Monday, November 12, 2007

Sewing.

Yvette asked me why I had the sewing machine out.

It was for this sorry object, which normally lives in the lounge with a tartan blanket over it so that I can put my feet up when I knit.




It's a well made old thing though and I've owned it for aeons, so have been intending to take it to upholstery classes one day. However Hubby loathes it. A quick fix was required.



I found this in the Scrap Store last week. They had a newly arrived consignment of mill ends and I bought this piece of really fabulously high quality all wool tartan for 50p. It's actually quite a bit darker than the pictures show, btw. Usual problem of not enough natural daylight and having to use flash.



Bit of glueing required, to cure the shoogles. Rowan Cotton Glace to hold the legs in place while the glue dries.




A rare sighting of this shy item. I don't iron (seriously, I DON'T IRON) but I firmly belive in "Sew the seam, press the seam". Good pressing and pins save hours of tacking time, IMHO, and the finish is 100% better. This is me pressing the fold and sewing lines into the fabric. It turned out during this process that not only was the tartan piece a tad off grain there was also a weaving error in one of the checks. Well, what do you expect for 50p? And it was a mill sample, after all.



Secret weapon.



Hiding a multitude of sins. Nope, I didn't take the old cover and padding off. I'll do that at upholstery class one day. This is a quick fix, remember?




Yeah, it fits first time! Amazing! (Or could it be because I measured the thing????)




Underbelly.....




And nearly Finished Object.



Bit of an improvement, no?



Actually, it's not finished because I still have to put an underlining piece in place. I stopped here though because I was a bit unhappy with the staples. The staple gun above is a cheap and nasty one from B&Q, but I have a heavier one at the allotment, and will change the stapling I think. In the meantime I've sewn the corners of the flaps in place. It's pretty sturdy. What's the likelyhood I never do go to the upholstery class now?

PS. With optional accessory.

2 comments:

Alison said...

i think it's important for those of us who sew to make clear the vast difference between ironing and pressing. pressing being a *useful* process...
i once recovered 2 dining chairs in some leftover fabric from a suit. eventually i stopped noticing when i matched my chair at dinner time.
i might take an upholstery class some day do. how about we not do it together some year?

yvette said...

Ironing is so not the same as pressing for a sewing project. Your stool looks fabulous, well done.