I’ve been inspired by the many wonderful projects that I have been seeing using drop cloth material! But the real icing on the cake had to be when I watched a wonderful series of videos by Miss Mustard Seed!!! Have you seen these videos? The whole time I watched the videos I thought of the sad lil’ chair that I have sitting in the corner of the living room in desperate need of a makeover. Plus my living room is a bit dark and I would love to lighten and brighten it up for the summer months.
Okay….. So I thought to myself…. I’ve never worked with a drop cloth before and I have never made a slip cover before, maybe I should try something easy for my first project. How ‘bout that disgusting (years of abuse by three kids and two dogs) ottoman that is crying out for help!
Okay so the ottoman it is!
I started by washing the drop cloth material as per Miss Mustard Seed and then on to the making the piping. Miss Mustard Seed sews her piping with straight strips of material, but I covered my piping on the bias using the largest cording that I could find at Wal-Mart.
I started at the top of the ottoman and worked my way down to the bottom.
Pinning… pinning… and more pinning.
At the last moment, I decided to add a box pleated hem to the bottom. Which left me short on material from my original calculation to complete the slip cover. Don’t you just hate when that happens?
I purchased another drop cloth only to find out that NOT all drop clothes are created equal! Hello! This was a news flash to me. The second one, even though it was the same weight and dimensions as the first one I picked up, was heavier and darker in color. Off to the store I go to purchase a third drop cloth which it turns out is lighter in weight and a smidge too dark in color. Waving my white flag, I settled with the third drop cloth simply because I live about 30 minutes away from the nearest hardware store. The darker of the third drop cloth I placed towards the back corner. So far no one has noticed. (Well, my mother hasn’t been by to see the slip cover yet! jk)
The piping and the box pleat hem takes this project from looking like a beginner project to a custom ordered slip cover! Don’t you just want to try to make one today?
I just realized that I probably should show you the ottoman without the slip cover. Yes, my Dad made the box and the cute little bun feet and then I upholstered it. The ottoman is tufted with 9 buttons on the top.
Now on to that chair…..
