In my last blog, I had completely taken apart the couch. So the next step was cutting out the fabric and sewing all the pieces together. I was pretty scared because I haven't sewn in ages. Still, even when I did sew in home economics in the 7th grade (twelve years ago) I wasn't any good. We learned how to make "Cat in the Hat" hats. You know... the striped ones? Terrible idea, no one should wear those. NO ONE.
After all the fabric was off, I laid it out on my living room floor to review all of the instructions and begin pinning the fabric to be cut.
If you lay the fabric out in a common walkway, but sure to remove all upholstery tack strips. Jake accidentally stepped on one and we had to go get him a tetanus shot. It was also rather painful and he did bleed. He has since recovered, but gave me a pretty hard time about leaving sharp objects on the floor for a while.
My lovely mother taught me how to use her sewing machine for this exciting event. She came over and showed me how to load a bobbin and thread the sewing machine. Then we even took a few scraps of fabric and practiced for a bit. I can see now why women would own a sewing machine, even if they aren't particularly interested in knowing how to sew well. Knowing how to do a little with a sewing machine actually goes a long way.
So after I pinned each piece of fabric, I went to town sewing them together. Much to my relief, it wasn't hard at all. In fact, I didn't make any errors for the most part until the very end and I was trying to rush things. Still, sewing is NOT scary. I found it to be rather easy. One thing I would suggest, it always buying the pins with the plastic cushion things at the end. My poor thumb was raw after pinning all the old pieces to the new fabric and cutting them out.
This is the very first shot of the first pieces I put together. This will actually be the first piece to go on the couch. It's the front part of the base of the couch and the middle piece that covers the springs. I'm not sure if anyone can actually visualize what I'm talking about... I only know because I took it apart.
After all the regular pieces of fabric were sewn together, I had to go to an upholstery place to get some of the really strong black fabric that was attached here and there on pieces to be pulled through one way and stapled. There is a little upholstery shop not more than ten minutes from my place. I went there with a list of things that I needed. What did the guy charge me? $3 ! I actually paid $5 but only because I didn't have ones and he didn't have change. I'm not worried. That fits in the budget quite nicely.
The only thing I have left to sew is the cushions and pillows. Those will require more skills than I currently have. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Really, any other sewing that is required for upholstery is super simple. Mostly just straight lines over and over again. So maybe I have a false sense that sewing is easy, but I'm ok with that for now.
To enjoying your small successes,
Boomba
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