Chairs and cushions

Thought I'd share how I recovered the director's chairs and made the cushions for the summerhouse.

The chairs...

I used the old covers to make a template for the new ones.

As you can see, the fabric was a little worn!

Very pleased with this fabric.  It needed to be quite robust and hard-wearing so don't choose anything too thin.  Remember the fabric will need to take your weight.

I sewed the back covers first.  The top and bottom edges were hemmed and the side edges were hemmed with a gap large enough to push the back upright struts of the chair into.

Finished back pieces.

The seat was similar - the back and front edges were hemmed but the side edges needed to be able to fit a small piece of dowling in.  This dowling then slots into two grooves on the chair and keeps the fabric seats firmly in place.  Of course other makes of director's chairs might be different.

I top stitched all the seams on the chairs for sturdiness.  It also looks  more attractive and professional.

The cushions...

I made two styles of cushion - this one which was rectangular, with a panel piece of the chair fabric and a Velcro fastening on the reverse.

The front - with the 3 sections of fabric.

Sewn together and top stitched.

The back was cut into 2 pieces straight down the middle. Then hemmed and Velcro attached for a nice neat and easy closure (below).

Both back and front were then sewn right sides together, and then turned right side out through the Velcro opening.

 The front of the finished cushion.

The second cushion was a 16" square with a pillowcase opening so I could add contrasting fabric and pretty ties.

The most complicated bit of this cushion is making sure your contrasting flap is sewn in the right way!

Cut a nice deep rectangle of fabric the same width as your main cushion piece.  Hem the one long end and then sew the other  end right sides together to the front of your cushion piece.  At this point you want to also slot it one lot of your ties.  These can be made from fabric, as I've done or you can use ribbon or anything you want really.

On the back piece of your cushion, hem the top edge and sew in the other two ties to the wrong side.  Make this a nice deep hem with some top stitching as it will form the opening of the cushion.

Put both right sides of your cushions together but make sure the contrasting flap is sewn the right way.  It has to encase both back and front pieces.  Sew along the each side and the bottom and turn the cushion back the right way.

A revamp

We've got a sweet little summerhouse in the garden and a few years ago I re-painted it inside and out and spruced it up a bit.  Unfortunately over the last winter, it became a bit of a dumping ground and became sadly neglected.  Which was a crying shame given the lovely summer we've had, so it was time to roll my sleeves up and restore it to it's former glory!

As you can see, not looking it's best, although the local spider population seemed very happy!  Getting rid of the ivy inside and out  took a whole morning.  I then gave the walls and ceiling a good brush and hoover and gave the floor a new coat of paint.  I didn't bother re-painting the walls as with the ivy out and a good brush they weren't too bad.  I had a rug in there that had got rather bedraggled over the winter but after washing it in the machine it came up a treat and looked great on the newly painted floor.  I cleaned all the windows too - what a difference that made! The next job was re-painting and re-covering the director's chairs.  I also made cushions for them and got some lovely fabric from our local store.  For instructions on how to make both click here.  I had a nice but uninspiring zinc lantern so I sprayed that white, along with a picture frame, tidied up the other decorations I already had in there and put it all back together.

Love the fabric on the chairs and cushions - it really matched the washed out green rug

Before spraying....

...and after, looking really clean and fresh.

Before spraying...

...and after, sprayed white with a small bit of distressing.  The picture was a print I did a some years ago of pebbles.  Looks much better in this white frame.

Looking forward to sitting out in it again (once the sun makes an appearance again!)