Welcome to Legal Tender Farm

Welcome to Legal Tender Farm

Friday, December 25, 2015

DIY Ottoman #2

My living room is in a state of flux.  I'm slowly changing it's look and working towards replacing all of the furniture.  I still have the Chesterfield sofa in the barn that I'm planning to reupholster, but it's on the back burner for the time being.  I plan to work on that this winter.  You might be thinking, "It is winter."  But, hey, as I sit here typing, it is 77 degrees outside and my azaleas, roses, and irises are in full bloom.  No wonder I'm confused.

Anyway, daughter found this old table at an estate sale for me.  I was actually looking for a round one in this style, but I thought having an octagon would be interesting.

 It's sort of Louis XVI meets the 80's.

Once again, five inch foam.  Luckily, the table is short enough so that putting this big chunk of foam doesn't make it way too tall...just barely.

I cut the top to fit, allowing for a half inch seam all the way 'round.  By the way, I found this fabric at Hancock Fabrics and I loved it right away.  However, I didn't realize how much purple it had in it until I got it home.  Hmm.  Not loving how the purple in the fabric clashes with the red in the rug.  And, you know why this isn't working for me?  Because I don't love the rug.  Never loved the rug.  Even less so now.  I bought it because I was desperate for a new rug in the living room and this one was a decent price for the size I needed in the color family that I needed.  On-line, the red didn't look so red and I thought it would be neutral enough to work with the other ideas I had.  That's what happens when I ignore my own rule about decorating with things I love.  Why do I keep having to learn this lesson over and over?

So, anyway, I went back and forth on this...cut one strip to go all the way around the sides, or cut each of the eight sides individually and have seams at all corners.  I opted for the eight pieces so that the corners would be crisper instead of looking like a round cushion on top of an octagonal table.

More welting.  Man, am I ever glad that I found this tutorial on making bias tape for welting.  It saves a whole bunch of time and is so easy!

Self welt on the top of the cushion. contrasting welt on the underside to cover the rough edges.

Basically finished, except that I'm going to put four large buttons and very slightly tuft the top with them.  I've learned that the buttons I can buy at the fabric store are really not that great of an option for upholstery.  The fabric is too thick, it's hard to put the buttons together and they come apart too easily.  From now on, I'm either going to have buttons covered for me at an upholstery shop or find some better quality buttons that I can cover myself.

Now.  What to do about that red.  Ugh.  Does anyone know if I can paint a wool rug with fabric paint?

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