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My first DIY upholstery sofa
I'm the type of person who is always up to trying something new when it comes to a DIY project. Most of the time, I see something like an empty room, a blank wall, or probably my husbands' least favorite, a piece of furniture and think "I can do something awesome with that." The other night, on our way home from the grocery store, I had just that thought! I spotted this love seat on the side of the road and knew then, I had to have it.
Picking the piece
Now some of you might be thinking that I am slightly crazy, or really crazy (like my husband did), to find this beautiful. So, let me tell you a few things that stuck out to me when I saw this that signaled to me that it had great potential.
1. Shape. Wing back chairs & sofas are in high demand right now and a nice new one could really break the bank. Due to my many hours of Pinterest perusing & online "window shopping", I knew what an updated piece like this could look like so I was confident that I would like the finished product.
2. Size. Although I was not 100% sure where this piece would end up in our home, I knew that I had a few different options due to it's size. My initial thought was that we could use it in our dining room as a comfy alternative to a bench seat but once we had it inside, I thought a small living room makeover was in order. Since it is a love seat & not a full sized sofa, I love that I have the flexibility to move it around as I change my mind about where to put it (which happens often!).
3. Sturdiness. When we inspected this piece, it was not wobbly & it was supportive when we sat on it, signaling that the inside supports were in good shape. None of the legs were broken & were already an adorable shape!
4. Smell. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but it is. Give the piece you are considering a nice big sniff to make sure it doesn't have any lingering odors that will make even the most lovely finished product unappealing. This piece had a bit of a musty odor so I coated it in baking soda for a day (hence the white dust all over it in the before pictures) which did the trick!
P.S. If your hubby is anything like mine, it make take some convincing for him to buy into your stray (as we like to call the furniture I pick up on the side of the road), and all of these are great points to bring up when proving your point!
Picking the fabric
Picking the fabric for a piece is one of the hardest parts for me. It feels so permanent & is basically the deciding factor on whether or not I am going to like the outcome. So, you know, no pressure...
I did a lot of looking around to see what styles I did and didn't like on Pinterest & shops like West Elm and Crate&Barrel. I think finding inspiration and being able to tangibly see what your piece could look like really helps. You may find out you thought you would like one look but when you see it on a similar piece, you hate it. This could save you a lot of grief in the long run!
I also like to just look around the space I think it will go in and try to picture what will look best with the existing pieces & lighting. Our house is naturally fairly dark so I knew dark fabrics were out of the picture even though some of them were ones I really liked.
Next, I started looking online at stores for fabrics similar to the ones I liked in my inspiration pictures. Although there were a few sites I found fabric I liked on, I decided to go with fabric from Joann's Fabric because it was reasonably priced (due to awesome sales!) and I could go in and see it before purchasing. I was not going to take the risk of ordering something online and hating it in person! I ended up buying New York Dove.
I love the small pinstripes because they make it feel so cozy! The color is a tan with greenish grey stripes.
Putting it together
I was so eager to get started after choosing my fabric! I had already done a lot of research into techniques that others used. The two that I followed most were Eleven Magnolia Lane and The Chronicles of Home.
During the actual process of putting the fabric on, I did not follow the blogs. I read them before I began & then went my own way because I knew that our pieces were different and most cuts & techniques would not overlap. I liked this because I was able to do what I thought was best and find creative ways to make the fabric look the way I wanted. Their's were most likely more thought through, but I loved having to think through each fold & make it beautiful on my own.
The tools I used:
1. Heavy duty staple gun (has longer staples)
2. Scissors
3. Unique Stitch Glue (instead of needle & thread, because I am not a sewer)
4. Decorative nailhead trim & hammer
5. Hot glue gun
I began with the cushion because I thought it would be the easiest & would be a good way for me to get my feet wet. It was probably not the easiest & may have turned out nicer (I had to do a few patches to cover up seams) if I had done it last, but I am still happy with the way it turned out! My basic strategy here was to wrap it like a present. Had my cushion been a perfect square, it would have worked perfectly. If you have a cushion similar to mine, with jutting out pieces, give yourself even more fabric than you think you will need. If I had given myself more fabric, I wouldn't have had to patch & my present wrapping technique would have worked perfectly.
If you have any sort of pattern on your fabric, make sure it is straight and that your cushion is directly lined up. I found the stripes pretty simple to work with but with a more intricate pattern, this could be more difficult. I was not overly concerned that each line directly lined up with the one it met, and I just made sure the pattern was straight on each piece.
For each piece, I would lay the large roll of fabric out on top of it to "measure" before cutting & I always left myself a bit of extra to work with. Giving myself extra let me play with the fabric more, give it creases & folds where I wanted, and I fold it over to get a clean seam to finish.
Order of operations
After finishing the cushion, I was ready to start tackling the sofa itself! I started with the front center piece because it seemed to be the base that everything else would connect into. I am glad that this is where I started because I did not have to overly worry about hiding my staples at this point & it was a good way too get my creative juices flowing. Plus it made a big impact & helped me envision the finished product!
Instead of doing the front & back separate as the other bloggers did, I did it all as one piece. I used my stitching glue to secure the front fabric in place by tucking it into the bottom & sides of the cushion (after making sure the stripes were straight of course!). Then I moved to the back. Due to the high center point in this piece, I had to create folds in the back of the fabric for it to look nice. I ended up really liking this because it gives it a unique touch & makes it feel like a cosy slipcover. I then stapled the fabric under the bottom of sofa & along the sides.
I was not worried about the staples on the sides because I knew those would be getting covered up later with the side panels.
Next I covered the bottom of the sofa. I continued with my glue & tuck technique on the flat part that the cushion would soon cover & simply pulled the fabric tight around the edge & stapled it in place. for the corners, I create a nice seam by folding the fabric's edge. For the sides, I cut out a smaller piece of fabric & placed it underneath the seam I had just created and glued & stapled it in place. It gave it a nice finished look, that I think, looks pretty darn professional!
With the side panels, I decided to change the direction of the stripes & have them go horizontally. To start, I measured my piece of fabric & laid it out so it wrapped the front & back of the wings as well as the arm rests. I found it easier to do them both in one piece than in multiple stages so I would have less seams to worry about.
After getting the fabric lined up, I glued in the front of the wing & tucked the fabric into the existing seam and worked my way down the side, creating a fold in the fabric as I went to have a clean finished edge. After gluing down the side, and covering up the staples from the back piece as I went, I stapled the bottom of the fabric under the sofa to secure it in place.
In order to use one piece of fabric for both the wings & the arm rests, I cut the fabric almost in half vertically, leaving myself some extra to create a finished edge on the wings. I pleated the rounded corner of the wing with a few folds of the fabric & stapled the down underneath the excess flap of fabric. Then created a clean edge with the excess flap & glued it overtop of the staples. The rest of the fabric was used to cover the arm rest.
As I did with the other pieces, I glued & tucked the fabric into the couch for the armrest, making sure it was pulled tight & the lines were straight. For the front facing portion, I pleated the rounded corner with a few folds and stapled them down . I later covered up the staples with a small piece of fabric & nailhead trim. This nailhead trim is so simple to use because it comes in one long strip that you only have to nail a few of the tacks into to hold in place!
To finish the project, I repeated this as closely as I could on the other wing & arm!
How I feel about the experience
I love the way that the piece turned out! I think all of the details and what better-than-me upholsterers might call flaws, make it unique & beautiful. It's perfectly imperfect, just the way I like it!
It took me about 4-6 hours (in separate time slots) to finish which was actually a lot faster than I thought it would be. Once I started going, everything started flowing and coming together nicely. The preparation before hand really helped in that area!
I would definitely do this again! The only thing I think I would change would be the way I did the cushion. I would give myself more fabric than I did the first time & make sure it lined up before starting to glue!
