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Dry clean only fabric
- Thread starter kaitie
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I have one, but it's still a pain in the ass.
Mostly just because it takes the extra time to sew two pieces together, then sew them together again, and so on. The zippers are for the cushions, which I think work best with zippers. I'm going to use velcro on the slipcover itself. Besides, I don't have to buy the zippers. I'm just ripping them out of the old cushions and reusing them.
I did take before pictures, embarrassing as they are. I actually cleaned the sofa before I started working on the slip cover with my new carpet cleaner's upholstery tool. It did a pretty great job, so I wish I'd taken the before pictures after I did that just so it didn't look so grimy. I've already ripped apart a couple of cushions, though, so that's out of the question.
Did I mention I'm using striped fabric? So far I've managed to work it out, but I do have to admit that I didn't appreciate fully how much work goes into matching stripes.
That said, I've managed to (I think) line up the first cushion with the lines on the slipcover itself, so woohoo for that. Now to do the other three haha.
Matching patterns is always fun. I made curtains for our new bedroom's big bay window this year: there are four of them, they're floor-length, and each one is just over 3m wide. Not only is the pattern (botanical prints on a duck-egg blue background) matched across all the curtains, I put a border on them all with two colours of silky edging on them too, which also had to match all the way round the bay window.
I like to make things difficult for myself. (And I still have to finish the bottom corners of the curtains.)
I like to make things difficult for myself. (And I still have to finish the bottom corners of the curtains.)
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I've actually been having fun with it. I knew it would be a challenge, but I hadn't thought of all the pieces that had to line up. It's like a puzzle, though, that I have to sort out. I'm looking forward to putting the skirt on the bottom edge. I'm going to do some pleats there, too, and line that up, so it should be fun. Going to see if I can finish up the second arm today. The cushions might still take some time, but if I can get this part done, I can start working on the skirt, which in some ways will be easier.
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Hey guys! Update--I might actually finish this thing this weekend. Yaaay finishing. I didn't get to work on it for about a month, so my couch has been dismantled lol. Luckily it's mostly the dog's couch when we don't have company over, and they don't mind.
That being said, I've got a question for anyone out there who has done something similar before.
I'd like to make about four throw pillows to go with it. We don't have any at the moment, and I think if I get some that are matching, they'll look great.
As I want to be able to wash these, I'm going to opt for the making a cover to go over a pillow form rather than a filled pillow. What I'm not sure about is the best way to go about this. I've done pocket pillows before, but would that work well for a sofa? Would it be better to make one with a velcro closure at the bottom or something of that nature?
I want something that looks nice but is also durable and not likely to come apart easily, but that I can also remove without any problems for washing. Any tips?
Yaaay finishing. I didn't get to work on it for about a month, so my couch has been dismantled lol. Luckily it's mostly the dog's couch when we don't have company over, and they don't mind.That being said, I've got a question for anyone out there who has done something similar before.
I'd like to make about four throw pillows to go with it. We don't have any at the moment, and I think if I get some that are matching, they'll look great.
As I want to be able to wash these, I'm going to opt for the making a cover to go over a pillow form rather than a filled pillow. What I'm not sure about is the best way to go about this. I've done pocket pillows before, but would that work well for a sofa? Would it be better to make one with a velcro closure at the bottom or something of that nature?
I want something that looks nice but is also durable and not likely to come apart easily, but that I can also remove without any problems for washing. Any tips?
I find velcro a little bit stiff and itchy for cushions: some of it always seems to get exposed, and other things stick to it too which your dogs might not like (we used to have a big blond dog with long hair, called Harry, who I once found with one of my son's coats stuck to his trousers by the velcro on the front).
You could do a button closure: you can cover buttons in the same fabric, or get large decorative ones, and make it a decorative feature. I did that recently and it looked lovely (I can't show pics, I'm afraid, as I gave the cushion to my mother). Or you could just do an envelope closure, like you get on pillow cases, or even a tie-close. There are all sorts of things you can do. Just make sure you allow plenty of overlap for the two layers, and you should be ok.
You could do a button closure: you can cover buttons in the same fabric, or get large decorative ones, and make it a decorative feature. I did that recently and it looked lovely (I can't show pics, I'm afraid, as I gave the cushion to my mother). Or you could just do an envelope closure, like you get on pillow cases, or even a tie-close. There are all sorts of things you can do. Just make sure you allow plenty of overlap for the two layers, and you should be ok.
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I've done pillows a lot of times.
I usually do a lapped zipper which is about 2 inches shorter than the shortest side of the pillow (if it's a rectangle), so you end up with about one inch at each end of the zipper which is just a seam. It's still easy to pull the pillow form out to wash its cover. Plus you can have seasonal or holiday covers if you are so inspired.
There's a small trick to it. You can't put in a zipper on a stitched-closed pillow cover. You have to do the zipper side of the pillow cover first. I usually stitch the ends which will be closed seams, then machine baste in contrasting thread where the zipper will go.
Tip: When you sew the ends, go around the corner and do about 1.5 inches of the seam at right angles to the end you stitched. Once the zipper's in, sometimes it's hard to do the corners nice and straight.
Maryn, who has given both her kids pillows with covers
I usually do a lapped zipper which is about 2 inches shorter than the shortest side of the pillow (if it's a rectangle), so you end up with about one inch at each end of the zipper which is just a seam. It's still easy to pull the pillow form out to wash its cover. Plus you can have seasonal or holiday covers if you are so inspired.
There's a small trick to it. You can't put in a zipper on a stitched-closed pillow cover. You have to do the zipper side of the pillow cover first. I usually stitch the ends which will be closed seams, then machine baste in contrasting thread where the zipper will go.
Tip: When you sew the ends, go around the corner and do about 1.5 inches of the seam at right angles to the end you stitched. Once the zipper's in, sometimes it's hard to do the corners nice and straight.
Maryn, who has given both her kids pillows with covers
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I hadn't thought about the unwanted things getting stuck on the velcro. Good point!
I like the lapped zipper look. Doesn't look too difficult to do, either. I think I'll try that out and see how it goes.
Now I just have to decide on the final fabric to go on my two small pillows. I picked out the contrasts for the cushion cover and the two large pillows (the cover will be reversible), but I want something fun to go on the others. I picked out a kind of crazy fabric that has the same colors, plus some red that I really like, but I'm not sure how the red will look in the room. I brought home a sample to see. I also found a "safe" choice that is basically off white with small blue flowers the same color.
I'd really rather go crazy than safe, though.
I like the lapped zipper look. Doesn't look too difficult to do, either. I think I'll try that out and see how it goes.
Now I just have to decide on the final fabric to go on my two small pillows. I picked out the contrasts for the cushion cover and the two large pillows (the cover will be reversible), but I want something fun to go on the others. I picked out a kind of crazy fabric that has the same colors, plus some red that I really like, but I'm not sure how the red will look in the room. I brought home a sample to see. I also found a "safe" choice that is basically off white with small blue flowers the same color.
I'd really rather go crazy than safe, though.
Katie, have you looked in any shops which sell quilting fabrics? The fabric is almost always 100% cotton and quite tough and resilient, and there are so many prints and patterns you're bound to find something you like. The cotton itself is a slightly coarser weave than most other lightweight cottons, but not so coarse that it would be unpleasant; and they sell fabric by the fat quarter, which usually measures about 20" by 22" which is a really useful size for cushion-making.
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I went to a quilting store yesterday, actually. I also checked the small pieces for quilters at three stores. The problem is that the blue is an odd one and it's hard to find something that goes with it. I found a couple of fabrics that had cool designs, but they all had a weird lime green in there that clashes with my walls.
The "safe" fabric I found is at the quilting store, actually. I think I'm going to go back for it later on. I picked up a little bit of the fun fabric, but I'm making small things out of that because it's expensive (even on sale) and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it.
The "safe" fabric I found is at the quilting store, actually. I think I'm going to go back for it later on. I picked up a little bit of the fun fabric, but I'm making small things out of that because it's expensive (even on sale) and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it.
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I made pillows with a decorated front and then on the back I just overlapped two peices of fabric so that I could put the form in. I didn't use anything to close it, it lays flat. You have to manipulate it some to get it in, but I liked the results.