Wednesday, December 22, 2010

But what has it got in its pocketses, eh?

Post 20 of 21 in the series, "Why I Haven't Blogged in Over Six Months"

Sometime this past summer, I got a call from a good friend of mine who needed help constructing some sort of pocket to cover up the damage her dog had done to a chair that belonged to her landlord. She managed to find some material that matched close enough and we got to work. Here's what we came up with...



This was actually a learning experience because when I started sewing on the fake leather we were using, the foot of the sewing machine kept sticking to it and making the stitches wonky. I remembered reading in one of my trusty sewing books that you could use cooking oil or non-stick cooking spray (like Pam) in this situation. I was pretty nervous about trying it because it just seemed wrong but we were getting desperate. To our amazement, as soon as we smeared some oil along the edge of the material where I was stitching, the machine pulled it right through without any problems. We actually screamed with excitement- a sewing victory! Yay!

Anyway, our end result wasn't perfect but it was adequate. The pattern was mostly improvised but partially inspired by a similar project on page 266 of Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: Basic Techniques for Sewing, Applique, Embroidery, Quilting, Dyeing, and Printing, plus 150 Inspired Projects from A to Z.

2 comments:

Emily (Laundry and Lullabies) said...

So was this project with the landlord's knowledge, or is she hoping he doesn't notice the new addition?

Glad it worked out for you, though, and that is a neat trick with the pam.

So many thoughts... said...

The landlord knew. It was $300 to re-upholster the whole couch, and $400 to replace it. This was a much more affordable solution :)