Rita's Sew Fun: Porch Sofa Rerun

I took one pitiful little cushion with me up to Beaver Dam. (because I was DRIVING) And this blog is how the people in that audience get to see the BIG PICTURE.

This is the 2014 Porch Sofa Saga I promised them. I got a lot of big samples jammed into my car...but, I mean, really -- it's a sofa, people...

**Written last June*********************

By now -- you understand the power of Ritaluck. As soon as I pull into the Target lot -- a parking spot opens up near the front door. I have extraordinary luck when shopping at thrift stores and the bargains just keep on coming....as you know.

Dealing with all my treasures and great finds has turned into a FULL TIME JOB. It's so much work, no one woman could do it alone. My obsessive thrifting requires a TEAM...

My amazing team -- Carrie-- helps me to keep the clutter at bay. Year after year, she helps me get things organized. One of the big spring jobs is getting the porch set up for the summer. We bring out the slipcovers for the two chairs and loveseat glider...

Then -- it happened -- the LATEST item on my list of extraordinary finds.

I found a wonderful, sturdy, Lane bamboo sofa...at the local Salvation Army....WOW. We haven't had a full size couch in the house for almost 15 years....this could be fun...we could actually take a nap on this sucker....

But I am soo aware of all the work that's involved in bringing something as big as a SOFA into the house. I have to completely rearrange the furniture on the porch. Then, I have to rid of my old loveseat glider. Will there be room on the porch for the new sofa? I'll have to borrow John's truck to bring it home...

So, with all those things on my mind -- when I saw the sofa on a Friday -- I did not buy it. Over the weekend, I talked myself into it -- and out of it -- a dozen times. By Monday morning, I was 100% IN... I am ready for a project...the old little glider has way outlived it's usefulness.

Monday morning, I got to the Salvation Army at 9:00 AM -- and, of course, thanks to Ritaluck -- IT WAS STILL THERE...

It is butt ugly. But then, what do you expect for $89...??

It took me three days to ponder the sofa project...and activate my team. John loaned me his truck. Ross loaded up the old glider, and later that day, John and Ross got the new/old sofa off the truck and hauled it onto the porch. YES this is one of those jobs that's going to take a village...

Most importantly, Carrie CLEANED the porch. Ugh. She scrubbed the floor, and the wall, and by the time I got back with the sofa -- it slid right into it's new spot!!

We spend so much time on the porch -- this is going to be FUN...

*******************
I'm afraid I tortured my readers with a sew-by-sew account of my new porch sofa project over the summer. Here's just ONE example:

After sewing the three small cushions for the porch sofa -- I was kinda burned out.

And, too -- it's summertime, I'm doing a lot of things with Lilly and Warren, and moving on to the three BIG cushions seemed like a really big job.

So, there was a fair bit of procrastination going on. THEN I had two funerals in one week...and it was time for me to GET BACK TO THE SOFA.

That's how it works for me. When I am happy, I sew. When I am sad, I sew. As it turns out -- it can be serger dishrags -- or it can be a porch sofa....that's how I roll...

However -- I was running low on fabric. So, when I started on the three big cushions, I laid out little bits of fabric to plan the design before I actually cut anything. There were three main fabrics, so I decided the best solution would be to do two sides yellow, two sides squiggle dot, and two sides big circles...This would give me the MOST OPTIONS -- right??

Cushion #1 has a yellow side --

The other side of Cushion #1 is the big circles fabric...get it??

Cushion #2 has one side of squiggly dots -- except I didn't have enough fabric...

So, I did the best I could to match the pattern to add the 2" I needed...

Cushion #3 would have had one side of squiggle dots...but I only had a small piece left...so I did a patchwork design...

The biggest lesson of sewing these cushions was that I made the pattern first -- then went SLOW...fitting each cushion as I went. Here's the general order of things...

First, I did the zipper/cheat...ironing the zebra fabric on top of the old flower fabric.
Then I made a pattern and cut out the top piece.
I marked the center point on all four sides, and basted the top to the zebra side panel, right sides together.
At that point, the "fitting"on the cushion was critical. It is always better to start a little too big, then snug it up...or trim it down as required. (ask me how I know this)
Each seam was sewn three times. First, a basting stitch (so I could do the fitting) -- the second round was with my serger to clean up the edges. And, finally, I did a three step straight stitch to make it as strong as possible...

Then, to do the flip side, repeat steps 3-5. This is the point where you will really be glad you marked the center point on all four sides...

NEXT MONDAY -- I will do the official "REVEAL". Finally -- it all came together....

And we really did have a HELLUVA PORCH PARTY...!!

*********Final Reveal Pictures*********

The SMARTEST decision I made at the beginning of this sofa project was to PAINT the ugly flowered sofa fabric instead of trying to re-upholster it. OMG...

THIS WAS SO EASY. And the result was sooo good. Beyond my wildest expectations. Two coats of plain old blue flat interior wall paint turned the crappy fabric into a washable canvas. Linda B. asked me if the fabric felt rough...and after two coats, it seems very sturdy and washable to me. I was DELIGHTED with the way it turned out...

Hey -- this sofa is probably 30 years old -- and it sits very soft...so I added this board (which I conveniently found in my basement -- big surprise...)