5/28/11: Sewing Musings and Reupholstering a Stool

In viewing my past blog posts I see that I haven't really been doing much actual sewing lately. I did do some to make our giveaway prizes and I did a bit of mending, but I haven't broken out the serger or sewing machines for a full blown sewing project. The month of May, for me, has been a busy one with all the cooking and farm planting to do, and that causes havoc to the subject of sewing.

For me, spending 15 or 20 minutes sewing here and there throughout the day is hard to do. It takes me awhile to "get the wheels turning" again so I lose valuable time there. I need at least 30 minutes total to get any progress done. Dropping a project: easy, picking it back up, not so much.

I haven't worked much on my crafting plan that I mentioned about earlier. I'm finding it incredibly hard to set my priorities and not go crazy with all the projects I want to complete. It is a work in progress, sometime next week I should have something to show!

So onto what it is the latest for me in the world of sewing.

I am reupholstering two stools.

The two stools in question are used at my family's farm stand. When we were cleaning and organizing the stand this month I noticed how run down and faded the cushions looked. The stools have good, solid metal bases so only the cushions needed the TLC and when it comes to yours truly, when that TLC involves fabric, I'm on the job. Here's one of the stools that need a bit of help:

And here's the under side:

OK, maybe they need a lot of help. Whatever the case, they are going to get a complete cushion overhaul courtesy of Art and Needlework.

The book I am using as reference (since I haven't done many cushions before), is Simplicity's Simply the Best Home Decorating Book.

They have a section in the book that discusses how to make a cover for a box pillow:

And add a zipper for easy pillow insertion and removal:

I am using a medium blue cotton twill for the fabric. I first thought of adding piping to the cushion edges but I have to keep things simple for myself; I don't have much time yet before we need these stools back. The cushion will be separate from the stool and will be attached to a wood base using snaps. I'll show you that detail when I get the first cushion done.

I think this cushion project of mine will help me out with my garment sewing addiction. I need to try new things and a cushion is always a good place to start. Now if only I could find more foam. . .