unseamly

A friend is redecorating her house and wanted to get rid of some furniture that she no longer needed. Knowing that Matt and I have a house in need of quite a bit of everything she offered us her gently used furniture and we were extremely happy to take it off of her hands. The only item that had any easily visible wear was the ottoman, she told me the ottoman has a hole on the top, but we just cover it with a throw so nobody notices. That seemed like a reasonable solution. However, when we went to pick up the furniture I was excited to discover that it wasn't a hole in the fabric; it was a ripped seam, an easy and quick problem to fix.

 Start by finding a thread that matches the major color in the fabric. I used a navy blue. Thread you needle and tie the two ends of the thread in a knot so that you have a double thread. I knot the thread twice to give me a little larger knot so that it will catch in the fabric better. Start sewing about an inch and half before the start of the rip.

Make you stitches small (about an 1/8 of inch), pulling the two pieces of fabric together as you go. On a piece of furniture it is likely that you fabric will need to be taught and so it may be helpful to use your non sewing hand to help pull the fabric together so all of the tension isn't on the thread, which could cause it to break, I know because it happened to me and I had to restart.

This particular ottoman has a button in the center. When it was originally produced the button was probably put on after the rest of the ottoman had been upholstered, but I don't have the big long needle that is needed to sew on a button so I needed to sew around the button. For the first half of the rip I sewed over the button until I got to the middle. Then I lifted the button over the stitches I had just made and pulled them taught once they were under the button. This meant that I only had to work under the button for about an inch and half.

Sew past the end of the rip about an inch and a half, and then sew back up the seam you just made about an inch and then back down an inch. This will give the end of your new seam a little more strength so it is less likely to rip again. When you get to the end make a loop with your thread through the fabric.

Run your needle through the loop twice and then pull taught to make a knot. I usually do this twice just for extra security.

Cut any excess thread, and you’re done.

Maybe one day I will get really adventurous by reupholstering the whole ottoman. I've already selected a fabric.

Calico Corners - Stanley Slate $37.99/yd.

 

The color doesn't translate very well on their website but it is steely navy on a golden tan background with a nice woven texture. I just need to work up the nerve and save up the money to be able to tackle the project.

julie