A new sofa cushion cover

The sofa on the screened porch finally has a proper foam cushion and that cushion now has a cover.  Using a combination of a sale and a great coupon, I was able to get the foam for about half price--a huge help.  I found some decorator fabric at Hancock's that was a very close match to the pillows I'd already made, so I was ready to go.

With the fabric doubled and wrong sides out, I drew around the foam for the top and bottom pieces.

The side piece was cut and seamed so that it is like a ring.  I needed continuous bias binding and cording for top and bottom edges.  The Quilter's Strip Ticket provided the correct large square size.  Above, the square is now resewn and ready to be cut into a strip.

Cording goes into the bias binding and is then pinned to the edges of both the top and bottom pieces.

Using a zipper foot on the machine, piping is sewn to the edges of both the top and bottom pieces. All corners are rounded making application of the continuous piping easier.

Next, the side piece is pinned to the top piece over the piping.

Here's the top piece with the side piece attached to it all the way around.

Then the bottom piece and the side are sewn together, leaving the back open to insert the foam.

The foam is inserted into the cover and pinned closed.

Back seam is hand stitched closed.  All finished.

Dan was lucky enough to get to meet little Demos last week and took an iPhone picture of him and his lovely mommy with his new quilt.

Recovering the kitchen chairs

Starting out with a photo of the finished product makes for a more interesting picture in the various RSS formats I use, so I'll cheat a little.  Every three years or so, I get the bug to change up the covers on the kitchen chairs.  I was shopping for fabric for another house project and saw this wonderful (and irresistible) poppy fabric.  The old covers were getting a little sad, so I added this project to the list.

Now to go back and show the tasks in order:  first, I use my trusty cordless drill to remove the screws on the bottom of the chair that secure the cushion in place. ( Jim always jokes that I get more excited about getting tools for presents than jewelry.)

Next, using my staple remover, I take off the old covers and cording.

I reuse the cording and employ the first old cushion cover as a pattern to cut the new ones--good reverse engineering tricks to insure that you cut the fabric big enough to stretch over the seat and make the bias cord covers long enough.

Measuring the length of one of the cord covers, I use the wonderful Quilter's Strip ticket to make enough continuous bias binding for all four chairs.  (As I've said before, the best "less-than-six-dollars" you will ever spend.)

Switching out the quarter-inch foot for the zipper foot, I stitch the cording inside the bias binding.

Next, the new covers are stapled on the seat (wooden base covered by thin layer of foam).

Once the seat cover is in place, the cording covered with the binding is ready to go around the edges.

The cording is stapled down and then the seat is ready to be reinstalled on the chair. This is an easy job if you have the right tools.