stand back, I have a staple gun....

Tuesday 30 June 2009
Sadly no garment sewing done again this week but I have been drooling over the past few issues of BWOF dreaming, so hopefully soon. I have been doing some more home dec sewing again, but this time it was so quick and simple that I almost didn't have time to get bored with it. Plus there's always fun to be had wherever a staple gun is required....

I had an old footstool liberated from my grandparents but it was covered in cracked green vinyl and my husband was complaining about the amount of "junk" I hoard. So to shut him up, and because I had some of the fuschia chenille fabric left over from my recent chair recovering the solution was obvious:

Now one of my real life friends is going to ask me how to do this when she spies these photos, so here is a step by step for her and anyone else interested. The rest of you more experienced sewers who could do this in their sleep please feel free to move on to a more interesting blog and ooh and ah over their new gorgeous outfit!

Step One: Firstly pry the old cushion off the stool and let your dog push it around the backyard and tear it to shreds before picking up all the pieces to put in the rubbish bin! And then buy some new foam cut to size. Quietly choke on how expensive foam is.....


Step two: I covered the foam in some polyester wadding, using spray adhesive which works really well but I also roughly sewed the edges down to join them together so I could slide the cover on later without the wadding being pushed down.



Step three: From the fabric I cut out a circle for the top and a rectangle for the sides measuring off the finished dimensions of the foam with the wadding already on because the wadding will make it bigger(remember to add seam allowances and some extra to the rectangle to stretch underneath the footstool). Also I cut out a long narrow rectangle to make some piping.


Step four: Sew the long thin rectangle in half over some cord using a zipper foot to make the piping, and sew the short sides of the other rectangle together.


Step five: Sew the piping to the circle fabric piece, remembering to put the piping on the inside and the seam allowance to the outer of the circle.



Step six: Sew the rectangle to the sides of the circle fabric piece, close as possible to the stitching line of the piping. After sewing, clip the seam allowances every few centimetres to allow it to open up properly.


Step seven: Slide the cover over the foam and hope it fits well. If so continue, if not, put it in a cupboard for a few months until you feel like doing it again. Just kidding! That's how you get a ginormous UFO pile, just ask me! Also try to put all parts of the clipped seam allowances to one side (doesn't matter which just be consistent) because otherwise it will look lumpy, which mine does a bit but I can't be bothered going back to fix it.


Step eight: I used some of the spray adhesive to stick the foam to the top of the footstool and then stretched the sides of the fabric to the underside of the footstool and went staple crazy. I also added a fabric covered button to the top of the footstool since it already had a hole in the centre of the wooden base and was just crying out for it. You can see I used a highly technical device of a matchstick to secure the thread there in the centre, but if you had a button big enough to cover the hole that would probably do a better job.

I used the selvage of the fabric for one side of the rectangle so I didn't have to finish the edge of the fabric or worry about it unravelling, but I may still cover up the edge of the fabric and staples with some duct tape or similar just to make it look neater but it's not really necessary.

For the thread for the button I used four strands, pulled through beeswax to make it stronger, but it's still not that strong so don't pull it too hard! Again I know that from experience. I used a bloody big needle (another technical term) to push it through the foam:

Step nine: All done, turn your footstool over, ignore screaming children and barking dogs for a little while and sit back and put your feet up instead!


23 comments:

  1. Your stool turned out so cute! See, I just don't have any grandparetns left to mouch an old foot stool from! Great tutorial!
    Anyway, it's good every once'st in
    a while to do something other then clothing sewing!

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  2. wow awesome job!! I would have done a much shottier job of getting that done. Yours looks so professional!

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  3. That looks FANTASTIC! What a great job!

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  4. Brillant foot stool and tutorial and love the "technical" terms.

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  5. Fabulous stool - now I want one!

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  6. Thanks for sharing your home dec project...it's beautiful and your account was very entertaining! :)

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  7. Looks great! Oh, and the old foam was probably worn out anyway.

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  8. ooooo la la! looks great! awesome colour and attention to detail :-)

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  9. Fabulous!! And I know all about the exorbitant price of foam - I was going to buy new foam when I recovered our couch, but decided to recycle once I saw the cost. I could have bought a new couch for the same price!!

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  10. You are absolutely amazing. The stool is awesome.

    www.sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com

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  11. The finished stool is very cool, but I have to confess that the sewing geek in me was most impressed that in the pic showing how you attach the piping I couldn't see where it started and finished. And believe me, I looked! Did you make a continuous loop of piping just the right size, or are you just that good at making ends tidy? If you are, could you please show me how!? :-)

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  12. Just gorgeous. I'm oohing and ahhing over this as much as I would someone's garment. I too am choking on the cost of foam...I am making floor cushions for the kindy. I wish they were for me, because I know I will never choose to sew cushions for my home when I could sew a new dress...but yours looks so fab, I may have to reconsider.

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  13. Good job! What a cool stool! Thanks for taking the time to write the tutorial.

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  14. Do you know how much you could get for this stool in NYC?!! Tell DH "a lot." Well done!

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  15. Great footstool!! A while back you made a nursing top from a Big 4 pattern and then one from Ottobre. Have you made any other nursing clothes?? I have 10 weeks to get sewing and need some inspiration!!!

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  16. Fabulous how-to! Sometimes it's good to sew something that doesn't require fitting to a human.

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  17. I think it's a great tutorial! (Especially the part about your dog helping, and your technical terms.)

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  18. Nice footstool, good tutorial, excellent advice at the end about putting your feet up...well deserved.

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  19. That is so retro cool - I want one!

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  20. I am so impressed. And inspired. An especially appropriate post for this sewing wannabe since I am cutting out a cover for my ottoble today.

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  21. Fantastic job. Thanks for the tutorial. Makes me feel like even i could do this.

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