I thought i should give you all an update on my progress on my Wing back chair slipcover project! This has been nearly a year in the making really and i have finally made some ground with this project! Finally.....

I first used some old calico to make a rough slipcover "template" to get a feel for sewing the cover and also i can use it as a template for when i have to cut out the fabric pieces for the real thing. I won't say i had fun doing it because i near ripped all my hair out just doing this rough piece.... perfectionism is a curse and so is impatience... i think i will be learning quite a bit of patience during this project.

Calico template......

I decided to take a breather on starting the actual wing back slipcovers and start on something more simple.... like the ottoman. It's square, straight sides and pretty straight forward... just what i like to hear! I decided not to make a "rough" cover for the ottoman as i felt confident i could do it without a template. I have to say though there was a HUGE - "UH OH" moment during sewing my "Version 1" of the ottoman slipcovers. You see the material i had selected and purchased near a year ago was for upholstering the chair, as that was what i initially intended to do with these chairs. I spent probably close to $180 on the fabric and thought i could still use it to make slip covers..... was i WRONG!

I had sewed 40 meters of piping using this "upholstery" fabric, cut and pinned the fabric to fit the ottoman ready for making the first section of the slipcover. Then came the "Uh Oh".... I tried to sew the material using my sewing machine and broke 2 needles in a span of 20 centimeters and my machine malfunctioned about 5 times. Yep "Uh Oh"... my machine would no way cope with sewing such thick commercial type fabric for a slipcover for an ottoman let alone for the chairs. I was devastated - to say the least! It took a few days for me to pick myself up off the ground and find another solution - that was cheap!

Thankfully I remembered reading Miss Mustard Seed's solution to slipcover fabric... canvas painter's drop cloths. Yep may sound strange but they actually come up a treat. I popped down to bunnings and found the most economical way to buy the amount of material i needed for the covers and purchased six lots of drop cloths measuring 1.5m x 6m (i think that was the lengths off the top of my head). They came to a total of $110 - so much cheaper than the material. Oh well lesson learned.

Deciding how to do the skirting.

I jumped straight into making the covers for the ottomans and had to start from scratch again with sewing piping etc. Bummer! It took me about two - three days sewing on and off to complete the first cover. I then cut the old skirting off the ottomans which showed the legs a bit more before pinning and sewing the skirting. I decided to go with a ruffled skirt as i thought it was a bit more classical than a straight skirt.

This is the finished product. But i am happy with the result and am kicking myself for not going with the drop cloths in the first place.!! I have finished the second one and am now looking at starting the chair cushions next...... wish me luck!