The original sofa

If you’re a twitter follower you’ve been hearing about my journey slip covering my sofa. We bought our sofa and and arm chair at an estate sale/ auction the summer after we moved into our house. Originally I was in love with it. I liked the stately  stripe pattern, I loved the mohogany carved legs, and it was built in the same decade as our home: the 1920s. But very quickly we learned that this sofa is too formal for a family with 2 children and a huge yellow lab who sneeks onto the couches in the middle of the night. The wear and tear was obvious and embarassing so I set out to slip cover it so that one day when we have a formal living room this couch will still be alive to furnish it.

I had tried two different store-bought slip covers with the same unfortunate results each time. The fabric was too stretchy and had to be readjusted over and over if you happened to sit on the sofa. And the cut of each slip cover was made to accomodate the bulky overstuffed style of modern couches, not the sleak sides and back of our 1920 model. Finally I accepted that I needed to try and make a custom slip cover, or pay someone else to do it, before I lost my sofa to juice and dog slobber.

The blue slip cover

I bought 10 yards of sky blue Duck Cotton from a big box fabric store with a 40% off coupon spending less for fabric than I did on the store-bought slip cover. Five hours and a spool of thread later I have a fitted slip cover for my couch complete with separate cushion covers. The fitted design slides on with an open slit in the back corner which ties in place, and the cushions have an envelope opening so that they fit snug and I can slip them off to throw them in the wash. The light blue color matches our antique rug much better as well. And with the thrifted “grandma lace” curtains in the windows we have a much more airy and light room. I love it!