Slipcovers by Shelley

Camille’s Front Room

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So Camille is my running partner, and she needed help with her front room. So when I went to Reno this summer I went to the fabric store and found this amazing gray paisley for $6/yd. I was inspired and called her and told her that we should do her front room in yellow and gray.

So about a month ago, she came up to the cabin to help me paint the dresser and mirror…and we went to the St. Lawrence thrift store in Heber city, Ut. Her chair was from the free pile out back, and check out the amazing coffee table she picked up for $5 that she painted white.

The couch was from my sister’s yard sale for $20, as was the floral fabric for $2, as were the rectangle pillow forms $1/each. The gray rectangle pillow on the couch was fabric from the trash at the Design company that I asked if I could have. It was just big enough to do the front of that pillow.

The light gray fabric on the couch was from the Step Down Sale at the design company for $3/yd. I love the way it all fell into place!! I could sit in there forever.

Chair Before
Chair after in the gray paisley

Close up of the chair

Couch before

Couch after in a light gray canvas with no skirt.

The whole room put together
Close up of the front of the couch. When I don’t put a skirt on I sew a row of piping along the bottom and then topstitch the seam allowance up, so that it doesn’t fall out.
Close up of the pillows
Chair
Camille chilling in her new room!!

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How I Got Started

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Our wedding

When I got married 13 years ago I inherited an ugly couch, and as a new wife I was determined to make my little dated apartment “cute”. I went out and bought fabric and a pattern for a slipcover. To my dissapointment the fit was horrible and the tuck-in and ties were awful, so I bought more fabric and made the cushions as separate pieces that sat on top of the main body slipcover. I still hated it.

Our house being built

A year later we built our first house, so I headed to the local thrift store and picked up a chair, that I was determined to make a better slipcover for. I had looked at a few pamphlets and books at the fabric store, and thought I had figured out how to make a “custom slipcover”.

The ugly chair that I picked up at the local thrift store. Soon I learned this chair didn’t have good lines. I now would never choose the fluffy back thing.

My first custom slipcover that I made. My recommendation..don’t choose a stripe or plaid for your first slipcover.

My friends and family loved it and started asking me to slipcover their furniture. In the mean time we got pregnant with our first child, and I told my husband when we had babies I would stay home and make slipcovers…he laughed. I had my first “real” client when my baby was 3 months old. I think he forgot how determined and focused I can be when I want something. He has become wiser over the past 13 years.

I still ended up having to go back to work part time as an assistant manager at Bath and Body Works when my baby was 7 weeks old to pay the bills. I did about one to two slipcovers a month during this period for clients. By the time my baby turned a year old, my business had grown enough for me to stay home and sew. So I took a leap of faith and quit my job.

I had a display chair in a few shops (Joanns and Addie Landons) and cards up at the fabric store, and the rest of my business came from word of mouth. All my clients are now from word of mouth, I haven’t had a chair in a store for about 6 years.

My family picture from Christmas last year….my sister is a photographer. You can check out her blog at http://photosbyangie.blogspot.com/

I now have two ladies that help me sew to keep up with my growing business. I try to keep my work schedule to 2-3 days a week, because I now have 3 children. So I have my “mom” days and my “work” days. My husband is a fireman and has 4 days off in a row, so he watches the kids on my “work” days.

I have lots of designer clients, and regular repeat clients. With having the extra income I was determined to put it to good use and get out of debt. So slowly over the past 10 years I’ve paid off the basement, the cars, and the house…yep the house!!! Now I am working on paying off the cabin we just bought. Remember how focused I said I was? My friends think I am crazy. I might be a little bit, but I like to call it “determined” not crazy.

So if you want to learn to make slipcovers to redecorate on a budget or you want to make some extra money…learning the art of slipcovering is an invaluable tool and skill. If you love fabric and decorating and have some sewing skills you will become obsessed with the possibilites of what you can do with an ugly piece of furniture. You will become a regular at the local thrift store and craigslist.

My “How to Slipcover Video” walks you through the basics of slipcovering and will give you the skills to slipcover just about anything. I teach you to make a slipcover by pinning it on inside out. I was self taught and learned through trial and error over the past 11 years… with the DVD you can learn without going through the heartache and wasted time that I went through. I am now fast at what I do, and with practice you can be too.

So if you want on the wait list for my “how to slipcover” DVD email http://www.blogger.com/heberj1@yahoo.com they are $45 plus $3 shipping. I just took the DVD to get replicated and the covers made…they said 7-10 business days. I’ll email you when they are ready and have you pay via paypal. thanks

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Dropcloth couch and chair

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Here is another couch and chair…that I was so excited about, I forgot to take the before picture. So I’ll describe them to you. The chair was a forest green, and the couch was a red/forrest green floral. My client had me redo them to use in her back yard for more seating for her daughter’s wedding reception. Then they were going to be moved to her daughter new apartment as a wedding gift. I don’t know about you but I would love a new set of slipcovers for my wedding gift.

She used painters dropcloths for the fabric….some people love this and other’s don’t. Some think the fabric is weaker in spots and you have to be ok with the random flaws.

Couch after made of painter dropcloths
close up of front of arm of couch
chair after made of painter dropcloths

Close up of the scrolled back on the couch with piping.

close up of front of chair… I did a band along the front with piping at the top, so the fit stayed tight. I like to do it this way when you have a T cushion and no skirt.

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