In July 2016 I made my first arm bag using my favorite fabric.
I have made many of these bags, and I love them. It is a way to keep my yarn close and still allow me to move around. I first needed it following kids around the house and playground, later I found it worked well for walks, and travel, and waiting rooms. I make mine reversible, and have added small pockets in later versions.
I don’t like the U shaped travel pillows. I’ve tried several, and the bulk pressing against the back of my neck (really anything around my neck) drives me nuts. So I made a different kind of pillow. It is ideal for reclining chairs because it has two side pillows so my neck doesn’t twist too far, and no stuffing behind my head. The best part is that I made it with one fat quarter, some thread, and poly fil stuffing.
To make the pillow, fold a fat quarter in half lengthwise, right sides together (9” x 21”, doubled). Sew along the edges, leaving two 4” gaps on the outside thirds of the long edge (for stuffing later).
Clip the corners and turn the pillow right side out. Fold the case in thirds, mark the line, then sew seams along the lines. This divides the pillow into three parts.
Fill the outside sections with stuffing, then sew the gaps closed. I usually do this by hand, but the foot on my model 66 has such a nice tiny toe, I thought I would try on the treadle sewing machine. It worked well.
It amuses me that the fabric coordinates with the “red eye” decals on the sewing machine. I can report that the pillow works great, especially for naps.
In May of 2013 I made this arm chair organizer that has pockets on the side for magazines and notebooks. I’m not sure why I didn’t sew on something to hold it down on the seat cushion, instead relying on butt power, but I am pleased how nicely I trimmed out the pockets using bias tape.
If I were to remake this project, I would add fabric to tuck down on the sides of the cushion, or maybe even go all the way around or under the cushion. Hm. Maybe I didn’t have enough fabric so had to rely on butt power. It would have made more sense to run the center section under the cushion.
For our monthly craft day, my neighbor and I reupholstered two dining room chairs.
The seat was only laid into the chair frame, so lifting it out was easy, then we removed the staples with flathead screwdrivers and serrated needle nose pliers.
There were so many staples. The velvet had a set of staples, then there were three layers of thick cotton surrounding cotton filler and each layer had a host of staples.
When we got down to just the frame, it was obvious that the seat had been reupholstered many times. The jute webbing was in good condition, so we left it in place. To rebuild the seat, we found a 3” dense foam chair cushion, some upholstery quality heavy cotton, and some beautiful red velvet. The cushion was the same depth and width as the chair seat, it just needed some trimming with an electric knife to match the profile. We secured the pad to the frame with the heavy cotton cloth and heavy duty staples.
Because we used a foam block, we didn’t need as many layers of cotton as was previously installed. The cotton layer did help to do the initial shaping of the pad and make applying the velvet easier.
We did have to switch to longer staples, particularly in the corners, with the velvet. It was good that I brought along a selection.
We were able to refinish both chairs, including shopping for fabric, in about three hours. Chair seat reupholstery is a very doable project with a good heavy staple gun, selection of staples, and a pair of pliers.
Critters and Craft 