Simply Sensational Slipcovers |
The look is so hot, slipcovers are featured on almost every decorating show. Learn how to slipcover a sofa or armchair. Clear steps and detailed instructions make it just about impossible for the slipcover not to turn out. Just Stop, Watch, and do! Whether you are a sewer or not, straight stitching is all you do so no special skills are needed. Also included: covering cushions beautifully, how to make 39 yards of bias strip for piping from just 2 yard of fabric. Two questions are asked most about slipcovers. Can I really do the job, or am I going to find oiut half way through that it’s not working out? Is this a big job? We reply, “how many slipcover would youliek to make before you get it right?” Of course the first slipcover should be custom quality. This is too large a project and with the cost of fabric, you don’t want to find oout at the end that the slipcover looks ‘home made’. With our stop-watch-do method on video, as well as pining and fiting to the chair at each step, it’s pretty well impossible for the slipcover not TO GURN OUT! To anser the second question, it does take awhile to complete a slipcover project. “There’s a reason they charge $800.00 labour. Just be realistic in pacing yourself and in a short while you’ll have a spectacular new look. | What Makes these techniques different from the Pros?
"Real" Upholsterers start with a heavy wood base, and expensive upholstery foam, and you can to. However, during my classes Susan realized that 90% of making a headboard involved time and energy that were not much fun at all. In the end, installing a 30 pound headboard required major effort. As well, some of the materials used were not easy to acquire and could be quite expensive from specialty stores. Like Susan has done for years, she scoured home improvement stores to find and easier, faster, less expensive way to make a headboard. What were the negatives? How could they be overcome? Susan's method doesn't use a heavy wood base, making cutting, stapling, flipping, handling, so much easier. But, the end result looks the very same. Installation, with a headboard weighing ounces, takes so little time and effort. What are the disadvantages of this easy method? Because we don't use a heavy wood base, the tension for tufted buttons is not as pronounced. Susan feels the easier method is worth the difference in look, but you can still get it by substituting with traditional upholstery supplies. What does an upholstered headboard do for your room? First, it becomes the WOW factor of the room. If you don't have other architectural features to make the room stand out. The headboard will make your room look model home quality. Problem solver: a headboard allows you to purchase expensive fabric that you can't afford ordinarily. With a two to three of yards of fabric, you'll have enought for a headboard, and trim on your long drapes and pillows. The "high" elevates the "low". A fantastic decorating trick! What is the advantage of the book on CD? Check the Window Coverings page for all the reasons, like getting another bonus book, with lots of headboard ideas for you. Click for more information. |
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What Susan has to say . . .
“I used to conduct seminars on headboards, teaching students exactly how the professional upholsters did it. The good part was that the students would save hundreds of dollars on their first project. The bad part was that cutting out the plywood or MDF board was such a miserable experience, not to mention what it was like to trying to staple into the hard surface and then mount a 30lb piece onto a wall.
Without abandoning the core principles of professional headboard construction, and without compromising the professional end result, I experimented with easier and faster ways to make headboards and less expensive and easy to acquire supplies from your local home improvement store. It now takes only a fraction of the time and effort we’d had to expend before, yet the look is still sensational.”
What others have to say . . .
"It was so easy and only took half a day including gathering all the materials and making it." For the buttons, I measured the spot on the back then poked a whole from behind with something pointy (a compass is what I used I think). Then I used a big needle my mom uses for knitting to thread some thin wire from the back, put on the button and threaded it through a different spot. It's probably not as tight as it could be, but I don't think it being any tighter was going to make a difference in how it looked.
When I put the Velcro strips on, I stuck it on with both sides, then used lipstick to mark the back of the Velcro and pushed it against the wall to know where to stick it. Joanie Bowes
What others have to say . . .
“A headboard in an hour . . . who could ever believe it. No one can believe that I actually mounted it myself as well. I’m not sure if I should tell them or just enjoy the accolades!” Linda Jackson
“I loved the ‘Slipcover’ headboard, I can change it with the seasons, and it’s so easy”. Tonia Rosenthal
“Thanks for the tips about that fantastic that stapler. One press, no squeezing, and the staples were in. I think the book was worth it just for that information. Ellen McIntosh
I had no idea that an upholstered headboard was going to cost me $600.00. I’m so glad I learned your method and got the look I wanted for just a few dollars and the cost of fabric. Wendy Peterson
“ . . . one the best revelations was that the fabric plays such a major role in making the headboard look good. You hardly have to do a thing to it. Talk about almost instant gratification!” Terri Gleason
“My daughter and I are going ‘headboard crazy’. What do we do when we run out of bedrooms?” Janice (and Sandy) Harding
“I was worried that my first project would look a bit amateurish. I had found a look I liked at a local model home and was able to copy it exactly on my first try!” Colleen Simpson
“I have arthritis and being able to use a stapler that didn’t require squeezing was such a bonus. Thanks for that information”.
Shelley Preston
