When my hubby bought a second hand conservatory suite I must say I wasn't too impressed. The structure was solid but the covers were dated and had seen better days.
"We'll just get new cushions," he said, which got me thinking. There was nothing wrong with the cushion pads themselves, it was just the fabric that looked like it had seen better days. It had been repaired a few times and wasn't exactly what I would have chosen for style.
I have made loose covers before. For a few different items: suites, chairs armchairs and chaise lounges. I knew that although I needed lots of fabric it wasn't difficult,especially if you had an existing set of covers or a shape to follow. I also knew that I had in my stash some canvas weight furnishing cotton. It was the remainders of a roll of fabric I bought called Mintern, from Laura Ashley. It was left from curtains I made for my Kitchen in my previous house. I still have the cups and the table mats to match.
My SIL got roped in to help me salvage the zips from the old covers and cut off the seams to prepare the old covers as pattern pieces. It was good to have some company as it was a rather monotonous task. I think it also demonstrated to her that if you start somewhere it isn't too difficult!
I sewed for a few evenings ... taking up the kitchen table as the fabric was heavy and I needed extra space. I also lined the cushion back pads, to allow me to take the covers off without disturbing the padding again.
I made about 15 meters of red piping (from some Laura Ashley Bacall in Raspberry) and am really pleased that I decided to pipe the cushions. This is the finished suite:
Here's a better picture of one of the chairs:
It was a big project and I'm really pleased with the results!
I am linking up this finish with Kate's Finish Along as this is on my Q2 list of things I hoped to complete!
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