How to Reupholster a Tufted Couch

Heads up. For this post I asked my DIY buds RYOBI and Onlinefabricstore.net for help. I was provided some fabric and a stapler but was not compensated otherwise. My opinions are always my own.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done. Finally. I swear as blog years go by it takes me longer and longer and longer to complete projects. Either that, or I'm taking on more complex projects. Yeah, I like that explanation. Let's go with that. I finished my first huge reupholstery project and I love it! 

I bought this green love seat on Craig's List some time last year. When I saw the pictures of it on the post, I was thrilled. It was exactly what I had in mind for my husband's new office at the new house. And, it was only $75. I was so sold. I headed out on my lunch break the same day and picked it up. Now, I will be the first to admit, my excitement severely clouded my judgment. The owner already had the couch outside when I arrived. I never stepped foot in the house. If I had, I might have noticed the overwhelming smoke smell coming from the thing. I never asked about smoke. Seriously rookie error. As soon as it was loaded in my car and I drove away, the stench overwhelmed me. Windows down, I rolled into the first Target I passed and purchased Febreze as if that was even going to make a dent. Bahaha. I drove the rest of the way back to work spritzing over my shoulder as I drove.

For months I asked my Instagram peeps for advice. I tried baking soda, vinegar, and letting it soak in the sun. At this point, I still didn't think I was going to reupholster it so I tried whatever I could to salvage the beast. 

During these months my husband joked many times that he was going to throw it on the burn pile. (I'm pretty sure that the stink combined with the garage space it was taking up was fueling this desire.) I was determined to save her though. On top of the fabric being stinky, it was quite warn and cheap really. It was sort of a synthetic "velvet". Looked okay from a far, but up close it was kind of plastic-ey. Again, total judgement error on my part. I never would have bought this couch really realizing the condition it was in. All of these things lead me to try reupholstery. What do I have to lose right?

So, I did a little Pinterest browsing and Googling and decided to go at it. My basic plan was to peel off layer by layer, keeping all of the pieces in tact and making note of what goes where as I removed each piece. I got this (fist bump).  First thing I did was peal off the faux nail head trim. It actually came off really easily. I didn't bother to be careful with this since I knew I wouldn't be reusing it.

Step 1 done!

Then began the peeling. First things to come off were the little pieces covering the fronts of the arms. 

I may have enlisted a little help in this project. :) We just removed piece by piece from the outside in and labeled each one with a Sharpie as it got removed. (Pics of that later) I did that so I could use these old pieces as templates for the new pieces I would have to cut.

The buttons that create the tufts on this couch are prong-back. Basically they just had two pieces of bendy metal keeping them in place. With a hard enough pull, they came right out. The seat was the first large piece to be removed.

Then the back. I'm not gonna lie... I removed a bazillion staples. A million bazillion.

After the big pieces of fabric were removed the vomit factor was really kicked up a notch. O.M.G. What in holy DIY happened to this couch in its former life? I'm positive I do not want to know the answer to that question. Shall we zoom in? Ya, we should.

Seriously, get the gloves and Purell your entire body. Thank goodness I decided to reupholster! Bleh.

Have you recovered yet? I'll give you a minute. Deep breath. Okay, moving on. At some point I removed the legs. They were just held on with a few screws and came off pretty easily too with a drill.

Here's an example of how I labeled things. I wrote where the pieces goes and what direction it goes too.

Once I got all of the pieces off, I laid them in my driveway to really get the neighbors talking and to estimate how many yards of new fabric I would need to order. I think I ended up with something like 10 yards. I ordered this gorgeous charcoal velvet from onlinefabricstore.net. I've ordered from them for almost all of my large sewing projects and I'm never disappointed. Huge selection, good prices, and delivered to my door. 

Meanwhile, my naked couch went through more de-stink-ification. And, it worked remarkably well. Basically, I sprayed the entire thing in vinegar (I only had apple cider... seemed to work great) and left it in the sun for several days. It worked I tell ya. Stink free.

Once the new fabric arrived, I rolled it out and arranged all of my template pieces (aka the disgusting stinky old fabric from the couch) on top.

Then I traced each piece leaving a little wiggle room and cut them out. Be sure that the old fabric and new fabric are facing the same direction for this step. You can see both the old and new fabric are right sides up for me.

Ta dah! Old disgusting piece vs new fresh clean a-million-times-better piece on the right. I also transferred my notes from the old fabric over to the new piece too.

For the tufted pieces (the seat and the seat back), I laid the old fabric on top of the new and punched holes with an awl. This way the holes were already in exactly the right places on the new piece.

Then I considered recovering the old upholstery buttons but in the end decided it wasn't worth it and ordered these new ones on Amazon.

So I started with the seat back and slipped my new buttons through the pre-punched holes. Then I started from the middle and smushed the button down into the foam (my husband helped a bit with the smushing). Once the metal prong backs poked through the foam in the back, I just bent open the two prongs and they stayed put.

This part went pretty quickly. Just keep smushing the buttons down, working from the middle out and smoothing the folds in the fabric as you go.

Here's what it looked like on the back side. The arrows are pointing to the prongs I have bent open.

Once you've got all of the buttons in place, the edges of the fabric will need to be secured with staples. To do this I used the RYOBI 18V ONE+ Cordless Narrow Crown Stapler. It's a great option that does not require an air compressor and will save your hands! 

That top section is where you can really see what I'm talking about. The tufts look great but the top needs to be pulled tight and stapled. I made some videos trying to explain this part. Check 'em out below.

This is my upholstery face. :) So intense.

The next little item that will make DIY upholstery look more professional is this stuff, Upholstery Tack Strip. I also purchased this on Amazon and it was fairly cheap. This is the secret to getting nice crisp straight lines.

Basically, you flip your fabric up (I'm working on the back of the couch here) and staple the tack strip to the wrong side of the fabric. Then, when you flip the fabric back down, it folds on the clean line of the cardboard strip, not on lumpy staples. (and... I did actually wear my safety glasses for the stapling. This picture is me totally staging the stapling with my camera timer. Busted!)

See the staples in the tack strip?

Here it is again on the front of the couch. Staple on the tack strip...

then flip the fabric down for a clean line.

Just keep pulling, smoothing, and stapling tight.

For the front of the rolled arms, I used the old pieces I pulled off and just recovered them in the new fabric.

Like magic! I hot glued the fabric onto these. Then, I stapled them on in just a few places along the edges. The nail heads are really going to hold these on but I used a couple staples just to hold them in place.

Here are the first nail heads started. I also purchased them on Amazon. You can also see a few of the staples I put in along the edges. They got covered up by the nail heads eventually.

One by one by one... 

Another little tool I found on Amazon is this thing, a "Quick Nailer Spacer". It basically holds 5 nails perfectly spaced for you while you hammer them in. However, it only works on straight lines so you're on your own for the curves.

This part was actually kind of therapeutic. :)

One done, one to go. I did the other side exactly the same. Then painted and reattached the legs. And....

Done! I really can't believe I saved the "stink couch".  I promise is does not have even a hint of stink anymore and it looks so good. Of course I learned a lot and there are a couple things I would do differently next time (cut the fabric with even more wiggle room than I did the first time) but I'm really happy with the end result.

I hope you're inspired to find your own Craig's List disaster to rip apart and make new! 

Let's be friends!

DIY Floor Lamp

This post was sponsored by Habitat Greater Orlando Restore.

This week myself and a few other DIY bloggers got the chance to partner up with The Habitat for Humanity Restore here in Orlando (1649 Florida Mall Avenue, Orlando, FL 32809). They asked us to basically shop around and see what I could DIY for ya'll. Um, yes. You see, when this Habitat store opened a couple years back, I think Katie (from Sew Woodsy) and I were the first ones in the door. We used to work (at our "real" jobs) quite close to there and well, who needs to eat lunch on lunch break when you can thrift shop? :) They carry a wide variety of items from household goods to home décor, furniture, and appliances. The store also accepts donations of these gently used goods. And the best part; all proceeds support Habitat’s mission of providing affordable homes for families in need. Win.

I headed over early and wandered blissfully through the goods. That hanging pendant lamp below was gorgeous and huge but a bit out of my budget. However, craft paint for 50 cents?! That's what I'm talking about. They also had tons and tons of paint brushes and paint supplies. I need to remember that when we paint the new house. :)

There were at least a hundred tiny sewing kits for 50 cents. So cute! And the hardware. Oh man. Must. Restrain. Self. There were so many good ones. Some for less than a buck! The burlap ribbon I thought would be a great 4th of July DIY. And the bins of just random parts always strike me as interesting. No idea what they are actually intended for but I'm sure one day I'll make something up.

Alas, here's what I came home with. An awesome jewelry tree for Kaley's room for $6. She's already filled it. 2 brand new ceramic picture frames–one for my bedroom, the other for the guest room. Love the texture on those. A "j" hook I intend to DIY into something for my husband's (Jamey's) new office. And, a ginormous drum shade for $2! Okay, cheater alert. I actually got that drum shade like a year ago at the same Restore. Too good of a deal to pass up, and see... lamp hoarding pays off!

And last but not least, this gem. The tag said "coat rack" but it's screaming floor lamp to me.

$20 bucks aint bad for a future 6-foot lamp!

In order to make my coat rack a lamp, I needed actual lamp parts. I picked this beauty up for $4 at a local thrift store. Habitat has tons (TONS I tell you!) of lights and lamps but they were all too nice to cut apart. This task called for a junker... and a junker I got.

Let's get started! First thing I did was disassemble the lamp. I just loosened the nut on the bottom.

And the whole thing just came apart.

Next, I clipped off the thing that holds the bulb. I know that seems scary, but it was the only way to get the pieces I needed out of the lamp.

I just used wire cutters and left myself about 6" of wire from where the bulb gets screwed in to work with.

While I would have loved to just use the thrifted lamp for parts, I did have to buy a couple things. All were cheap. I think the most expensive part was $3. Mainly I needed that harp thing to hold my shade. I also bought a shorter stem (zinc-plated nipple) because the one my lamp came with was really long, and a finial for the top of the lamp.

Once I had all my pieces, I reassembled the lamp parts I needed by threading them onto the cord. I really just figured it out as I went. Lamp parts are all standard sizes and just screw together quite easily. 

To reattach the cord I cut in half, I first made sure I was attaching the correct wires together. Lamp cords have two wires in them separated in a plastic/rubbery coating. One side should have some sort of writing printed on it, the other should be blank. When reattaching, make sure to match up the wires with the "words" and the wires that are blank. 

I just twisted the ends together tightly and wrapped each wire separately in electrical tape making sure they were secure and separate. If you're unsure of this step, consult an expert or Google :) Safety first people. Don't start any fires. Then the whole connection got shoved down into the metal stem I bought and I screwed all my parts together.

While this was going on, the coat rack got it's first coat in the yard.... of spray paint that is. You see what I did there? ;)

Then, I got my husband to help me bend the arms out a bit and we shoved the lamp stem in the middle. That sucker isn't going anywhere.

Then I added the shade and finial and BAM! New 6-foot tripod floor lamp for about $30 and one afternoon. I'm so excited! We've used it every night so far. I love the height it provides the room now, not to mention the light in the evening.

So are you inspired to visit the Greater Orlando Restore? I'll sweeten the deal. For everyone that donates to the ReStore and mentions this blog post, the store will provide $5 off your purchase of $20 or more. You could get 10 sewing kits for that $5! :) ha. A couple of my DIY blog buddies accepted the challenge too and DIYed their own Restore goodies. Hop around and check them out...

Spring Jello Mold Wreath from Shaken Together 

Rustic Lift Top Coffee Table Top from HypeOrlando 

DIY Rustic Decorative Mirror from Sew Woodsy

Let's be friends!

DIY Kindle Case

Ya'll. I'm going on a cruise. Like going tomorrow. I know, crazy. It's the kids' spring break and I've been in laundry and packing mode all day. Flip flops, bathing suits, shorts, sun block– all packed. The kids even packed their own backpacks with "carry on" stuff. Included in Kaley's bag is the Kindle. I never thought I'd see the day! Suddenly my budding 7-year-old reader is excited to read on vacation and asked if she could bring it. Wha what?! Um, yes.

I think she's finally hit that point where it's not work to read anymore and she's discovered that books can be funny, scary, happy, exciting... everything a movie can be. So we got a Kindle this month (It's National Reading Month too!) with Amazon Free Time Unlimited. Basically, for $2.99 a month, she can download thousands of chapter books specifically for her age without actually lugging them all around. Great for school since her homework is to read every night and we just can't get to the library weekly. Austin has even downloaded a few early readers for himself. We've only had the thing a few weeks and she's on her 5th book. I can't tell you how excited she was to find Mr. Popper's Penguins. (It's all the rage among 1st graders I tell ya.) They read it in her class a while back and now she's reading it to me at night. :)

So, since I knew the cruise was coming up, and since I had some pretty cute fabric in my stash, I decided to take a crack at making a case for her new Kindle. Maybe she'll be even more inspired to take it more places. Here's what I did.

Supplies:

• 2 coordinating fabrics, approximately 20" x 10" each
• Small scrap of fabric for pocket 
• Interfacing, 20" x 10"
• Double fold bias tape, 1 package
• Small Button or Velcro

Step 1: 

Measure your Kindle and cut.

I'm sure you can find the actual specs for a Kindle online but my tape was handy so I went old school. A Kindle is about 4 1/2" x 6 1/2". So I guess this step should really be called trust me and cut your fabric. ha.

I did a bunch of scribbly math on an old birthday invitation that was within I-don't-have-to-get-up proximity to figure out how I wanted this thing to work. Don't worry, that should not make sense. I just think it's fun to see the process. Measurements are below.

Cut both pieces of fabric and the interfacing into 19 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles.
You'll also need a piece of fabric for a pocket. That should be 6 1/2" x 4".
Picture below shows everything except the pocket. My bad.

Step 2:

Measure and mark your folds. 

There are 3 folds along the case. Measuring from left to right on the fabric that you want to be the inside of the case (the long direction), mark the folds at:

• 3"
• 8 1/2"
• 14 1/2"

I drew mine with a light pencil but you could use pins or chalk or whatever. 

Step 3:

Make your fancy flap.

This step is kind of optional but I wanted the closing flap to be fancy. Stack your lining fabric, interfacing and outer fabric on top of each other. Fabrics face right sides out. On the 3" section we marked out (shown in blue), I freehanded a shape (in yellow). I just started from the center, and ended at the pencil line I drew. Then I cut that out (through all 3 layers).

Then I folded the whole thing in half lengthwise and cut the other half so it was symmetrical.

Step 4:
Add bias tape to the pocket.
Just sandwich it around the 6 1/2" side of the fabric you want to be the top of the pocket and sew. Trim the ends even with the fabric.

Step 5:
Add the pocket.
For this step you just want to work with the lining fabric and interfacing. Ditch the outer fabric for a bit so the pocket stitching doesn't show through on the front of the finished case. Fold the sides of the pocket under 1/2" so the pocket fits nicely in the 5 1/2" section you have marked out on the case (second section, next to the fancy flap you just made). You don't have to hem the bottom, it will be sewn into bias tape soon :) Pin in place and sew around 3 sides.

This is what the back should look like.  Stitching showing on the interfacing, not the pretty outer fabric. Once you admire your work, stick all three layers back together again.

Step 6:

Add bias tape to the end.

This step is pretty simple. Sew a quick line of bias tape on the opposite end of the fancy flap :) Like so. All 3 layers should be in that bias tape.

Step 7:
Fold over the Kindle pocket.
This is the pocket that's going to hold the Kindle. This is the line we drew at 14 1/2". Fold and press. You might need to pin it in place.

Step 8:
Add bias tape around the whole thing.
Woo hoo, last step! I started at the bottom, just under the pocket and added bias tape around the whole thing. This is how I handle corners. I just kind of fold and crease until it looks neat and keep sewing.

I added a couple felt buttons for decoration and some Velcro to keep the thing closed (shhhh, don't tell, they're hot glued). Totally optional but I think they finish it off. 

I still can't get over the screen. When we first opened it I thought there was a sticker on it! haha It really does look like a book page.

So I hope you're inspired to try it yourself. It might just make your budding reader more eager to bring his or her favorite titles on your next vacation. Bon Voyage!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Let's be friends!

Adding Indian Inspired Color

This post is sponsored by World Market.

1. Painted Square Hooks  |  2. Multicolor Lumbar Pillow  |  3. Desert Paisley Rio Indoor-Outdoor Mat  |  4. Green Indoor-Outdoor Pouf  |  5. Blue Medallion Trunk  |  6. Brass Disc Hanging Pendant Lamp  |  7. Blue Potted Accent Lamp Base  |  8. Baked Apple Ribbed Lumbar Pillow with Buttons  |  9. Blue Surf Bori Cotton Grommet Top Curtain

If we're secret BFFs via While They Snooze on Facebook then you might know the walls are up at the new house. And ever since I've been able to physically walk around in my shell of a house, I've been planning what furniture will fit where– including my $100 thrifted gem of a couch. The thing is, I love color. And, well, this lovely shade of yellow beige isn't exactly doing it for me.

So I had/have plans to completely reupholster the thing in navy blue velvet. Yes, one giant blue couch. 75% of me thinks it's going to be gorgeous. The other 25% is scared people. I'm scared. What if I get sick of it? What if my tastes change? What if blue suddenly turns into the hunter green and mauve of the 80's and in 5 years my living room looks like a scene from Family Ties?? I just don't know!

Just in case, I'm considering a plan B: Incorporating the saturated colors I love through decor and accessories and leaving the large pieces neutral. (Wimp) I know. But I think it could be awesome. I love the jewel tones of Indian clothing. My entire wedding was actually inspired by Indian sari's. It was bright green and hot pink... just ask my bridesmaids. I'm pretty sure those dresses never got worn again. :) I think I can pull the same thing off with Indian decor in my home without overwhelming the entire space (or my husband).

A few weeks back when I was shopping the International Food section at World Market for my Oscars party, I may have eyed some of the Indian-made items above. That geometric pillow at the top has my name all over it. Love it. I think even with the yellow-beige couch I could pull off the warm, jewel-toned look I have in my head. What do you think? Am I crazy? Need some inspiration?

I've got that, AND a contest for you. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is in theaters now. It follows Sonny and his dream of opening a second hotel while planning a traditional Indian wedding to the love of his life Sunaina. The imagery is vibrant and warm and exactly what I'm hoping to translate into my home.

After you see the movie, enter to win World Market’s Best Exotic Marigold Sweepstakes. You can win an epic adventure to India inspired by the film. The Grand Prize Package includes:

• Trip for 2 to India; 6-day trip includes airfare, accommodations and excursions
• Free movies for two for a year, $1,000 WM gift card

I'll keep you posted on what I decide. Blue or no blue... that is the question. Either way, that pillow is will be there. ;)

Let's be friends!