onebluestocking: bjds, designs, crafts and assorted nonsense

sew back pieces together at 90 degree angle
i whip stitched the bottom and used a ladder stitch on the top where it would show.

the ladder stitch continues down the back but i didn’t do any stitching on the front. i liked the way it looked unstitched and it held firmly enough without any stitching. i was planning to put a line of glue between the two seats, but once i got it all together it turned out not to be necessary.

sew back to seat with a ladder stitch. a little bit time consuming but it gave a really nice finished edge so it was worth it. and the seats were really nice and sturdy once i was done. if you choose to glue instead of sew you would need to put another cover on the back and sides. a piece of matboard covered with fabric would probably work

sew all the way across the back. its hard to see in the picture but the stitching goes across the short ends of the seat backs all across the back and then just up the other short end. i left the front unstitched again. it held really well and i liked the look

and the finished couch. i’ll take some better pictures when i get a couple of throw pillows made, but i’m really pleased with how it came out :0)

of course the girls are now busily measuring the leftover foam to see if there is enough for a chair, an ottoman, and a fireplace like wovenflames! 😆

if you do use this tutorial, even as a jumping off point i’d love to see pics of what you come up with! you are welcome to sell finished pieces you make. design credit would be appreciated, but is not required, put please do not repost this tutorial/sell it or claim it as your own. i retain copyright to this tutorial and all it’s images. thank you

grade the overlapping edges
once the tufts are all sewn grade any overlapping edges to cut down on the bulk. i realized after i got all the back pieces covered that the only overlapped edges were on the long sections and i had graded the short ones too :p oh well, it actually wasn’t noticeable and i wasn’t going to redo it so i’ll have to live with it, but you might want to see which ones really need it before cutting! i did grade the correct ends at least by wrapping loosely around the foam, placing the backs on the seats then marking the end to be cut of with a tiny x on the inside -it got cut off anyway so didn’t show.

start at the bottom edge where you will want to finish, line up the padded seat portion and pin it on then wrap. i use lots of pins to keep everything flat and snug then trimmed off the fabric i didn’t need before sewing. my foam was thick enough that i could bury the pins without poking myself and leave them there till my stitching was done.

stitch with a flat whip stitch you want the fabric to be pulled snug but not super tight, and to be as flat as you can make it on the bottom. that will make attaching the backs easier.

close up of the finished seat back

next post we will attach the seat backs and the couches will be done 🙂

the seat backs do need the ends covered, since they will show. so i cut pieces of fabric big enough to wrap around like this. i glued where the foam is resting on the fabric on both sides, (hope that make sense, if not take a look at the next picture) but not the end since i didn’t want the glue to bleed through.

cut a rectangle out of each corner then glue those long flaps down

you will need to cover each piece of seat back, however many you choose. in my original picture i had 3 but i added an arm/end to the longer couch so now i have 4 🙂

now to make the covers while the glue dries
these are very similar tho the seat covers. 3 layers of warm and natural with an extra layer of the cover fabric to prevent show through since my fabric is fairly thin. you wouldn’t need that extra fabric if your fabric was darker or thicker. the difference is the placement since this time my seam will be on the narrow edge instead of in the middle of the back.

i decided to only do the tufting partway up the backs. looking at my clippings file, that was the style i preferred. but even so there are 62 more tufts to go!

after i got the skirt sew on i decided the seats just looked too blocky the way they were. so i took off the bottom layer of foam (luckily the glue hadn’t completely hardened yet) and folded the skirt under instead. here it is pinned tight to glue

i cut pieces of posterboard a few millimeters smaller than the foam piece to cover the base (for those of you using inches that would be about 1/8″ on either end)
the posterboard glued in place. this was weighted down with my trusty stack of hardcover books to dry 🙂

sticking to my plan to only use what i already had on hand for this couch, i auditioned feet from the supply in my craft drawers, instead of following my initial impulse of running to michaels or the dollar store to get small wooden blocks. the ones on the left hand side won. both because i liked the style better and i had four more of them, so there were enough to put six feet on the each couch instead of only four

and the feet glued on…