Project Blogging - Completed(ish) Couch

Well, here's what we started with... or, no, scratch that. We started with a free white couch almost six years ago. It was used when our neighbor got it, and it still looked great when he decided he didn't want to move it, so we thought it would wear well, in spite of its color. (We were wrong. It had worn well because the two previous owners had each been childless men with impeccable taste and meticulous cleaning habits. The fabric had nothing to do with it. Go figure.) Note the tear on the cushion, and the fact that it's not white. The uglier portions are cleverly concealed by Gram's awesome Family Blanket.
I'm thinking this, also, may have had some bearing on the overal condition of the fabric...


But if I have to pick, I'm keeping the children. And the ice cream. We can live in a museum when they're grown and gone.


And that's it for "before" pictures. Would you believe that out of the 20,000+ images stored on our computer, there are fewer than a dozen that include the couch to any recognizable degree? So, without further fanfare or apologies, here is the new cover on the couch. Everything is removable, machine washable, and made of heavy canvas. The striped stuff on the front is fabric I'd bought five years ago to recover it, but never got around to using. In hindsight, I'm glad because it's not nearly sturdy enough to withstand this home. These children. Our life. But it does make a nice decorative edge. In order to make it look more intentional, I'm going to make some comfy throw pillows that'll have both fabrics on them.


I still need to sew on the closures, which will eliminate the wrinkly bits on the arms and sides. And the front needs some elastic and hemming. However, I'm down to one needle, so I'm going to wait on attempting those so that I won't be dead in the water (again) if when I break another needle.


I could list a thousand things you could do to make a cover for your couch that would look exponentially better than this. You could measure the fabric. You could cut with a straight edge. You could plan ahead of time. You could do it when children aren't frolicking in the pin boxes or peeing in the hall. Really, there is so much you could do differently than I did. But, as Nestor says, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." If I waited to do it perfectly, we'd still be telling the kids not to pick the stuffing out of the hole in the cushion. And nobody would want to sit on the couch.


There are a few other niggling things that I want to fix, but Zorak asked me to "let it wear for a month or so and then see what adjustments it needs". Do you get the feeling he's sick of this project? Might like his wife back? Yeah, me, too. So, I'll finish the hem and the closures. And then we'll live with it for a while.


(Please ignore the socks - they were clean when he put them on this morning. And kindly overlook the coffee table. I've nicknamed it Prometheus, as it gets put right every night and then the little eagles come and destroy it anew each morning. It's all part of a Classical Adventure.) In all, my goals were to improve the overall appearance of the couch (check!), make the couch inviting to sit on again (check!), and create a warmer, happier space for the family to spend time together (check!) So. Mission accomplished. (But I do think I'm happier doing woodworking. Definitely happier working with wood. But sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zones, and that's okay, too.)


Kiss those babies!
~Dy