Slipcover for a Scribe

What limits we push when it's freezing outside, it's warm inside and we have hundreds of yards of fabric remnants to contemplate. An old tuffet (the very first one I ever made back in my "tuffet" making days) needed to be reincarnated from old cheetah fabric. A nice little array of houndstooth, velvet and a gray modern fabric I was lucky enough to get from Paul A. Howard, british furntiture designer extraordinaire, fell together in a very satisfactory palette.

I've also been fiddling around the past few months making appliques of many sorts. This time I needed a one of a kind design and I HAVE been spending many hours writing lately, so I found it logical to use an ink bottle and feather pen silhouette. An under- slipcover of dacron was made to unify the bumps and ridges in the ottoman and then an exact final fabric slipcover about 1/2 " larger was made to slip over the top. The legs were also painted an ivory for lightness and floatiness (word?) .

List of Materials:

footstool you want to cover

piece of sandpaper

primer

paint

paintbrush

1 yd. of fabric and two pieces of desired fabric for applique

applique bonding paper "Heat n' Bond" Lite

3/4 yard of batting

sewing machine

thread

Steps

1. Lightly sand, prime and paint legs of old footstool, if desired.

2. Measure top of footstool, add one inch (for seam allowance) and another 1/2 inch for batting.

3. Measure desired lenght of slopcovver or the "drop" length and add 2 1/2 inches to that. Now measure the circumference of the widest part of the stool and add 4 inches to that.

The hem will be a total of 2 inches and 1/2 " will be the seam allowance at the top. The extra 4 inches will be needed where the two short edges come together at the end of stitching the band to the top. On one long side of band fold under 1" and then fold it over again another 1 " and press. Stitch. Your hem is now finished. Put pieces aside.

4. Cut an underneath "slipcover" using same measurements out of batting. This will be placed on footstool in order to even out bumps and ridges. Stitch band of dacron to top and pull down over footstool.

5. Design an applique, if desired. Use Thermabond Heat n Bond lite, paper side up to press on fabrics to be used for applique design. Trace design on applique paper and cut out. Pull paper off and place design on fabric top and, using dry iron, iron firmly in place. Add second piece if desired. Stitch around edge of applique to secure.

6. Take your hemmed fabric band and folding back 2" of one end, pin right sides of band to right side of fabric top, matching raw edges and lining up fabric pattern if necessary. The bulk of the band will be facing inwards towards inside of circle. Stitch band to circle 1/2" in from edge. As stitching is approaches the folded over edge keep sewing and let the remaining 2" overlap the folded edge. Carefully make clips in towards seam, being careful not to cut through stitching, to releasie the seam allowance so that it will lay flat. Turn right side out.

Pin down the folded edge to fabric beneath it. Starting at bottom, stitch at 1/4" up towards seam at top of band. Backstitch to lock in place.

7. Place your finished slipcover over your footstool and enjoy the new, modern look.

You can slipcover any shaped ottoman, footstool or coffee table for a fresh look.