I guess you'll have to judge from the outcome if this is worth your time. In my case, I had a bit of time over the summer, due to a "parenting schedule" from the court. I have to share my child. On the one hand, I miss her, but on the other, I can fill the house up with noxious fumes in her absence, so, on the whole...I still miss her.
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| I like it, and that's all that matters. |
Couches are pricey. They are mostly ugly, and the few that are not are priced so far out of my range that they require a budget that I don't think I'll be able afford in this lifetime. So what's a girl to do?
Nine years ago, I found a used microfiber Crate and Barrel Bob Mitchell and William Gold sectional. Tootie Pie was around three years old and, unbelievably, a bit messier than her late-tween self, so microfiber fit the bill. And, if you glossed over that modifier "used", yes, it was secondhand Craigslist. Talk about rollin' the dice. No matter how mid-quality it once was, I received it with 95% of its useful life spent. I would need to maintain the H-E-L-L-double-hockey-sticks out of it, which I did, and, still, it was looking drabber than the original sage color.
The tough part about the otherwise-easy-wear microfiber is that its colorfastness also means that adding or deleting color is much harder than with natural fibers, BUT IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE, even for the home DIYer.
Cold water dyes, like the type you can run through a washer, will not work for man-made fabrics. For poly fibers, the fabric must be boiled. So, unless you're considering yanking out all the staples, pulling stitches, and then running the part covering the frame (I never considered this), then you will end up with a two-toned sofa, like mine.
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| Are you okay with this for a minute? |
The first thing you need is a dye that is for polyester. Regular dye won't work. In my case, the couch was out of commission for at least a week, because only one cover fit into my biggest pot, and with 12 cushions being washed first, then boiled, then washed and dried, even with the most efficient assembly line, it would take a good amount of time. I should mention that I don't work in the summer. And, it needs to be warm when you do this, for two reasons: one, fumes from the chemicals in the dye, and two, in my case the pot over-boiled and doused the flame, and so you'll need a breeze to remove the gas from the home so that when you try to relight it, you don't blow up the entire block.
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| Future phase of project Lipstick on a Pig. |
It is admittedly a short-term fix that I will somehow need to stretch into a decade or more of use, but it looks somewhat intentional that the base matches the walls and the cushions coordinate with the curtains. It also brings out the teal in my Jonathan Adler sample sale octagonal tray and silk Chinese bookmark holder. I also made buttons from a similarly shaded pillowcase found at Salvation Army, that was made of natural materials, so I dyed in the washing machine, and then cut up and used a ton of fabric glue to make 8 buttons per back cushion (of which there are seven, including the matching "throw" cushion). I have not gotten to sewing these on, however. Perhaps around the newly refreshed sectional's 5-year redo anniversary?
And, the inspiration for her carrot, primarily from this tutorial: https://makeit-loveit.com/diy-carrot-costume-fun-for-any-age-plus-one-to-give-away. I toyed with the idea of the top of the carrot covering her head, a la this poor guy-->, but she decided against it. I think a wise choice for a tween! In any case, I used a shirt dress to make the pattern, changing the hemline to approximate a carrot. I would suggest not tapering yours as fast as I did, because it became a bit form-fitting once I pinned the two sides together. So, perfect cylinder from the shoulders to past hips, and THEN start to taper.
I went to Michael's, however, to pick up a button or some fastener that I could use to zhush up the neckline, which would have an orange felt scarf with green stripes pinned to the side. Somehow I ended up with a styrofoam cone and some greenery. Using a template maker, I transferred the pattern to the green felt, but before I did so I put the paper template around the styrofoam, and it was a bit snug, so I extended the lines out on the felt. The awl was used to start a pilot hole in the top of the cone. I didn't need to even glue the greens in, it was so snug. The felt was then hot glued to the sides of the cone.
Now, how to get this onto her head. She had a baseball cap, that was custom painted by a friend, but I had the pipe cleaners, and baseball caps have eyelets in each section, so I twisted and hot glued and covered it all with the lime green felt fronds from my aborted mission, so nothing went to waste! An orange shirt and pants from Salvation Army, and, all-in-all, a great costume. She was being called from across the street while trick or treating. It is a distinctive costume from far away, in the dark! And, it was a windy night, but warm, and the hat stayed on, for the most part. Success!
