Entries in fabric (36)
Sun, 14 Mar 2010
My DIY sofa - completed at last
My DIY sofa is finally complete! I had agonized over what to do about fabric for cushion covers, which proved to be a bit tough since I had a forest backdrop to work around. Having never had to plan such a fabric venture before (since I'm not an interior designer, I see why folks hire them for stuff like this) walking into a major fabric store was a tad daunting. But I think my choices worked out OK in the end. I had asked my mom to make the covers for me (I have no clue how to sew) and she opted to send the pillows to her seamstress instead. Which turned out to be a brilliant idea, because her seamstress made covers for 13 pillows, 12 of which she did piping, and it only cost about $100. Yes, that's $100 CDN (!!!). I found a purple tie-dye-ish linen type fabric and knew I had to have it so I worked the other fabrics around it. I wanted all linens/linen blends because I love wrinkles. I'm considering dying the base cushion covers but will let them be for now (they get pretty dirty with 6 cats all over them constantly). I also switched rattan chairs and am using the white lime zebra print one in the living room now since it matches the green cushions. One project down, a zillion more to go (although I am trying to find a silver tray to replace that yellow one on my coffee table)...
Chesterfield makeover
Georgia wrote looking for some inspiration for a project: "I have inherited and begun to restore a lovely old chesterfield couch belonging to a recently deceased great uncle. It's a labour of love and I want to love it and pass it on after me. Do you have any images of restored chesterfields? I think I want to step away from that men's club vibe and modernise it somehow with the covering... any input would be amazing. I think I'm heading away from tufting though, in an effort to modernise and simplify (the upholsterer gave me the biggest smile when i decided this, less work for him). I'm not having much luck locating images of nice revamped chesterfields (leather or otherwise) without the tufting... do you know of any?"
Now I don't have a photo of Georgia's chesterfield, but the photo below is what I always envision when I hear the word chesterfield. Leather, black (or brown) with thick rounded arms and lots of tufting in the back.
I was a bit disappointed I've got to say that she may forgo the tufting, because I think the tufting is the best part, but if it means keeping your upholsterer happy and your wallet a bit thicker... Anyway, it was difficult finding photos pf chesterfields without tufting, so below I've included a wide variety of photos to inspire Georgia. Some aren't quite chesterfields but they have fabulous upholstery, and some are tufted but you'll just have to imagine the upholstery without the tufting. I am envisioning velvet, maybe charcoal grey for it's versatility since this is going to be a piece passed along. I do have to say that the first one below has to be one of the most incredible chesterfield-like sofas I've ever seen. I'm not sure about the lavender but the unfinished style is totally knock-your-socks-off drop-dead gorgeous.
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| Angus McRitchie | Lucinda Symons |
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| Sean Myers | Domino |
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| Suzy Hoodless | The Rug Company |
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| elledeco | Joe Schmelzer |
