Reupholstering My Ottoman

Hello again!

So, I'm sure a lot of you have run into this problem if you have purchased a bonded leather couch. I owned mine for about six years before it started cracking and peeling, which, I hear is a very good run compared to some of my friends that only had theirs for about a year. I also purchased a matching ottoman at the same time as the couch. A couple months ago I was going crazy being cooped up during the winter with a 7 month old and decided to flex my sewing muscles. I feel the need to emphasize that this is the first time I have reupholstered anything ever!

Before and after

My husband, who is usually very supportive of my random endeavors, was slightly on the skeptical side. However, he approached it with a "the ottoman already looks like crap, whats the worst that can happen" attitude. So we set of to the fabric store, my husband's favorite place (please read that with as my sarcasm as possible) and I dragged him up and down the upholstery fabric looking at and touching every fabric. I finally settled on a nice cream fabric with a postage style print. 

Under side on the cushion after removal.

Please note that there are little straps with a plastic piece on the end that go through the cushion to secure the tufting, I reused those but I unfortunately didn't take a picture.

Bottom section with cushion removed.

The first thing I did was separate the top cushion and using a seem ripped I took each section apart. Luckily I wanted to keep the style, I used the old fabric as a template. I also decided to make it a storage ottoman (that required a piece of thick plywood to support the cushion and make a lid.

The pieces that made up the top tufted section.

As I separated each piece of fabric I labeled it and used arrows to indicate which side was up. Next I laid out each square for the tufted section in order 1-16 and traced the outline onto the new fabric, I traced along the seem edge so I would knew where to sew, when I cut out the pieces I left a half inch seem allowance.

the original stitching for the button pockets

I the started sewing the pieces together (sorry for the lack of pictures, I was juggling a baby and sewing haha!) I sewed the squares together at a point like the original stitching to allow the buttons space to be pulled for the tufted look.

Before attaching the buttons and pulling the fabric tight.

I then attached the buttons and straps and pulled them tight through the precut holes in the cushion. Next I used my handy dandy staple gun to line the inside and the plywood we added to the cushion with black fabric. I then stapled the upholstery fabric to the plywood under the cushion.

After pulling the fabric tight and securing it to the wood.

The inside 

The only sewing I did for the bottom was the corners. I pinned the fabric together inside out against the bottom, sewed the corners and put it around the base, I then stapled it to the wood. The black fabric hid the edges.

The finished product!

I reused the feet and the only thing I had a buy for this project was the fabric, thread, wood, and metal snap buttons. I think I ended up spending about $75 after all was said and done. I am happy to report that I am currently resting my feet on my ottoman as I write this and it has held up beautifully! I am also waiting on fabric to come for my couch, I went with a darkish gray that compliments the print on the ottoman. When I post that one I will be sure to take more and better pictures!

Thanks for stopping by!

Allow Me To Introduce Myself!

Hello There!

My name is Destiny, I am blessed to be a wife to an amazing man and new-ish mom of a wonderful little boy who will be turning one next month! And to top it all off I have had the privilege of being a foster mom for almost three years and have met some awesome kiddos!

I am very lucky to have taken part in many different adventures and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you!

I have been a 

SCUBA diver 

Photographer

Commercial Fisherman

Cider Maker 

And amateur mechanic (with my husband's help)

     I strive to leave this world better than I found it and bring joy to people's lives. There are millions of people in this world that would love to see others fail, be one of the people that offers a helping hand.

   


   I met the man I now call my husband when I was seventeen. He was rough and rowdy with a hint of bad boy. Think Dukes of Hazard but without the moonshine and destruction of public and private property (for the most part). I had just moved to town for a job as a SCUBA diver. The short version of this story is that we met through friends and we did not like each other for the first couple of months. After a while the tables turned rather quickly and we became very close. We dated for seven years before tying the knot and our friends and family said a collective "FINALLY!"
     




    At the time of our marriage I had just began my short career as a commercial fisherman. The next summer I went to Alaska to fish for five months. I spent our first wedding anniversary traveling back from Alaska on the fishing boat. That was the hardest five months, it was the first time I was away from my best friend for that long. I continued to fish for three more years until I finally decided to get a regular nine to fiver. Thus began my illustrious career as a cider maker! I spent the next two years in one of the most amazing work environments I have ever experienced! It is a local Cidery that began on a small blueberry farm and quickly grew (and continues to grow) into a thriving company the helps bring the community together. I have never worked in a place that cared so much for it's employees and their happiness!




Unfortunately (and at the same time fortunately) I found out that I was pregnant! It was unfortunate because it meant that I would have to leave my job, at least during my pregnancy due to the manual labor. As it turned out, childcare is very expensive where we live, as I'm sure it is everywhere else, and I developed very strong feelings of wanting to be at home with my son and not have someone else pretty much raise him during these precious years. We and extremely fortunate that my husband works for a wonderful company that pays him well and I am able to stay home with our little one. Since having our little guy I did dabble in commercial fishing for a couple months in my home town, but that was mainly so I didn't go stir crazy over the winter!





To keep myself sane over the last year I have taken up new hobbies and started honing some of my other skills. That essentially translates to, I have been taking a lot of pictures and have practically sewn a new wardrobe of clothes. I have also dabbled in upholstering some of my furniture. These are the skills I will be sharing with you, please keep in mind that I am an absolute amateur and whatever steps or processes I show you are most likely something I made up on the fly for the project!

That is pretty much the last decade of my life in a nutshell! I look forward to hearing from you guys!