The chair

Progress is definitely slow with slipcovers in my house. I am too easily distracted with the tasks of the day and of course all of the house "projects" that I just have to do because I am being artsy-fartsy.  Anyway, here is the chair that was all ripped and I covered it in an ugly purple sheet to hide the rips... And here it is now.
I finally made a nicer slipcover for it and placed in in the living room and it looks much better in my opinion.

 A little wrinkled....but still a big improvement

It is so wonderful to be able to re-create your old comfy furniture that you just love, but would never be able to sell on craigslist if you bought new stuff!

p.s. don't zoom in too closely or you will notice all of my mistakes!! Including the fact that I didn't finish hemming the chair before I took the picture! Nice yellow pins, Lydia !

Cute little cover up

I found this really soft knit fabric for $6 a yard and looove  the way this cover up came out!

My new slipcovers

Here is a picture of the first slipcover I ever made with just having done a lot of reading on the subject. I was really proud of it and excited to enter the world of re-making my furniture on the cheap! It had plenty of problems (like I never finished the back which was okay because it is against the wall) but it was a pretty good first try for very little money.
Then I purchased Shelley Anderson's video from Custom Slipcovers by Shelley and made a bunch more slipcovers. Some for my friends and family and some just for practice. Her video is so informative and gives you really professional results in a lot less time. Here is the latest slipcover (using her techniques) for the same loveseat...

I think that the difference is remarkable. Now.. there are plenty of imperfections like some piping is a little twisted, in some places the fabric is not perfectly smooth,  etc.etc. but as these are for me and my time to work on them is limited, I am okay with it! Nevertheless, Shelley's video is invaluable for anyone trying to do this and you will be really impressed with what you can make using her techniques! Thanks Shelley!

Amy's Settee

Sorry no before picture. A cute white denim slip on a cute piece of furniture. By the way this is the couch that her black cat sleeps on! Thank goodness it's washable!

Looks can be deceiving

Well, what I thought would be the easiest slipcover job so far turned out to be the hardest. I won't go into too much detail, but I ended up having to do them twice!  Anyway, in the end they came out great and I learned a lot!
 Here are the before pictures (sorry about the mess in that room!)

A modern sectional with 3 pieces- two larger end pieces and a corner piece

Well, between my customer moving house, the stiff fabric, the limited amount of time I was actually able to spend working with the furniture and my inexperience with pieces like these, my first attempt looked like this. You can see that the piping was all bumpy and the corners looked terrible!

Well, my client didn't like them either and asked if I could re-do them without the piping. She let me take the pieces home which made it so much easier!  Here is the end result.. (not every wrinkle was smoothed before the pictures were taken!)

one end piece

front seam of end piece (used the piping on the bottom)

back of end piece (sorry about the giant wrinkle)

corner front

other end

My growing art collection

Let me start by saying that I have a very talented family. I also have a very generous family. I currently have on display in my home, three paintings by three very talented men in my family. The amazing thing is that all of these guys are not only talented painters, but musicians too ( and I also know that there are a great many other things that they do). So, without any further delay.... here are some of my most favorite things!

This lovely painting was done by my uncle when he was only 12! He scoffs at it now and notices all of it's imperfections. We are always our own worst critic! I, on the other hand, LOVE it and am very proud to display it. There is also some funny thing he wrote to his mom on the back which makes it even more special in my opinion.

The next one is one by my step dad. He is a wonderful artist but unfortunately hasn't had much time to paint lately because of work. I look forward to when he can paint again. This is one of his many portraits that they have at their house. I somehow managed to beg this one off of them and it stands out beautifully in my bright kitchen.

The last one was a surprise gift from my other dad. He won first prize in a contest for it and it took him quite a long time to paint it as it is 5 feet long! It was a wonderful Christmas gift and I love looking at it when we sit down to eat!

 Here you can see how big it is!
I also have a sister and a brother who are also very talented artists, so I am looking forward to maybe one day displaying one of their creations in my home as well. There is nothing quite like real paintings on a wall. Absolutely beautiful....I think I would like to learn how!

Mom's Chair

Here is the finished back. Really love the curve of the back of the chair. (Oops, I didn't close the back all the way before I took the picture!)

Here is the front, a textured cream color with a striped trim. I kept the back cushion attached and worked around it.

The front before...lovely blue upholstery!

The back before.  There is still an ottoman to finish and a stripey throw pillow to match the trim. It is well on it's way to becoming a nice set! I think that my Mom is happy so far with how it turned out!