Slipcovered Slip Seats for Miriam's Dining Room

Well, Connie closes on her new Florida home today, so I can start blogging my little heart out about it.....

But right now,I want to show you my latest sewing project for my niece Miriam.

Last year I did her dining room.....

if you've been following my blog, you may remember it.

I had.....

painted the sideboard....

painted and reupholstered the side chairs....

upholstered the walls.....

made the draperies.....

painted the chandelier.....

BUT I HADN'T GOTTEN AROUND TO THE HOST AND HOSTESS CHAIRS......

These chairs are Chinese Chippendale that I inherited from my grandparents' apartment in Manhattan.

I had used them in my living room in my Watertown cottage, but had no use for them when I moved.

SOOOOOO.....

I gave them to Miriam when she bought her home.

Needless to say, the needlepoint seats didn't go with the dining room decor.

And Perla the Wonder Dog, managed to destroy them in just a matter of months.

Sooooooo.......

this winter, I finally got around to doing them.

This is the before.

I wanted to make slipcovers that were the same fabric as the other chairs, walls and draperies.

First I made a template out of drafting tracing paper......

I folded the paper in half, and just cut out one side.

Then I folded it back in half and cut the other side to match the first side.....

Then I laid it back on the chair to make sure it was the right shape and size.....

Then I pinned it on the fabric, centering it on the part of the pattern I wanted in the middle of the seat, and got ready to cut the fabric.

I was going to cut it with an extra half inch around, to accommodate the seam allowance.

Then I had a brain fart, and forgot to add the half inch,

Luckily I was able to use this piece for the skirt.....nothing like wasting fabric.

You should always buy extra fabric for screw ups if your name is Betsy.

Soooooooo......

I had to start again, and make a template, this time with a half inch allowance added in, so I couldn't make the same mistake.

I've been known to remake mistakes 

over and over and over and over again and again and again........

So, now we're back to where I was before I messed up.

I pinned the template to the fabric, making sure the pattern was centered.

Then I cut the first section.

I wanted the two chairs to have the same part of the pattern in the same place, so I lined up the repeats and used the cut fabric as my template for the second chair.

I checked it all the way around to make sure it matched.

Now I had two somewhat similar pieces!!!!!

Next it was time to make the welting.

I used the same fabric that I had used for the back pillows on the side chairs.

I like to use contrasting welting.

It sets off the lines of upholstery.

I sewed the welting to the seat piece.

At the leg cutouts, I folded the welting under.

For the parts of the top that wouldn't be sewn to the box pleated skirt, I sewed a

 (senior moment....I can't think of the name.....) 

you know, a piece of fabric to the underside.

I just remembered!!!!! It's called interfacing!!!!!

It makes for a finished edge.

Then I top-stitched it in place.

Then I checked it on the chair.

Making sure I liked how it fit.

Next, it was time for the skirt!!!!!

I cut pieces that were twice as long as I wanted the skirt to be, adding another inch for the seam allowance.

I folded them in half and ironed them to create a nice sharp edge for the skirt.

Then I went to my fabulous new serger.....

and serged the edges together, so there would be no unraveling.

Now it was time to figure out the box pleating.

I pin basted the skirt to the seat piece, figuring out the pleats as I went.

They didn't have to be exact because I would have lost my mind if I worried about that.

I sewed the front skirt on and checked it out.

Tried it on the chair.....

Did the side.....

Did the back.....

Then I ironed the pleats to give them a sharper crease. 

Now it was time for the ties.

I first was going to do cords I made out of the solid blue fabric, to tie on the chairs, but I didn't like the way they came out so I switched to a buttoned tab closure.

In my sewing machine manual, there is a page for button hole sewing.

I disregarded it's instructions for sewing them for thick stretchy fabric, and the first one came out looking like this.....

Not such a nice look.........

Sooooooo.....

I read what I should have done to begin with, 

AND LO AND BEHOLD!!!!!

THEY CAME OUT NICELY!!!!!

So, I went ahead, and made seven more of these tabs.

Sewed on the buttons, buttoned on the tabs, 

and pinned them in place to make sure that they fit.

Then I sewed all the tabs on.

(This was taking a while, Miriam is soooooo lucky.....)

Finished side view.....

Finished front view.....

Side by side.....

No one would know the mess that's underneath the slipcover!!!!!

I'll have to show you how they look in Miriam's dining room, but I'm not driving up to her house today.......

There's all this white stuff on the ground, and the thermostat is stuck under 32.

What's a Flerida girl to do???????

On that note,

Latah, Gatah