Making Slipcovers with Grandma Eleanor

(inspiration slipcover from Country Living)

Since sewing is not my forte and 90-year old Grandma Eleanor (my hubby’s maternal Grandma) gets bored with staying home all the time and not having much to do, I asked her if she would like to help me with that slipcover project that I’ve been putting off for about a year now.  She was happy to have something to do and I think it makes her feel useful to have a project going on.  Sure does help me out, since I would have probably butchered this project on my own.  I feel pretty sure about that. 🙂

I found this chair last year at the Salvation Army and it went great with the granny room look I had in the guestroom, but soon after, that room got a makeover and this upholstered chair would not do anymore.  So, I found some pretty white linen-y fabric at a yardsale last year for $5 and there they’ve both been sitting in the beachy guestrom.  I draped and tucked the fabric on the chair and that’s as far as I’ve gotten.  Every time I walked in there, I kept telling myself I needed to get out the sewing machine and try my hand at making the thing.

So, this week, we uncovered the chair and got started.  Eleanor came over for a couple days and I watched as she cut out pieces of fabric that will be made into a slipcover. Maybe I’ll actually learn something from this.  Let’s hope so. 🙂

She draped the fabric and then cut each piece with the scissors, going all the way around the chair. Check out Eleanor’s cute little legs.  Not bad for a 90 year old.

Tucking, pinning, and cutting.

She used a piece of newspaper to make a pattern for the curved arms.

And a-sewing we go!  Eleanor is a pro at this and has been sewing all her life, so it all came back to her really well.  And my new yardsale Kenmore sewing machine works great, so she enjoyed sewing on it too.

She insisted that we had to put covered cording all around the cushions, arms, and a few other spots.  If it was up to me, I probably wouldn’t have done that, but she’s really good at covering that cording, so I’m glad we are doing it.  I think it’s going to look really great when she’s done.  The old gal still has the sewing touch and she whipped up this cording in no time.  Of course, you have to cut cording on the bias. I learned that a long time ago from my own sewing mama.

She measured the flat pieces around the cushion and that’s what we are starting on first, getting the cushion covered.

I thought you’d enjoy a couple of little videos I took of Eleanor while she was sewing.  She’s completely deaf in one ear and only has about 1/2 her hearing in the other (and wears a hearing aid), so communication is not the easiest, but we made it.  I asked her in the first one how long she had been sewing, and she finally answered me in the 2nd one.  She’s too cute!

We did get that T-cushion finished the first day and I’ll show you the rest when we get it done, since it will probably take  awhile to complete it all.   In fact, I have to go back to Hobby Lobby, since I bought all the cording they had and I need a few more yards.  She’s a hard working little lady and wants it to look great. She said she didn’t want me telling anyone she made it if it didn’t turn out well, but I told her I’m not a perfectionist.

Heck, I lived with it tucked and thrown for almost a whole year now. 🙂

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