I’ve dusted off the sewing machine and brought it out again after a 5-year hiatus. Sewing curtains for my house in Lynchburg was a job worthy of a sweatshop, and I got a bit burned out.
I once spent three days making the cutest school uniform jumper for my daughter, only to have her come home from her second time wearing it, with Sharpie all over the front. What kind of teacher gives second-graders Sharpies? After that, I packed it up.
Until now. These old parson’s chairs have been bugging me. Originally, I bought them cheap when my New Jersey house was on the market, just to stage the house.
I had already cut the skirts off of two of the chairs and bought shorty slipcovers from World Market a couple of years ago. I decided it was time to use the old slipcover from World Market as a pattern and change it up by bringing in a navy blue fabric.
Technical Part:
Making these slipcovers was fairly simple. I studied the way the World Market covers were constructed. I carefully measured the 6 pieces and cut them out for each chair. One large piece for the front and back with two side panels, and a seat with two more side panels. I first sewed the top of the chair to the side panels, and then sewed the seat to it’s side panels. I then stitched the top and bottom together and hemmed it, making sure the fabric was facing the right direction. This was tricky. Think jigsaw puzzle.
End Technical Part.
What inspired me to drag out the sewing machine after so many years? Perhaps it was a case of chair-envy I caught at my sister-in-law’s when she bought these beauties from Pier1:
Or perhaps it was because I had a similar fabric taking up valuable real estate in my office and I was inspired by my recent thrift store chair find:
In the end, I think it was just the desire for change without spending a fortune. I sewed the slipcovers during naptime and a little into the evening. This is how the chairs look now:
It’s not quite Pier1, but it’s still pretty good and I am happy. Now I am eyeing the windows on the porch and thinking, “shades would be lovely!” and “New pillows for everyone!”
And I know of only one place to get them: My very own Simply Turquoise Sweatshop.
© copyright 2013 Mariam d’Eustachio at Simply Turquoise.
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