I am embarrassed to admit that it has been almost a month since my last blog post. I truly enjoy writing and sharing, but with extra people in the house, sometimes it gets a little "hairy", which translates to just plain hard. I have loved having our daughter at home, but she has now returned to school in California, and while I miss her terribly, things are a little quieter. A little quieter translates to more time to share projects and all the goings-on at home. Today I decided to re-visit the Makeover Monday theme starting with a super simple project that took only a couple of hours.
Recently I bought this footstool at an Estate sale for $5.00. I had no plans of where to put it, but for $5.00, I couldn't pass it up. I knew at the very least I could tuck it under a piece of furniture or in front of a smaller occasional chair. While I liked the shape of the legs, I was not crazy about the orangey stain.
And clearly, the fabric had seen better days.......like maybe 3o years ago????? A slipcover was in order. But first, I needed to address the legs.
I began by wiping all the wood down with this Liquid Sandpaper by Kean Strip. This is a relatively new product for me. I will say, it is great for removing a glossy or slick finish. I bought mine at Wal-Mart, but I'm sure you can find it at Lowe's and Home Depot, and it's so much easier than sanding!
I recently repainted a chair for my bedroom in Cathedral Taupe by Fusion Mineral Paint. I loved how it turned out and thought the footstool would look so cute paired with it.
So, I painted all the wood with two coats of Cathedral Taupe. If you have never worked with Fusion Mineral Paint, you might want to give it a try. The application is really nice and they have some great colors. This is not a sponsored post, I just like sharing good products.
In this picture, you can see how there is excess fabric at the four corners. I had this swatch of fabric leftover from a pillow I made for Claire's college room, and I thought this blended so well with the Cathedral Taupe, so I headed to Hobby Lobby and bought a yard of it. It retails for about $22 a yard, but I used my 40% off coupon. What would we do without that coupon??? A yard may sound like a lot for a tiny stool, but I knew I wanted to do a pleated skirt, and that always takes more fabric.
I began by draping the fabric over the stool, and cutting all the way around, leaving a 2" drop on all four sides.
In this picture you can see how there is excess fabric at the four corners.
To get a more tailored fit, rather than leaving or cutting the excess, I pinned and then stitched into place a pleat or dart at the corners. This step just provides a more professional rather than homemade look.
Next, I made the custom piping. For a detailed tutorial on how to make piping/cording, visit this blog post.
I pinned and then stitched the piping to the top of the slipcover.
And when I put the cover on the stool, yikes!!! On one side, it's like I stitched downhill!! And this friends, is why if you do much sewing, you have to have a seam ripper. When it comes to removing stitches and correcting mistakes, the seemingly nothing tool is your best friend.
I ripped out the sloping side, repinned, and restitched in a straight line. When I went to make sure it fit the stool, Miss Phoebe decided to make it her perch. Cats, they are such curious creatures. For a more in-depth explanation of how to attach the piping, visit the linked post above.
At this point, all that was left to do was to make the pleated skirt. Because I wanted my skirt to be close to 3" in width, I cut 6&1/2 " wide strips of fabric and sewed them right sides together, end to end, making one big long piece that was 2 and 1/2 times the circumference of the stool.
I pressed the seams open.
I then folded and pressed the long strip of fabric in half. This creates the 3&1/2" width pleat. The extra 1/2" is for the seam allowance.
Back at the sewing machine, I made the pleated skirt by folding the fabric toward the piece of cardboard. For more on how to make a pleated skirt, visit this post.
Once the pleated skirt was made, I pinned and stitched it to the top of the slipcover.
The final step was to trim the seam allowances, clip all of the threads, and Voila!!!
Stool and ottoman slipcovers are simple and can be completed in just a couple of hours.
I hope you have enjoyed this Monday Makover. As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you will visit again soon!!
Fondly,
Julie