Thursday, April 19, 2012

Meet Otto


Well, after the sofa this seems sort of anticlimactic.
But I upholstered an ottoman. 

Remember this fabric?  It was the original upholstery fabric we picked out for the sofa.  I bought a full yard right away and took it home to test out the scale of the pattern.  Then we waited so long to purchase it that it sold out.   I think the shock over how much upholstery fabric actually costs is what caused us to wait so long.  We probably could have figured out a way to get it, but we ended up liking the blue-green fabric so much we just went with it.


 

Anyhoo, here it is.  It lives at the end of a non-reclining chair in our den.  The ottoman was donated to us by J's mom (thanks!).  So even though I purchased this yard of fabric, it was so long ago that it felt like a free project.  I took off the old upholstery fabric and used it as a pattern.  There was no way to play around with pattern placement since there was only one yard.  This was the only option.  The corners were stitched up first and then the cover was pulled over the foam and stapled underneath.  The single welt around the bottom edge is left over from the sofa.  Design*Sponge has an awesome tutorial on upholstering a boxed ottoman that is essentially what I did, if you are interested.  Minus the welt at the top edge.

Hooray for upholstery projects!  I was glad to find a purpose for that yard of fabric.  J and I have found ourselves eyeing everything in our house now.  Wonder what we can cover next....

Posted by liza jane at 8:32 PM
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20 comments:

  1. katherine hApril 19, 2012 at 9:12 PM

    This looks seriously good! You are becoming an upholstery pro.

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  2. T. SedaiApril 20, 2012 at 3:16 AM

    You actually make me want to do home dec sewing! That is quite a feat. Love your sofa, and I love this too - it is so cute! And the fabric placement is perfect.

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  3. SølviApril 20, 2012 at 4:00 AM

    Hello Otto, nice to meet you! :-)

    I love it, we are moving two months from now, and I've decided that we need an ottoman for our new, larger, livingroom. Thanks for the inpiration, I love the fabric! :-)

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  4. BerniceApril 20, 2012 at 6:36 AM

    Otto is cool. Fabulous work. So professional.

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  5. laurenpApril 20, 2012 at 8:57 AM

    This looks really, really good (not to mention the sofa!). Good use of a yard.

    I was wondering, would you recommend any upholstery books? You've given me the impetus to fix and reupholster an old, old chair I have that's falling apart at the seams, but feel I should do proper research first.

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    Replies
    1. liza janeApril 20, 2012 at 5:29 PM

      I initially read through Singer Upholstery Basics Plus when we started the couch. It had great information on all the equipment, tools, needles, fabric, batting you could possibly find. It was really good for supplies and prep. But as far as the actual upholstering process- the explanations were a little confusing and the styles were out of date. Not that it matters, but I think the book assumes you have a little background knowledge of how to upholster something. To be completely honest, we learned the most by taking off the old upholstery. Take lots and lots of pictures when you do, or you'll forget how it was put together. Hope that helps!

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    2. laurenpApril 21, 2012 at 5:08 AM

      That's brilliant, thanks so much.
      It's something I've always wanted to do, but figured I'd need to spend hundreds on a course to learn, let alone the materials. You've inspired me to give it a go. Your results always look so professional.

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  6. LynnApril 20, 2012 at 10:06 AM

    Fabulous! The fabric is perfect. What a great accent piece!

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  7. window dressingApril 20, 2012 at 10:31 AM

    Lovely patterned material. You did an amazing job on it.

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  8. ScruffybadgerApril 20, 2012 at 1:18 PM

    You are the upholstery queen. This is incredible. It's the kind of thing that would inspire me (one day) to give it a go. Lovely :-)

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  9. The Slapdash SewistApril 20, 2012 at 5:01 PM

    Hee, you're going to end up with one of those movie old lady houses with every surface covered by a crocheted doily! Except it will be upholstery.

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    1. liza janeApril 20, 2012 at 5:30 PM

      Well, I better not learn how to crochet then!

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  10. liza janeApril 20, 2012 at 5:31 PM

    Thanks so much ladies!

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  11. AnonymousApril 20, 2012 at 8:09 PM

    This is so not anti-climactic. It's awesome (although not as awesome as your linen and hot pink button blouse you just made). I know nothing about upholstery and envy your knowledge

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  12. KatarinaApril 22, 2012 at 3:57 AM

    It looks great and very expensive in the sense of a very well crafted and chic piece. The print is beautiful and the whole project makes me really want to go out and trift an ottoman.

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  13. CarolynApril 23, 2012 at 2:17 AM

    You are a master upholsterer! The ottoman looks gorgeous!

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  14. AliApril 23, 2012 at 3:07 PM

    I am madly impressed with your upholstery skills! So pretty.

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  15. janulApril 27, 2012 at 3:34 PM

    This is so beautiful! I´m envious at your skills! If you don´t find anything to upholster, you are welcome to come to our house... we have two armchairs in need of upholstery, haha :). I´m afraid to try it myself, and not enough money to pay someone to do it, so the chairs wait and wait...

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  16. CarolynApril 28, 2012 at 1:07 AM

    Thank you so much for your lovely comment on my Mum's kimono and I will be sure to pass your kind words along. She will be thrilled to have received so many compliments!

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  17. JoyApril 29, 2012 at 9:18 PM

    This is awesome! Make sure people take off their shoes (:

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