What I made today.

After a morning of housework, I decided to treat myself to an afternoon with my sewing machine, working on my latest project, some chair covers for our dining chairs. 

For some reason, we chose chairs with upholstery. Bone coloured microsuede upholstery no less. Rookie mistake! 

All in all they aren't wearing too badly, thanks to some previous slip covers I made. But these slip covers aren't faring too well, so it was time for some new ones.

I bought the end of a bolt of heavy cotton with a geometric block print, and set about working out how I would go about making the covers. It was only about 1.5m of fabric, so I didn't have an awful lot to play with. I ended up with enough fabric for 4 covers. 

I measured the seat of a chair, and drew the trapezoidal shape of it onto a sheet of newspaper (thank goodness we still have a broadsheet newspaper!), adding an extra 5cm around the front and sides, and notching the front corners. I overlocked the notched edges together, forming a corner, then overlocked the edges. Then I cut out a rectangle, that would fit between the uprights of the back and hang down behind. I overlocked and hemmed that, and sewed it to the back edge of the other piece. 

Then I cut 2 pieces of thick elastic and sewed them, so the formed a loop at the front corners. On the back corners and flap, I sewed some 15cm long pieces of matching wide tape, which I had hemmed at one end. I should have taken some photos as I went.

The finished product is a bit of a snug fit, and if I had more fabric, I would have made the sides longer, but I think they will serve the purpose. You can see the elastic loops at the front.

And the ties at the back.

They are easy to take on and off, and hopefully will keep the chairs looking spiffy for a little while to come.

I couldn't find any more fabric in the same colour, so I purchased some in the same print but a different colour for the other 4 chairs.

But that's a project for another day.

Listening to: P!nk, Bon Iver, Gotye

Drinking: Tea