Monday, November 16, 2009

Slipcovered armchairs, part I

I inherited two arm chairs from my aunt and uncle. Their heyday passed many years ago, but the shape and quality of the chairs is good.

One was a blue courderoy, which has faded to purple, and the other is cream colored. The cream chair is disgusting - the fabric is not in good condition at all. It has spent the past five years hidden under a blanket, looking kind of like it belongs in a fraternity house.

This weekend, I set out to do what I've been waiting a long time for: Slipcover the chairs. There's no way I could fix the seat cushions on my own (they're made out of latex, which was soft and squishy in the 1970s when the chairs were new. Now they are decomposing and are rock-hard). So, I loaded them into the car and went down the road to Freddy Farkel's.

OMG, it was amazing! I lingered in all the aisles, but found the fabric of my dreams in the warehouse aisle ... for $2/yard!! I dropped the cushions off for their reupholsterer to cover and freshen, but I'm attempting to make the slipcovers for the bodies of the chairs on my own.

The blue fabric is for the chairs, and the color crewelwork piece is a sample I picked up from the scrap bin. It will be cut into two, for two cute little pillows for the updated chairs.


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