Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Trash & Treasures Tuesday: Thrifted Dresses Turn Couch Cover

My stylin' friend Jess has been a big influence on me, my love of thrifting and my obsession with all things vintage. Jess always snags the best items and has a great eye for "what could be." Not many people would see a dress and think, "Hm, this would make a fabulous sofa cover!" Jess did and she made it happen to boot!

From the crafting queen herself:

"I bought two women's plus size velour dresses (well, really more like 'stretch velvet') in the same shade of chocolate brown - I looked for ones that didn't have any adornment/ pockets/ buttons so that all of the material could be usable... I used a scrap piece of cotton (rectangular shaped) that I already had as the center..."

Jess then cut the dresses into the largest symmetric strips possible (all the while keeping them even) and sewed them (right sides together, of course) to the cotton base.

"Then, since it's a cover and can be tucked, I just eyeballed how to finish the sleeves of the couch cover... I ended up just tucking in a lot of the uneven seams, and it appears to be working well."

The results, pretty amazing.


She hit a few snags here and there, but since the material was inexpensive and the end product didn't need to be "perfect," she kept rollin' with the punches and ended up with a great repurposed cover. Love the drapping of the velvet over the arms.

Jess recommends hitting up a store like the Salvation Army or Goodwill for the best deals. Much less expensive then buying new fabric (or buying a new cover).

Thanks to Jess for letting me share her awesome dress-to-couch cover project!

Peace & thanks,
Kaitlin

3 comments:

  1. My sis got all the crafty genes from our Mama... didn't leave any for me! LOL. Great idea, and great write-up, Kaitlyn!

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