Part 4 of Recovering Lawn Chair Cushions – Making Matching Buttons

When I was removing the buttons from the cushions prior to taking the cushions apart, I started thinking about where I was going to get new buttons that would match the new fabric.   I checked out the price of new plastic buttons and also those fabric button making kits, but quickly realized that with the number of buttons I needed (40), that was way more money than I wanted to spend on this project.

The solution turned out to be very simple and inexpensive.  I removed all the old buttons from the lawn chair cushions and covered them with the same floral fabric I used for the main part of the cushions.

Onto the back of scraps of the floral fabric, I traced 40 circles large enough to cover the front and most of the back of the button.  (The top from a spice container turned out to be the perfect sized template.)

Next I hand sewed a gathering stitch around each fabric circle.

Then I placed a button in the center of the gathered circle.

I pulled the thread as tight as I could without breaking it and then knotted it firmly.

Pictured below are three of the 40 buttons that I covered with fabric.

Installing the buttons:

In order to correctly position the buttons on the back of each lawn chair cushion, I placed the paper pattern over the completed back cushion.

When making the paper pattern, I had transferred the positions where the old buttons had been onto the paper pattern.   I placed a pin at each of these points and then lifted the pattern away.

Then I carefully flipped the cushion over and repeated the process on the other side of the cushion back.

Then I sewed a button front and back at each position using heavy duty thread and a long doll making needle by bringing the thread back and forth several times through each button shank and the cushion and pulling the thread tight on each pass through.

This also turned out to be a two person job and our son wasn’t available that day to man the camera, so unfortunately we don’t have photos of the actual sewing on of the buttons but if you look closely at this before and after shot you can see the fabric covered buttons blend beautifully on the newly recovered lawn chair cushion.

On the left, one of the old cushions that didn't get taken apart to make the pattern but did have it's buttons salvage to be covered and reused. And next to it the beautifully recovered lawn chair cushion complete with covered buttons.

Part 3 of Recovering Lawn Chair Cushions – Sewing the Back and Seat Together

Recovering Lawn Chairs Cushions Part 1

Part Two of Recovering Lawn Chairs Cushions  – The Faux Piping

Once I had the back and seat cushion covers sewed and the batting inserted into each, I basted the open end of each cushion to close the cushion and hold the fabric in place.

For the next step of sewing the back cushion and the seat cushion together, I switched out the regular presser foot for the zipper foot.  Then I pinned the front of the back cushion facing the top of the seat cushion using bulldog clips.

As mentioned in my previous post, this was a two person job.  Dave held the two cushions in position, compressing them when needed and helped me as I guided the four layers of fabric through the sewing machine.

To make the enclosed or French seam, we folded the cushions with the back of the back and the bottom of the seat cushion facing each other.

It was during this step of sewing through 8 layers of upholstery fabric that my Singer 15-91 really shone.  There is no way I would have even attempted to sew through that many layers of heavy fabric with my modern Singer.

When the completed lawn chair cushions are placed in the chairs, the seam is folded to the inside.

In my next and final post, I’ll show how I recycled the original buttons to make new matching buttons.

 

This post has been added to Sew Darn Crafty Party Week 55 over at Sew Many Ways.

Part 2 of Recovering Lawn Chair Cushions – The Faux Piping

To create the faux piping effect on the cushions, I took advantage of the white stripes on the blue and white striped fabric.

I placed the ruler lengthwise along the stripes, so that I would be leaving ½” of white along each side of the blue stripes.   Then I cut along the entire length of the fabric with my rotary cutter, moving the ruler as needed.

When I was unpicking the back and seat cushions to get the fabric pieces to use as patterns, I noted that the side piece of each cushion had a curve on one side of each end.    That curved section was stitched to the longer front and top sections of each cushion.

I cut a small paper pattern piece of that curved end.

Then once I had cut the blue strip to the correct length, I pinned the pattern in place and cut it out.

I then unpinned the pattern piece, flipped it over and pinned and cut the other end.

The end looked like this after cutting.

When it came time to sew the side strip to the cushions, I used a ¼” seam allowance which when the cushion was turned right side out left ¼” of the white showing; giving the cushions that faux piping effect.

In my next post on recovering lawn chair cushions, I’ll have photos of how I sewed the finished back and seat cushions together to make them into a complete lawn chair cushion.   Hint:  It required two people.

 

This post has been added to Sew Darn Crafty Party Week 55 over at Sew Many Ways.

Recovering Lawn Chair Cushions – Part 1

Last summer, I recovered all 5 of our lawn chair cushions.  It was a huge undertaking but the finished result was so worth it.

Ready to sit in and chat.

While it’s unlikely that you have the exact same set as I do, I thought I’d share with you how I went about recovering mine.

I’ll start with the fabric I used.  In the spring of 2011, Hancock Fabrics had a mega fabric clearance sale.  You can see some of the fabric I managed to pick up in the second of my How Not to Destash posts.

In addition to bolts and bolts of 100% cotton priced at $1 per yard, they also had several rolls of their upholstery fabric priced at $2 per yard.   I knew I would need at least 10 yards to recover our lawn chairs.  Unfortunately, when I found a roll of fabric that I liked… there weren’t quite seven yards of it.  Not to mention, those seven yards weren’t continuous yardage but in two separate pieces on the roll.

But I really, really liked that fabric.

So I searched through the rest of the upholstery fabric and found a large striped fabric that matched the blue and white of the main fabric priced at $4 per yard.  There was a little over 3 ½ yards of it.

I figured if I used the striped fabric for the sides of the cushions, I might have just enough of the main floral fabric for rest of the cushions.  (I did end up having to piece some fabric to make the fifth cushion but as it’s on the back and bottom of the cushion, it’s not noticeable.)

To make the pattern:

On several of our cushions, the fabric was very badly worn so when it came time to making a pattern for the new covers, I chose one of the cushions where the fabric was in good enough condition to provide pieces to trace around.

Then I carefully unpicked the seams that held the back and seat of the cushions together; taking note that the originals had been sewn together using an enclosed or French seam.

In other words, the back and seat had originally been sewn together with the front of the back cushion facing the top of the seat cushion and then turned and sewn with the back of the back cushion facing the bottom of the seat cushion; thus enclosing the seam allowance and making a strong, cleanly finished seam that wouldn’t fray over time.

With those two seams unpicked, I had two separate cushions; a back cushion and a seat cushion.

Then once I had those two cushions completely taken apart, I ended up with 6 pieces from which to make my paper pattern; the front, back and side of the cushion back and the top, bottom and side of the cushion seat.

I gave all the fabric pieces a quick pressing to make the seam allowances lay flat.

After comparing the fabric pieces, I could see that the front and back of the back cushion were shaped exactly the same except the front was ¾” longer.  The same held true for the seat cushion, with the top being ¾” longer than the bottom.

So for the paper pattern, I folded a large piece of packing paper in half.  Then I folded the shorter of the fabric pieces of each cushion in half along the length, placed the fold of the fabric against the fold of the paper and traced around the fabric.  I then took that paper pattern and add ¾” to make the front/top cushion paper patterns.

Cutting the fabric:

When it came time to start cutting fabric for the front of the back cushion and the top of the seat cushion, I noticed that the fabric had a repeating floral design.  On the finished cushion, I wanted the designs on the front of the back cushion to line up with those on the seat cushion once those two cushions were finally sewn together.  And I wanted each of the five cushions to look the same once they were complete.

I chose which part of the floral design I wanted centered on the cushions and then laid a long straight piece of wood (from Dave’s stash in the garage) on the fabric being careful to have that straight edge line up along the center of the two flowers, I wanted to match.

Then I folded the paper pattern pieces in half and lined them up along the piece of wood.

I secured the pattern in place with a couple of pins, removed the wooden stick, flipped the pattern pieces open and pinned both pattern pieces in place.

It was then just a simple matter of cutting around the pattern.  I followed the same procedure to cut out five sets of the front and top cushion pattern pieces.

Since the back of the back cushion and bottom of the seat cushion wouldn’t be seen together once they were in the chairs, it didn’t matter if the design on the fabric lined up exactly, so I just pinned those in place making best use of the fabric and then cut them out.

As I cut out the fabric, I made a separate pile of cut out pattern pieces for each cushion and then throughout the sewing process, I maintained those piles so that when it came time to finally sew the back cushion to the bottom cushion there would be no guessing which of those carefully cut out pieces went together.

The photo above shows one completed cushion and two that were waiting to be sewn together.

In my next post on recovering lawns chair cushions, I’ll show how I used the striped fabric to create that faux piping effect on the cushions.

 

This post has been added to Sew Darn Crafty Party Week 55 over at Sew Many Ways.

How to Join Strips of Striped Fabric

While searching through and organizing my computer photo files, I came across pictures I had taken while joining the striped borders for the flying zebra baby and child-sized quilts.  At the time, I thought maybe others would like to see how I went about sewing the strips of border fabric together on the diagonal while at the same time matching up the stripes, so this is rather long overdue catch up post.

I realize that I could have simply sewn the strips together by placing the strips right sides together and stitching across the end but I prefer the way the diagonal seam makes the seam almost disappear.

And there may be other methods out there for matching up striped fabric, but this is the method I use.

First, I place one strip of border fabric right side down on the ironing board.

Then I fold the upper right corner down to form a point, making sure that the two raw edges of fabric meet as pictured below.

Press well.

Next, with wrong side of the folded and pressed strip to the right side of a second strip of border fabric, I carefully line up the stripes.

Open up the folded strip and pin to the second strip as shown.

Fold the top strip back to make sure that it didn’t shift during the pinning process.

Add more pins if you wish.

Sew along the pressed crease line to join the strips together.

Trim seam allowance.

Press seam open.

Turn the strip over and press again from the right side.

As you can see the seam is almost invisible.

You’re now ready to join more strips, depending on how long you need to make your quilt border.

How to Mend a Torn Sheet

Last summer, the sheets were on the line when we had one of those pop up thunder storms come through.  We hurried out to rescue the sheets before they got soaked.   They hadn’t had a chance to completely dry, so we decided to hang them over a couple of bedroom doors.

Except… when I was trying to fling the fitted sheet over the door, it didn’t go over far enough, so I gave it a bit of a tug (something I’ve done lots of times before.)  But this time when I did it, I heard that awful sound of ripping fabric.

Just look at that:

I was so upset, because these sheets are only a couple of years old and should have lasted several more years.

Here’s how I went about mending the tear:

First, I needed some matching fabric for the patches, so I used the end of one of the pillowcases that go with this set of sheets.

I turned the pillowcase inside out and then measured and drew a line an inch from the end of the pillowcase.

Then I sewed along that line with my serger to close up the end of the pillowcase and the piece that got cut off became the fabric for the patches.

As the end of the pillowcase was on a fold, I got a strip 2” wide.

I measured the tear to determine what size of patch I needed to cut.

I like to have a good size patch covering any tear in fabric that I’m repairing, so I cut the patches 5 ½” long.

Next I folded and pressed under a ¼” all the way around each 5 ½” X 2” patch.

Then on the wrong side of the sheet, I pinned the first patch in place, making sure to have the tear centered in the patch.

A tip when pinning… think about which direction you’ll be sewing along each side of the patch and place your pins so that the points are away from you.

Once pinned and before starting to sew, it's a good idea to turn the sheet over to make sure that the tear is centered on the patch.

I then machine basted that patch in place.

The sheet was turned to the right side and the second patch was pinned and sewn in place, making sure that I lined up the top patch over the patch on the wrong side of the sheet.

Patching both sides of the sheet may seem like overkill but from past experiences with mending sheets, I’ve found that a single patch doesn’t have the durability of this double patching method.

Case in point… six months later and the repaired sheet is still in use and the patch has remained strong.

Note:  Our sheets were one of the things I packed to bring with us.  It was great to have them when we were in the temporary housing in Ontario at Christmas time.  It helped it to feel a little more like home.  And they will do so again once we’re settled somewhere.

 

This post has been added to Frugal Fridays over at Life as Mom.

How to Remove a Vintage Singer Sewing Machine from Its Cabinet

While browsing through the search words or phrases that have brought people to my blog I noticed a few were searching for how to remove a vintage Singer sewing machine from it’s cabinet so I thought a quick picture post was in order.

First you’ll want to lift the machine out of the cabinet and tilt it all the way back.

On the underside of the machine, you’ll see two copper hinges.

If you look directly above each hinge, you’ll see a screw that is holding the hinge in place.

Loosen that screw on each hinge.  There’s no need to remove the screw, simply loosen it enough to be able to lift the sewing machine off the hinges.

To return the sewing machine to its cabinet, place the hinges in the upright position.

Then lower the machine onto the hinges and retighten the screws firmly to hold the machine in place.

Return the machine to the upright position for use or lower it into the cabinet and close the lid to store.

A Glimpse Into the Past

On Sunday morning before breakfast, my Dad was on the way out to the heated garage he uses as a workshop and mentioned to me that sometime if I wanted to come out to the garage, he’d show me his mother’s old sewing machine.

It’s important to know that up until that moment I had no idea that this sewing machine even existed.  On the day of my paternal grandmother’s funeral back in the summer of 1988, I had asked if I might have something of hers as a memento and was told at that time that all of her household things had been thrown away when she was placed in the nursing home a few years prior.

To now be told that something as significant as her sewing machine was just steps away had me rushing to put on shoes and coat and telling Dad that I’d come right now, little knowing the truly wonderful treasure I was about to discover.

By the time I got out to the garage, Dad had retrieved this case from the shelf where it’s usually stored.

He unlocked the original Bentwood Case and lifted the top from its base to reveal the little gem pictured below.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know I have a bit of a passion for vintage Singer sewing machines.   And there before me was one of the prettiest I have ever seen.

Dad showed me how the hand crank is moved into position to turn the hand wheel.

He opened up the black metal cover on the right end of the base where the extra bobbins and the original box containing several presser feet are kept.

The decals and finish are in amazing condition.

But most amazing of all, is that it is still in perfect working order.  My Dad uses it to mend and repair things he might be working on.

After I’d had my fill of looking at the machine, Dad replaced the cover and returned it to its spot on the shelf.

All through breakfast, I kept picturing it in my mind; seeing also in my mind’s eye, my grandmother sitting in front of it patching my father’s, uncles’ and aunt’s clothes.

As soon as breakfast was cleared away, I asked Dave to set up his laptop so that I could research when it was made and to determine what model it was.

I even had him bring the sewing machine into the house to assist in the identification process and so that I could take pictures of it.

The Singer Sewing Machine site yielded the fact that machines with the two letter prefix JA were built in 1924.

Then I used Sandman-Collectibles’ Singer Sewing Machine Identification Template to  help me to identify the model as being a 128.  (The bed of this machine is ¾ size whereas the bed of the 127 is full size.)

So to put it all together, my grandmother’s machine is a 1924 Singer Model 128 Hand Crank Sewing Machine.

Knowing there is still this tangible link to my grandmother has affected me quite profoundly.   I knew that she crocheted and knitted and did embroidery.  I even seem to remember her doing liquid embroidery back when I was a little girl.

I did not know that she also sewed.   I’ve since learned that while she wasn’t the avid seamstress that my maternal grandmother was, she did use the machine for mending and to make the necessary repairs to every day household items.

Someday, when my father no longer needs it, the machine may come into my possession.  Until then, I have the pictures and this new glimpse into my grandmother’s life.

Handmade Christmas – Gifts for Youngest Son

Last year, one of the items on our son’s Christmas wish list was a set of throw pillows to match the striped comforter we bought for him to use at college.  We chose other things from his list to give him but I kept the pillows in mind for a future gift.

Earlier this fall, I was lucky enough to find a cool print with all the colours of his comforter.   So for Christmas, I made him these two pillows.  The covers have a concealed zipper in the back to make it easier to remove them for laundering.

Our son is a great cook and so for his second gift, I made him the apron that Dave is modeling in the picture below.

I also copied out several of our favourite family recipes and put them in a cool recipe box along with extra cards for him to add his own favourites.

His third gift was, of course, a set of Christmas Elves.

Then to add some extra goodies to his stocking, I made him a set of luggage tags and an Ipod case with matching earbud case.

Also to fill his stocking, he received one of the fleece patchwork scarves pictured below.

Handmade Christmas – Gifts for Middle Daughter

Way back in the spring when I was looking for a cabinet to house the Singer 15-91 that I purchased on e-bay, we came across this cabinet.

At first, we thought it was another 15-91 but upon checking the serial number, we discovered it was instead, a 201-2.   The cabinet wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but we decided to buy it and refurbish the sewing machine and refinish the cabinet to give to our middle daughter.

Dave cleaned, oiled, lubricated and completely rewired the sewing machine.

And then he refinished the cabinet, replacing the veneer on the top and underside of both fold out panels.

After the first coat of polyeurathane.

He knew it would be almost impossible to exactly match the stain on the original, so he chose to use a walnut veneer and stain that to match the darker swirls on the front fold out drawer of the cabinet.

As this was such a large gift and her birthday is in the beginning of December, it became a combination birthday/Christmas gift.

I can’t find the photos we took of the refurbished sewing machine in it’s refinished cabinet with matching reupholstered stool… but please take my word for it that it turned out beautifully.   I’ll see if middle daughter will take some pictures so that I can post them at a future date.

Our middle daughter travels quite often as part of her job, so for her second gift, I made her a travel set too.

Her third gift was a set of two Christmas elves.

Her stocking was filled with oil paint brushes, an inflatable bath pillow and other goodies.