I toyed with the idea of trying to reupholster them myself and then stumbled onto Miss Mustard Seed's slipcover video tutorial. I am a big Miss Mustard Seed fan. I made her no sew ruffle Christmas tree skirt last year which was a huge hit. I still get emails from people asking me if I'll be making them again this year (I'm not. Sorry!).
Back to the chairs. I was feeling pretty optimistic after watching her videos. She encourages you to just keep going even though as you're pinning it all it looks like absolute crap and you're convinced that there is no way this will turn into a slipcover.
The first slipcover took about 3 (very long) nights to complete. I took a bit of a break before starting on the second. I was certain that being the now seasoned-slipcover-veteran that I was, the second slipcover would be a breeze and actually turn out so much better than the first. Wrong. I don't know if I was rushing to just be done with it or if I wasn't as careful because I was a little more "comfortable" but the second one has all kinds of wonky spots. I mean it's a slipcover...it's not supposed to be perfect, right? :-/
The backs have little grosgrain ties. You can see down at the bottom of this one on the right where I didn't finish the seam. Why? I don't know. But after taking it off and putting it back on 400 times I wasn't taking it back off to finish a 3" seam!
If you've ever wanted to sew a slipcover, I cannot recommend Miss Mustard Seed's tutorial enough!
This looks amazing! You are so talented!
ReplyDeleteI think they look fantastic & for the $$ you saved well worth it!
ReplyDeleteThose look amazing!
ReplyDeleteThey look adorable and comfortably welcoming to cozy up in. I love a good wingback chair too. I'd say you did a fantastic job! I could NEVER in a million years be able to do that. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteThey look SO SO SOOOOOO good! I wish I could sew!
ReplyDeleteLooks great - what a huge task. I am a terrible seamstress. I desperately want to get my sectional reupholstered but labor & fabric will be more than a brand new pottery barn or ethan allan sectional so I can't justify it. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI am just now following your blog after following you on twitter. Oh my gosh you are so very talented! I love all of your DIY pieces! Your house is exactly what I imagine mine looking like one day! Love all of the subtle and soft colors! I also love your Craigs list finds! I posted yesterday about some of the things I am dying for to either recover or put in my house when I get married!
ReplyDeleteThese look fantastic! Did it take a long time to actually do the sewing? My sewing skills are not quite up to par and I'm thinking my mom could help out with that part at Thanksgiving if it doesn't take too long.
ReplyDeleteThe pinning actually took the longest. I would suggest you get all of your pieces cut beforehand. Unfortunately you can't pin the whole thing all at once because you sew it in sections and have to take it off and put it back on to check how you did so if you pinned the whole thing you'd be unpinning it anyway. The actually sewing part was the easiest though. Each one probably took me about 14 hours.
DeleteI slipcover professionally, I do my fitting all at once (saves time with off and on). Once you've done a few, you can cut the time down to 5-6 hours easily. I have streamlined my process over the past 12 years. Normal chairs are MUCH faster than wingbacks. You did a GREAT job! I love the fabric and the gathered skirts. Perfect for the room!
DeleteI think you did a fantastic job!
ReplyDeleteYou did a beautiful job! I would love to have four matching wing chairs around our breakfast table but I can only find pairs on Craigslist (only place I shop!). I could easily disguise the chairs this way! You have inspired me!
ReplyDeleteI am your newest follower!
xo
Andie
I found you on MMS. I had to stop by to see these fabulous chairs. I just found myself some wingbacks and was going to look into getting them reupholstered. Well your mentioning of about how much it would cost and the turn out of yours made me reconsider. I have never in my life made a slip cover or reupholstered but I am going to give it a shot. Winter project for moi! These are just LOVely!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, gorgeous blog and even more gorgeous home! (Pauses to wipe drool off keyboard).
ReplyDeleteI love these chairs - you did a gorgeous job.
Do you mind sharing what type of fabric you used? It looks perfect - comfy enough to live with, yet nice to look at too!
Congrats on being featured at MMS.
wow, those are amazing! i have 2 wing chairs staring at me right now that are crying out for slipcovers - i've been too timid to tackle the project, but you are inspiring me to give it a go!
ReplyDeletekeya
GREAT JOB! Wingbacks are more difficult than a regular chair. I slipcover for living...feel free to stop on over to see some of my before and afters
ReplyDeleteI stumbled onto your blog (probably through Pinterest) about a week after I bought my wing chairs! I had my fingers crossed that you were somewhere local so that I could hire you to make me some slipcovers instead of trying it myself- I was obviously trying to get out of it! Yours are absolutely beautiful and I could only hope to be a fraction as good as you are one day!
DeleteThat is an amazing job! You've inspired me to give slip covering a try and I'll definitely be heading over to Miss Mustard Seed's tutorial. Thank you for sharing your lovely work. Patti
ReplyDeletewww.patricia-krank.blogspot. com
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