unexpectedly easy project!

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12

I must admit that I've been doing a whole lot of hoping, a whole lot of praying, but I have had a hard time with this whole 'patience' thing. We still aren't in the house. Still. So I've continued to busy myself, as best I can, with projects to keep my mind off the current situation. Things could be worse. That has been my mantra for the past 53 weeks. Especially this past week. 

Things were going great pretty well, until I broke the stupid bobbin case my sewing machine malfunctioned. Good news... thanks to Amazon prime and $7, my replacement part would arrive ASAP. Bad news... that was Friday and Amazon Prime takes the weekend into play when it comes to that super quick shipping. I had to wait until Tuesday for that new part to arrive. That's nearly four days for you folks who may have an aversion to calendars. So, with no sewing machine, my to-do list of projects was greatly shortened. It didn't take me long to attach the knobs back to the side tables I had recently painted, so I was bored fairly quickly. This lead to the most boring/depressing trip to Lowes. Of. All. Time. 

Turns out, the mecca of home improvement stores isn't all that exciting when you don't live in the house that you need to renovate, and every single last project you can possibly think of that doesn't involve a sewing machine has already been done. First world problems, I know. Sigh. With that being said, we wandered around and looked/priced things we thought we may need once we were in the house to start renovations. There wasn't much point for us to get anything as we have run out of any extra room in our guest quarters upstairs and the garage is packed to the max with our stuff from the old house. But I refused to go home empty handed. I insisted we buy paint for the trim/cabinets and master bedroom. Hooray for small victories (insert pathetic, tired fist pump here). 

In anticipation of my first sewing project after the repair, it was time to plan for the recovering of the nasty mildewy ugly seat cushions for the AMAZING bamboo inspired dining room chairs I had gotten. Before the most boring/depressing trip to Lowes, I drug my very patient husband to Joann's for some fabric I had been eyeing. I chose Waverly sun n shade fabric in citrine, lovely lattice. This stuff runs about $19.99/yard, but thanks to an end of summer sale and a 25% coupon (thanks www.joann.com!!), I paid $16 for two yards of this precious fabric. That's a pretty decent savings if you ask me! Anyway, I chose the indoor/outdoor after consulting with super mom. We decided that it would be durable and easy to clean. We also figured out exactly how much fabric I would need for the four seat cushions and seven yards of piping I'd be making. I could purchase as little as possible, therefore spending as little as possible. Win, win. 

On Monday, I removed all that old yucky fabric from the cushions and cut all the new fabric so that I'd be ready to sew when the time came. 

Seriously yall, I told you it was bad. 

First, I took off the cushions. Easy peasy. Then, I killed two black widows that were living between the frame and the seat bottoms. I decided I should give the chairs a good bath to restore their once known beauty. I mixed up a little ammonia and Pine-Sol in some warm water and wiped all four chairs down very well, carefully looking for black widows that might still be hanging around.

Once the chairs got their bath, it was time to take off that disgustingly dirty fabric. Fortunately for me, it was some sort of indoor-outdoor business as well so the foam and padding underneath was in great shape. 

Hmm, doesn't look too bad. 

If you follow me on facebook, you know that I have decided the previous owner of these chairs must have had stock in the staple/staple gun industry. There literally were 175 staples in each cushion. Thanks to my trusty baby flathead screwdriver and needle-nose pliers, I got them all out.

I told you, I wasn't kidding! That was from one cushion!

I'm in love with this stuff! This is the inspiration photo I took on my phone during my first trip to Joann's. I didn't know it was on sale, nor did I have a coupon, so I snapped a quick picture and headed home to brainstorm/look online for cheaper pricing. Turns out, Joann's had the best deal after the sale and coupon came into the equation.

It was time to cut the fabric. I measured the cushions and created this very sophisticated pattern out of newspaper. I had my cord all set and ready to go, along with my very sophisticated layout of how exactly I planned to cut my fabric so I could use every inch. 

One down, four to go! After I cut all four squares and the trim for the sides of the cushions, I cut the bias strips for the piping.

 

This is what seven yards looks like piled up on the floor. Notice the new paint in the background?!

Insert cord and sew. Fairly simple once you get the basics. 

In the saga of the sewing machine malfunction, I also managed to break the presser foot that I needed to sew the piping. Luckily, Mom fixed it with a little super glue she had on hand, and it had several days to cure before I could use it again (revisit four day hiatus with a non-usable sewing machine). 

Then my phone died. That's where the pictures of the cushion construction stop, but I thought this project was too cute not to share.

After all four cushion covers were sewn, my amazing friends and neighbors let me borrow their fancy upholstery staple gun! I hooked it up to the air compressor and BAM. Super fast, super easy stapling.

Pull edges tight, alternating sides and viola!

I laid down this gorgeous blanket under my workspace so that the tops of my new cushions wouldn't get all dingy from the grime on the shop floor. 

Sorry for the backdrop in all of the pictures. I don't have time to fancy things up when I am doing real life, DIY!

What a difference, right?! Not bad for a $16 upgrade (as I pat myself on the back)! I am still playing around with the thought of painting the chairs, but I want to see them in the house before I make any decisions. I am very much amazed by this newfound self control I've gotten. It is normally impossible for me to wait to have a definitive plan. I guess that it my trade off for losing patience with the progress of the actual house.