Slipcover is finished... no "exceptfors", plus skirting details

I finally finished the final "exceptfors" on this slipcover: the two back box cushions and the piped faux pleated skirt. The photo below shows the skirt. It's 9 inches long and is attached a couple inches below the seat level.

What I mean by "faux" pleats is: The skirt is one long stretch of piping that goes all the way around the piece. Attached to it are 6 lined skirt flaps: 2 in front, 2 in back, 1 on each side. Behind the gap in front and on the corners is a little 7 inch skirt piece placed "behind" the skirt gap to make it look like it's pleated

Here's the front pleat.

 This shows the center front pleat also, showing the back of the skirt, made from a white sheet.

 Here's the corner faux pleat.

...which brings me to my next project: The wicker ottoman in this next picture is going to become a little coffee table/foot rester. In the photo, the natural bull denim (same as the slipcover) is simply draped over it. My plan is to make a new boxed, piped cushion for the ottomon. My first thought was to use the offwhite denim, but ...

 then I test draped it with this barkcloth below (white background with green leaves and red flowers) and Oooo la la, I fell in love with it.

This little wicker couch below is another "next project". I'm debating what to cover it in (it has some pretty bamboo print covers ... not shown ... that I like ... but they're a little worn). I think I'll do a mixture of off-white denim for seat cushions and somehow use that gorgeous hibiscus fabric. I just have 3/4 yard of it that I brought home from an AWESOME store "Stearns and Harris" in Tampa. (I'll write more about that store in another post). I want to go back and get the whole bolt, and either make back cushions out of it, or just throw pillows.

And one parting picture of my new little loveseat. (It feels good to finish a project that I dragged my feet for well over a year to even start.

The act of finishing something is filled with energy, a form of inertia, positive momentum. It makes me feel like I'm on a roll, ready to dive in a tackle another project. It feels good. 

What kind of dressform do you use (or wish for)... Anyone make one with duct tape?

I'm shopping for a new dressform... considering this PGM (looks like a Wolf but less expensive)??? Christine at Just Keep Sewing is also shopping for a form and received lots of good advice in the comments to her post.

Here's my vintage lady. She's not the prettiest thing, but she works well. Problem is, she stayed home in Washington, she's not here in Florida with me now, and I miss her. I've considered wrapping myself in duct tape and making a dummy that way (my bf and I saw a video and he's all enthused about doing the wrapping). Have any of you made a duct tape dummy... or have thoughts about other dress forms?

6 Beachy Dresses ... How to choose the right (non-dowdy) length.

After so much cold weather, it's finally warm enough to come out from under the layers of fleece and head to the beach in one of the 6 beach-worthy dresses I made this fall. I debate about which length looks best. What do y'all think about lengths? (The 2 black dresses seem the most dowdy???).

click to enlarge

1. Blue TShirt Dress - McCalls 2460 - link

2. Blue Print Halter Maxi - (refashioned skirt/shirt) - Butterick 5181 - link

3. Flowered Short Dress (refashioned men's Hawaiian shirt) - McCalls 5094 link

4. 18 Ways to Wear a Little Black Dress LBD - Burda Mag 09-2008-132 - link

5. Black Hawaiian Halter Dress - (refashioned wrap skirt) - McCalls 6071 - link

6. Coral Halter Dress - McCalls 3584- link

Retrospective: A black and white palette. Happy New Year

A new year arrives in less than 2 hours. It's fun to look back on all I've sewn. I wish I could make one long ticker tape slide show of all the garments I've made... In lieu of that... here's just a few... all in a black and white palette (and to have fun with photo composites).

(click to enlarge photo)

1. Wrap Top Simplicity 4095
2. Flutter Sleeve Top Simplicity 2642
3. Twist Tie Top Simplicity 4076
4.  Tie Front Cardigan McCalls 2126
5.  Faux Bolero Top Vogue 2980

And to each of you, I wish you a wonderfully happy and healthy New Year. I look forward to seeing what you all have up your creative sleeves for 2011 projects.

Apres Christmas Sewing... a lovely coat

Now that the holidays are wrapped up, I'm read to make this coat (View C) for 'Umpkins, my brother's chihuahua. The poor lil guy is shivering in the Wisconsin tundra.  Below are completed coats from reviewers on patternreview.com. Aren't they cute!... The sizing ranges from XS (11 inches) to Large (26 inches) (The 11 inches is the lengthwise measurement of the coat from the back neck to the the back above the tail). The reviewer who made the pink coat below says this is the XS on an 11 pound Westie... so I hope it'll fit 'Umpkins.

(Jack.... How does Umpkins compare to this Westie??? Do you think this XS will fit him ... Can you please measure his back from neck to beginning of his tail and let me know how an 11 inch coat will fit. I can easily make it smaller.) 

 I like how it looks on this large dog too. This reviewer said she enlarged the LARGE a bit to fit this dog. I think Daisy (80 pounds) will be getting a new coat too....

A red plaid Christmas Dress

On display: A stunning, form-fitting red plaid holiday dress, with a lovely red hat to match.

Wishing all of you a Joy-filled Christmas and a healthy and happy 2011.

p.s. ...thank you to my beautiful model, Daisy, who is always willing to patiently put up with whatever sillyness I cajole her to join in on.

Before/After: Butterick 5293 Slipcover Pattern

After: (not done yet: still need to do back cushions and skirt)

...Before...

The loveseat slipcover is nearly done. (This is only the second slipcover I've made, and I'd appreciate any tips and tricks from you more experienced sewists/upholsterers/slipcoverists). I thought I'd review the pattern Butterick 5293 to share how this pattern helped me in the process.

I actually learned from THREE sources (#2 being the MOST MOST valuable): 1. The instuctions in this pattern, 2. An excellent video by a pro in Seattle (forgot her name, I'll find it if anyone is interested). 3. a helpful youtube set of 25 videos (I'll look for that and post that too).

Here's the pattern that I roughly followed...


As you can see, my loveseat is shaped a little different than the pattern, but that's OK. Mainly what I got from the pattern was instructions on the "process" of how to go about making a slipcover for furniture, including:
1. how to measure the pieces
2. how to estimate fabric requirements
3. how to make piping on the bias (altho I learned that I could get by just fine with piping on the straight grain which saved a lot of fabric and effort ... shown here
4. tips on how to tackle the project. (I've blogged some of the steps along the way in past posts, and I've provided backlinks to below).
5. helpful tip on how to make the lined and piped skirt with "faux" pleats so they're less bulky.

Post 1: Here's a retrospective photo-story of the transformation of a yardsale found chaise with a slipcover I made a few years ago..., showing the steps along the way.


Post 2: Here are photos of inspirations and First steps...


Post 3: Sewing the boxed, piped cushions and lessons learned.

Post 4: Style Decisions,



Post 5: Fitting the front of the arm: Moving to the body of the couch: Begin by fitting and sewing the rolled arm front, the most important visual element to get right.


Post 6: Step by step .sewing the body

...the slipcover so far...

This being only my second slipcover, I'd love to hear tips and tricks from any of you who are more experienced...