craftlog

Hi - Becket here again. Just finished (and just in the nick of time - because I’m starting to get big pregnancy-wise) a couch reupholstery project that has been plaguing me for months. It all started when I inheritied a danish modern daybed that was being thrown out at work. So, I managed to get it in my car (with some needed help from the guys at the loading dock) and took it home. It didn’t have the foam cushions (or the upholstery) - it was just the teak frame/legs/back. And the wood needed some TLC. So, my husband and I (we did this LAST summer) sanded the couch down and restained it. After that, we were a bit exhausted with the project, so we put it aside for a couple of months. Then, in the fall, we visited Katz’ Foam in Philly - it’s basically a HUGE wherehouse that sells all types of foam at decent prices (foam can be incredibly expensive). They even had the foam in the form of wedges for the back cushions. Then, I had to think about a nice neutral fabric that wasn’t boring. So, I visited Philly’s “Fabric Row”. If you’re not familiar with Philly, “Fabric Row” is basically a huge street with dozens of fabric stores. So, you would think that I had a lot to choose from - but I just kept seeing the same patterns over and over again - and none of them looked particularly Danish modern (I kept coming across toile, pineapples and fleur-de-lys patterns). I even looked into Knoll re-issued fabrics - OUCH! Those are expensive. So, I ended up going to JoAnn’s (again) and finding a very nice upholstery fabric in a neutral army-moss green with a small square relief pattern. It’s soft but durable and was easy to work with because the squares allowed me to sew along a straight line. And I got to use the 50% coupon! Hooray!
Maitreya and I’s mutual friend Amy has done reupholstery in the past and is a very talented seamstress. Through Amy’s generosity with her time and guidance I learned how to make cording from the fabric (mobius loop, anyone?), how to first cover the foam in muslin, and how to put in hidden zippers (which are also located on the bottom of each wedge cushion). I found sewing the corners to be particularly difficult - Amy’s machine had a smaller zipper foot and could handle the corners nicely. Amy really guided me through the project at every step and even did some of the sewing jobs - THANK YOU AMY!!

To go with the couch, I made coordinating pillows with a vintage linen on the front (kind of reminiscient of Jonathan Adler) and the green fabric on the back, plus extra cording from the couch around the pillow edges. Put in the hidden zippers and I was finally done!! The last step is to actually move the couch into our final destination in the living room. In the meanwhile, it’s in my sewing room/loft/storage area and is serving as a daybed for our cat, who loves the loft because it’s warm and sunny.