covered it with a blanket for a while.  We had a garage sale last week and there were no takers for the recliner.   I thought $15 was a steal!  Look!

 I'm glad that nobody wanted it.  Instead of taking it to the thrift store, I took on the project.  A trip to Joann's Fabric was a success.  I found some fabric in the flat fold section that was soft but strong. It had a similar feel to our couches which are microfiber.  The only problem was that I had to get it in three pieces.  I was a little worried that it might not be enough.  One worker told me I couldn't use a coupon on that fabric. But two others said I could, including the cashier.  They were having a coupon event so I was able to get all the supplies for 50% off.  So for $33 and 13 hours of labor...tada!

I just took it piece by piece.  I looked underneath and pulled out  the staples layer by layer.  Then I unpicked the old fabric and used it as a pattern.  Luckily the previous sewers marked a lot of things with notches. That made it really nice to line things up and make tucks and darts.  It went pretty smoothly!  Not all my projects do.  It is still comfortable to sit on and looks much better, if I do say so myself.  Project success makes me smile!