The good. the bad. and the ugly

I am just gonna come out and say it now, this chaise I worked on this week kicked my trash!! Not because it was hard or I did not know how, but because it was a sneaky s.o.b...  Let me just show you my little lovely before

Cute little bugger, right? Don't be fooled!  This chaise was defeated by my clients dog (see the hole in the cushion).  Sure I felt sorry for it. Then it preyed on my weakness for it and smacked right in the face!!  My client bought some gray Sunbrella fabric because her dog liked to sit on it.  This fabric is actually great for that because you can wipe hair and basically anything right off.  Sunbrella fabric is great because it is not as stiff or slippery as other outdoor fabrics. I prepped the fabric and made the cushion all in about 2 hours.  I thought, man this one is gonna be a piece of cake! It must of read my mind..

I only really work 3 days a week for about 4 hours each day because I am mom and I get to run kids around and have kids come play, so when I work I make the most of my time.  I figured I could sew the body and attach the skirt on my next work day and be all wrapped up half way thru the week.  The pinning went super fast and in that moment of "saving time" I thought, hey, this bad bod does not really need a zipper, its symmetrical and popped right off.  Even better!  well folks, let me tell you.  the thought did pop in my head, "put a zipper in, you can never go wrong with a zipper", but I blew right thru that thought.  

You see, zippers allow the slipcovers to fit just right, and sometimes depending on the lines of the piece, you won't need a zipper.  After I attached the skirt I went joyfully skipping to the chaise to see how the finished product fit.  I figured it would take about 5 minutes, trim some string and Id be on my way.  umm. no.   I could not get the slipcover on!  Sometimes you just need to muscle them a little bit, but this one was mocking me!! It fit fine over the back and arms of the chair, but I could not get it to pull down over the front corners to save my life!  I work in a vacant retail space and do all my pinning in the front area with HUGE windows.. I can only image the entertainment the passer-byers had as I literally had my feet propped against the front of the chaise pulling back with all my mite to get the stupid thing to slide over! I was sweating to say the least!!  After 10 minutes of pulling and repositioning and trying to finagle the slipcover I caved. Did i mention the chaise is on wheels..

The chaise had won.  I took the walk of shame back to my sewing machine to unpick the stitch and the serge lines.  Its awful!! I luckily had just enough fabric to cut out the old back and pin in a new, bigger back WITH a zipper and another skirt panel.  You may ask, "how did this happen if the fitting went perfectly?"  Well my friends, it was a "barrel" back chaise, when you add piping and a skirt along the bottom line  it can cause the slipcover to "shrink" around the bottom, for lack of a better word... Most of the time the fabric will have enough stretch in it that you can pull it into place, but not this fabric.. Lesson learned!!   But the good news is, it turned out fabulous and the chaise and I are friends again. For now...

I kept the lines of the chaise the same and ran piping along the inside seams where there was no tuck-ins.  We kept the skirt the same to cover the wheels.  It turned out fantastic, but this one put up a fight!  Hats off to you "chaise lounge", I will forever be installing zippers in EVERYTHING!! I can only really be mad at myself.. On to the next one!

I have 2 spots open in April if you are wanting slipcovers made.  And yes, they will have a hidden zipper in the back!! Lol!  For the most part my slipcover process is super smooth and predictable, but every now and then you get the wild card!  I am glad it out of the way!! Fell free to contact me with any questions, I'd love to help!

I also have 2 spots left in my May 1-2nd Slipcover 101 Workshop  where I will be discussing issues like what I experienced today to save you the time and the trouble!

I figure if you can't laugh at your self when you make mistakes, you'll never learn!  I hope you all get a good laugh out of mine, I know I did. now...