Once you have placed your pins ( four of them ) for your half way points, and deturmined where seams are likely to go, it's time to cut and anchor block cuts. Assume this is a chair. Assume we are NOT railroading. Assume you have plain weave cotton, the proper weight.

This is my procedure. I learned from tall men with strength. I am not petite, so this works for me as well. Hope you can do it.

Taking off the longest cuts first: hold the bolt cut end , four yards pulled off ( but not cut ) up to the outside back. It does not matter if it's a print or solid, or if it's rolled on the bolt upside down. Hold it up there, from top back to skirt length, add six inches or so, and clip the selvage. That's a mark to refer back to.


Next fold the yardage in half to see how wide half is ( and to see if half covers the back with some to spare. ) If half works, check to see if the motif falls where you want it. If you need the whole cut to use motif properly, fine. If you need more inches on the cut to move motif to a better location, fine. Time to whack a cut.

At the clip in selvage ( or further down if you need more for motif ) fold goods over onto itself on bolt, selvages meeting at the top. Smooth and flat, with a fold, this usually means right side in, but that's not consequential. Once smooth grasp the fold top with left hand, insert good sharp sheers into the fold with right. I am a righty, leftys figure what you need to. My bolt is on my left, on the floor, several feet away from the hank I am whacking off.

Slide the shears, 1/2 open, fabric touching about the back of center of the blade, while pulling upward with left hand. Using my right leg I am supporting the fold so I can see it all, and so that it remains straight. At 5'3" I can do it without repositioning. I am tall enough. It's all one motion. If not, assume scissors need to be upgraded, not that you are too short ( unless you are in fact much shorter ). I can do this with 54" goods at 5'3" tall. Some of it is on the floor at first, granted.

Okay: if the cut you have removed can be split lengthwise and fit ( halves ) the inside back and outside back, great. If the cut is only wide enough on half to barely cover the back, noting what I have said about the purpose of excess size of cuts, decide if you want to use the whole thing.

Spilt and dedicate to inside back as well, or cut another cut for inside back using same procedure.

Note: I use a concept I call picture framing. That simply means to me that I choose where on the body part my best center occurs. Happens that ( not coincidentally ) my motifs ride high on my inside back and outside back. That means the halves of my one cut when split to be used on both inside and outside back are most often situated the same, automatically. Note if a half drop, use the lower framed motif on the back if need be.

Practice this much ( or do it mentally ). Tell me what's uncomfortable about it.

Hi Shirley

I also did not know you were waiting for a response. Sorry, here we were just waiting for the next lesson.
I really need to speed up my slipcovering skills. I can tell I am getting a little bit faster. I know I measure and refit way too many times. I am currently using Karen's method and I always have the piece of furniture in front of me. I would really love to not have to bring the furniture home and I am just not ready to sew in customers home yet. So please proceed I will be waiting for the next lesson.

Sounds good to me - I'm gonna print it all out when you're done.

oh yeah, report back, right here. Tell me what I left out of the explanation too.

So, so sorry, Shirley - I didn't realize you were waiting for a response. Here I'VE been, wondering why you hadn't started...

Yes, I am an idiot. Please, please proceed.

okay, no takers, but we will procede like we are useful.

The next step is to visualize where you'd predict or like the seams to be. The seams must be placed where you want the cords to appear. Seams must also join areas where grain direction or pattern direction would ideally change.

Additionally, seams protect areas of stress or shaping that would tear if only one piece of fabric was asked to make severe turns. Seams shape, seams atract attention, seams hold zippers.

Seams ( cords ) create a new sillohuette ( sp?? ) . Seams need not, and in many cases cannot, fall where the upholsterer placed the cords or joins. We have no nails, no glue. Simple gravity and tension are at work, we manipulate but not force.

The first cuts of fabric ( all body parts ) must then have a margin of error allowed for adjusting the placement. I like cuts three inches over my hoped for seam placement, so that I may change the plan as I see a better answer ( or a neccessary answer even if I don't like it ).

How does a beginer answer this question for the first time ( where seams go ? ). Look at existing slipcovers. Magazines yes, but in the home in use as well.

Second suggestion, place your hands on the furniture as you look at it. Interlace your fingers and form right angles with fingers. Hold hands so that the fingers and palms form north south east west positions. Find corners on the rounded surfaces of the furniture. Some corners are obvious, and probably needed seam location. There may be more seams needed, on these more rounded surfaces. Hard corners are required seams: rounded corners are possible seams. A seam may be a choice, or perhaps a more practical answer than making one piece of fabric bend around a corner.

I am going to post a series of steps for people who have not yet tried double on half. They will be a week apart, to give you time to do the home work.

First week : choose a chair. You can do this with more than one, but roundish is harder than squarish.

Take the cushions off, set it in the middle of the room and observe the topography. With big pins ( so you can see from distance ) and not more than four of them, mark by eyeballing only ( no tape measures ) half way points.

Anyone needing clarification here : double on half is pin fitting method folding cloth at midway point to fit half the chair.

Strategies for finding half way points will vary with the person teaching you, my way is to emphasize eyeballing. Four pins only : top outside back at new slipcover seam , top front deck at curve, bottom outside back at new skirt line and bottom inside back.

The homework is to do this and report back how quickly you were comfortable making a final choice without a tape measure.

You may double check with tape only after you feel you are sure you have the right answer. Importante, use tape in the following manner to double check: measure half, and then the other half. What you are avoiding is trying to divide fractions of inches.

Trusting your eyes, or more exactly, learning for the first time to use and trust your eyes about pin fitting ( learning to separate fresh observations from preconceived notions ) is vital to taking this leap.

Wow Dede... what a thing that has been going with the foam...

This would make a great article for other to learn buy. Would you consider doing this for our Winter issue?

always
K

who knows, maybe HE needs some cheesecake too.

I'll have to figure out how to flavor my diet drinks cheesecake.

Shirley, I never offered foam before so I never really thought about foam. Then the EZ-Dri guy (not a rep, more of a researcher) scared the ____ out of me, stressing that outdoor foam doesn't meet California fire code, is not rated for interior use, is especially flammable because of the open air cells, etc., etc. I was perfectly happy when I picked up the phone to order, confident I was offering the most appropriate foam to the customer - I was practically shaking when I got off.

As far as I know, only California has fire regs for residential foam. And since all untreated foam is flammable, I'm not really sure why the guy felt the need to scare the pants off me. A quick call to the Fire Marshall straighted everything out: it's not illegal to use outdoor foam inside a private home and I am not liable for its flammability.

*whew*

I think I need cheesecake...

AS far as the foam guy goes, you gotta figure you cannot predict why people say what they say at any given moment. Who knows ?

I do keep calm by asking myself what would they get if they shopped somewhere else. That takes care of cheap, fast, and perfect. Scratch them off the list. Flameproof without having asked for it and without shopping specifically for the stuff that makes it flameproof is another.

Many of us come from another job background where perfect was more important. Here, we do the best we can do with the info, the materials, the budget, and with what we know today. Tomorrow we might do it better, but sometimes it gets delivered today.

Dede, I know you will do your best to do what you can, and it will be as well done as it can be.

Thirty some years of this, and not one thing leaving my house is perfect. It's darn good for the price, it's not perfect. I give them value, choices. I give them pleasant association, a trusting relationship, and service that they won't get at a store. It's not flawless it, it's just better.

Look at what you are making now as better then the last thing you made, that's progress, and it's realistic. Good that you think flameproof, think safety, absolutely. We don't create danger where it's avoidable. Good that you asked. I hope you can let go of the visual image, and the dread here. We do what we can with what we are given and the skills we have accumulated thus far.

I just did what I should have done two days ago - I called the Massachusetts State Fire Marshall, Office of Code Compliance.

There are NO fire retardancy requirements for foam used in private residential applications in Massachusetts. None.

The VITA/Crest Foam guy was using scary words like "go up like a blow torch" and "liability" - evidently, he was covering their respective butts because EZ-Dri does not currently meet California Fire Code 117 requirements "for open flame and cigarette resistant materials used in residential upholstered furniture construction."

Moral of the story: don't panic; learn the facts. Now, if only I could remember this...

I've got a call in to the local Fire Inspector; the reg in question is California Fire Code 117, which apparently is used as a national standard. VITA/Crest may just be covering their butts (a noble endeavor...). I'll find out if Massachusetts has fire retardancy requirements for foam used in RESIDENTIAL applications, and let you know - your state may vary...

Dede, considering regular household foam is also not flame retardant, I am asking myself why that would spoil the sale.

Is flame retardant mandatory where you are ? I never heard of residential requirements, but I am in the soggy very green state of Virginia.

Commercial work demands it, certainly. You can get California rated flame resistant regular foam.

Mildew, if it's a problem for her, certainly does not originate in her foam. Think of mildew like fleas. They multiply and spread, but the responsibility is to find the point of origin and remove the breeding entities. Mildew is the same, it is breeding some place other than the foam. It isn't organic. The foam can be a resting place but not a source of food.

It's nice you want her to have the best, and have it all. But, if you can't have all you wanted, indoor foam is what she'd get from someone else. Unless it's required, and then you get the rated indoor stuff, and you still don't need to lose a sale.

MELTDOWN... On the phone to order foam... EZ-Dri is NOT flame retardant! It's not rated for interior use! VITA/Crest Foam is working on it, though - they have a few ideas (I had a long and interesting chat with a researcher).

Don't know what to do - I recommended this foam because it really is an ideal product for this application (as long as you ignore those pesky fire regulations...).

Yes Dede, way to go.... You will learn a lot with this one. In fact you already have. Yes it sounds like a good article for Nov/Dec issue. The new Press is all done I just need to get it printed.

yay! yay! yay! Yay! yay! yay! yay! yay!

Eeeeeeek!!!! I had to tell someone... I have my first REAL JOB! Not a neighbor/friend/relative - a REAL CLIENT! Window seat cushion from scratch, COM. I vastly undercharged her (limited fabric: if I charge too much I WILL make a mistake - yeah, my brain isn't screwed on too tight...), and I told her I wouldn't charge for cutting the foam if she provided a pattern.

I'm using Dri-Fast reticulated (outdoor) foam - she has a very old house (1820) with mildew problems, and this stuff is anti-fungal, promotes good air flow, and discourages dust mites. I love this foam AND it can be purchased directly from the manufacturer with NO piece minimum at MUCH lower cost than from a wholesale distributer. (Hmmm... Karen, would this be a good article topic for a later edition?)

Dede, still floating :D

Cindi Smith who has a great business in California, she attended the Summit in Fort Collins with many of this Summer had this good news to share. Way to go Cindi>>>>>>

Go to www.pressdemocrat.com/specials Click on the Fall 2004 issue of
the "Abode" Magazine. Go to page 32, the article "Hidden Treasures". All
the pictures in the article are of my work. The article itself is about
slipcovers. They even spelled my name right, yeah!. I also advertised in
the magazine. Check it out! I am happy about how it turned out. I
already got a request for information and prices on slipcovers from a woman,
that said she read the article this Sunday morning. Cool!

Cindi Smith who has a great business in California, she attended the Summit in Fort Collins with many of this Summer had this good news to share. Way to go Cindi>>>>>>

Go to www.pressdemocrat.com/specials Click on the Fall 2004 issue of
the "Abode" Magazine. Go to page 32, the article "Hidden Treasures". All
the pictures in the article are of my work. The article itself is about
slipcovers. They even spelled my name right, yeah!. I also advertised in
the magazine. Check it out! I am happy about how it turned out. I
already got a request for information and prices on slipcovers from a woman,
that said she read the article this Sunday morning. Cool!