Reupholstered Bar Stools - With Tutorial!

We are in the process of redecorating the high school room

at my church. 

And I was excited to be asked to reupholster

four "bar stools".

No, the high school room is not in a "bar",

nor does the church serve alcohol,

even though we are in the world famous wine region of

Sonoma County, CA. 

But these stools needed some new covers!

So the first thing I did was to turn one upside down,

on a large piece of paper.

This way I could draw all the way around the seat

to make a pattern for the top of the stool.

Because of the curve of the side,

it actually added about 1/4" all the way around,

making a seam allowance.

I cut out the circle

and laid it on the wrong side of the fabric.

Then I drew around the circle directly onto the fabric.

I cut out the circle and marked the circle

at the North, South, East and West, 

just like I was looking at a globe.

Actually I clipped at those places but

the clips didn't show in the photo,

so I put pins there so they would be visible.

Next I measured all the way around the edge of the

seat cushion. 

I had to pull the measuring tape tightly,

because the sides stretch out to accommodate

the curve and the foam inside.

This measurement became the length (width) of the band.

Then I measured the depth of the seat cushion

and added 1 inch for seam allowance and

room to staple.

I was unable to get the staples out

that held on the old vinyl cover,

so I decided to just cover it completely.

Using my quilters ruler,

I measured the 4 1/2 inches in depth for the band,

and measured 41 1/2 inches in width and cut the strip.

I sewed the short ends of the strip together, 

using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I prefer to use upholstery thread,

but heavy duty cotton thread will work fine.

I pressed my seam open and then pressed the seam

to one side. 

I top stitched the seam into place. 

This will add strength to the seam,

which will be under stress because it will fit snugly 

onto the stool.

I pinned the seam of the band to my "North" point 

of the circle.

Then find the halfway point of the band and

I pinned it to my "South" point.

Then I found each halfway point on each side

and pinned it to my "East" and "West" points.

 

I kept pinning all the way around the circle, 

making sure my pins were in the direction 

so I  could pull them out as I sewed

without poking myself.

Sadly, I learned this after getting poked way too

many times with my super sharp pins!

I stitched around the circle with a 1/4" seam allowance.

(Pardon the ugly sticker on the sewing machine, please.

I am still sewing on India's machine while mine is in the shop,

and she never took the stickers off.)

Sorry this is so blurry. 

But I was trying to show that I 

pressed the seam allowance toward the top

and top stitched right next to the seam.

I did not clip the seam allowance inside,

like I would normally do for a garment.

The reason is that the full seam allowance was 

needed for stability of the seam,

and the foam seat

will fill out any puckering.

This is the cushion cover where the 

seam of the band meets the 

top of the seat cover.

 

I finished the edge of the 

band with an overlock stitch to prevent fraying.

I put the new cover directly onto the old 

vinyl cover of the seat.

It fit snugly but well.

I pulled the band tightly over the bottom of the 

seat cushion and stapled it in place

using an electric staple gun.

I also have a regular staple gun,

but the electric staple gun is much easier 

to use.

I put staples very close together,

so that the fabric would not tear from stress.

This is how the bottom of the seat looks

on a finished bar stool.

All four of the bar stools

are finished and headed back to the church!

The church provided me with 2 yards of 

this upholstery fabric.

I have enough of the fabric left over

to make 3 throw pillows for the high school room!

Because, you know,

high school students must have pillows to smack

each other with when they are not listening to the

youth pastor teach!

 I am taking the stools with me to 

church in the morning, 

when we go for Vacation Bible School.

FUN!!!!

In other news,

my beloved Janome Memory Craft 9700 

is supposed to be ready to pick up from the 

shop tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

I am so glad!!!!

I have a very important apron order

to complete and it needs to be 

embroidered!!

But I will tell you more about that in a few days!

Happy Sewing!!!!!

 Sivje

The Chiffon Bridal Jacket

Last week I received a phone call from the

sweetest bride.

Her name is Jo and she is a beautiful blond lady.

I should have taken a photo of her in her lovely

steel blue embroidered silk cocktail dress.

But Jo is a tad more mature than the average bride.

And she wanted to cover her arms during her wedding.

So she was referred to me by a local fabric store.

She arrived with a little bit of periwinkle blue chiffon

and, together, we sketched out the "illusion" 

jacket she envisioned.

She wanted something light and airy,

as her nuptials will 

occur on June 30, here in Sonoma County, CA.

She didn't want to obscure the lovely lace of her gown.

She wanted to be able to dance,

so the illusion jacket needed to allow freedom of movement.

She wanted it to float on the breeze.

Jo came this morning to pick up her jacket 

and she was glowing with happiness.

She said it was exactly as she envisioned.

I was greatly relieved!

Now, for the story behind the jacket............

You see, last week, while sewing some 

throw pillows out of heavy upholstery fabric

and chunky piping, for a client,

my trusty Janome Memory Craft 9700

went on strike!

So, she is at the spa getting refreshed.

Thankfully, both of my girls have

sewing machines!

So, I sewed several custom apron orders

and this jacket on a

Hello Kitty Janome

and a Disney Brother sewing machine.

Yes, really!

I sewed French seams on the jacket

and hand stitched the neckline, front, and hem.

I am praying my Janome is ready this week because

I have a lot of sewing to do.

Today, we are going to see "Brave" 

and then I have 4 stools to reupholster for 

our church's high school room.

Now, if only I could find my upholstery tools........

Happy Sewing!

 

Yaya's Apron On Sale!

Yes!

YouCanMakeThis.com
is having a big sale and 

my Yaya's Apron pattern is on sale for 5$!!! 

You can get it HERE

 

You can also purchase a lot of other 

great patterns on sale 

today through June 18.

And remember, you can always

contact me if you want to order a custom made

Yaya's Apron created for you by me!

You can email me directly at 

Sivje @ Sivjegoose . com

(remove the spaces)

Happy Sewing!

Chinese Girls Faux Wrap Top and Capris

Yippee!!!!

Today was Ahnalin's last day of 2nd grade!!!

And I hadn't made her anything new to wear since.......

.........last week!

(Never mind that I wear capri jeans pretty much

every day. Sewing for her is my fun!)

I decided to make my little one a spring outfit

out of this "Memoirs From China" print by Robert Kaufman.

It was sent to me last year by another sewing friend, 

Hettie Lynn, because it reminded her of Ahnalin. 

I had been saving it for just the right occasion.

 I bought Simplicity 2677 a few years ago,

but had still not tried it.

For this top, I chose view D.

I cut the top in a size 5 with a size 8 in length.

Do you recognize the contrast fabric?

It is the same Michael Miller print

I used for Ahnalin's and Cherish's Christmas dresses.

I just had a few little scraps left, 

so it worked perfectly!

And, well, yeah. 

Rick Rack

Of course. 

The top is actually a faux wrap,

with a zipper and hook and eye in the back.

I really liked this little top.

I will probably use this pattern again.

Ahnalin refuses to wear jeans. 

She doesn't like how they fit and 

how stiff they are.

But I learned a while ago that she WILL wear

things that I make for her out of old, soft, worn jeans.

So I cut apart a pair of old black jeans. 

Reduce! Recycle! Reuse!

There is enough left over to make another jeans

mini skirt for her too!

For the capris,

I used Simplicity 2711.

I added the trim on the bottom, 

right at the hem line.

I chose this pattern, because

it is a little slimmer than most pants patterns.

I cut a size 4 in width and a size 8 in length.

I have also made the dress in this pattern before and

highly recommend it.

 

Ahnalin wanted me to take a picture of her climbing up the fence.

But you can also see the cute sandals I found to match!

Ahnalin is also very proud of the strawberries growing in our garden.

Classic!

So my girl wore this on her last day of 2nd grade.

Oh! And last night she reminded me that 

she wanted to give her teacher something special.

Her teacher's favorite colors are green and purple

and it had to say
"We Love Mrs. Dyer".

So, I made her a little prayer pillow.

When I am sewing for others, 

I pray for them.

My mom used to make prayer pillows

for gifts and it made such an impression on me

growing up, that I now do the same thing.

Ahnalin LOVED being in Mrs. Dyer's class this year.

She was excited that Mrs. Dyer gave her 

extra math books to work on FOR FUN this summer!!!

Ahnalin wrote this in class this year,

about her favorite thing!

I am a Mathematician 

by Ahnalin
My favorite kind of math is fractions and multiplication. 

I like to have a math paper in front of me.

 For a whole week we did star testing and it was so much fun.

 Math is the bomb!

So summer vacation has officially begun for Ahnalin!

She has big plans for sewing this summer!

Happy sewing!