Project Nursery: Vintage Ottoman Upholstery Finished!

Remember the vintage ottoman I bought for $10 bucks from a thrift store for the nursery, well its finished. So glad to finish this challenging { to me } upholstery project. Here's a reminder of how the ottoman looked when I brought it home. Size wise the ottoman is a perfect fit for the chair, but the fabric was very dated. Even thought the fabric is NMS { not my style } I like the piping detail on the cushion and on the bottom of the ottoman. I also liked the feet on the ottoman had a great shape but were a little banged up and the color matched our hardwood floors a little to much.

Feel free to scroll ahead for the reveal, below is my how to. Click here for the 'How To' on removing the dated fabric and and sewing the bottom portion on the ottoman. This is how the ottoman looked the last time you saw it.

I removed the fabric from the cushion the same way I removed the bottom fabric on the ottoman. I used the old fabric as my template for cutting out my new fabric. I wanted some contrast with the print, so I made my own piping using cording I bought at Joann's and dark grey fabric. The I placed the piping in the middle of the side piece and top portion of the fabric. After sewing the top piece of the ottoman, I placed it on top of the cushion to check for sizing making sure I was sewing a good fit. Take your time sewing the corners when adding piping, to get a nice round look. Do you see the blue painters tape peaking out?Well the old inside cushion corners were started to weaken without the old fabric, so I placed the tape on them to keep them in place. Yeah, Macgyver theme totally played in my mind while did this. Feel free to rock out while you read this post :)

Next I sewed on the grey piping to the bottom sides of my box cushion, I found it was easy to sew on the piping before sewing on the bottom piece. Make sure you use lots and lots of pins while sewing a cushion with piping, it really helps keep everything in its place. I loved how the piping turned out.

I turned the cushion inside out and then sewed the bottom piece to the top of the box. Basically its like sewing  a box pillow. I left a large opening to I could easily place the cushion inside the cover. I pinned the cushion closed and sewed it closed, hiding the stitches in the seams of the piping. 

After the cushion was completed, I finished working on the bottom portion of the ottoman. I decided to spray paint the feet on the ottoman, oil rubbed bronze. The feet on the ottoman wouldn't screw off, so I covered the ottoman with newspaper and took the ottoman outside to spray paint the feet. I love how the feet turned out and they match nicely with the dark feet on the chair.

Next I put the fabric back on the bottom of the ottoman and then stapled the fabric to the bottom of the base. I started stapling in the center pulling the fabric tight. Next I stapled the piping on the bottom of the ottoman. At each corner I trimmed the pipping then used fabric glue to secure the edges.

To attach the cushion the the base of the ottoman, I used fabric glue. After the fabric glue dried, I sewed the cushion to the base fabric. I really love how this re-upholstery project turned out! I love how the grey piping really makes the ottoman look finished. The vintage ottoman looks so good in the nursery and in front of the chair. I also like how good this pattern looks with the other patterns in the room, they all go together.

The nursery is almost done, I only have a few more things to do before its completed. It feels so good to be at the finish line a full 2 months after our little guy arrived! :) Remember he did arrive 2 weeks early :)

What do you think of the vintage ottoman redo?

Follow Along: As we create a nursery for our baby boy due in June 2011 (He arrived early on 6/3/11) From the beginning; Nursery Bare Bones, Paint Makes the Difference, Bye Bye Boob Light &Hemming & Hawing, Crib Notes, To Rock or Not To Rock? Nursery Artwork, Vintage Ottoman, Nursery Dresser

Project Nursery: Vintage Ottoman { Upholstery In Progress }

Last Thursday I popped in our local St. Vincent DePaul thrift store in Sacramento. Just looking around with nothing in particular in mind, just looking. When I came across a must buy item, my heart started racing. I had just came across the perfect vintage ottoman for Avery's nursery. Back when we finally decided on going with the Luxe Chair from World Market, I decided against buying the matching ottoman. Even though the frame was $ 40.00 (the slipcover is sold separately) I didn't really want the ottoman and the chair to be 'matchy matchy.' I wanted an ottoman with more personality. Here's the ottoman we didn't buy.

So when I came across the vintage ottoman I was thrilled, it was a nice size and heavy. I liked the feet and the piping and could see all the potential. The Thrift Store was asking $ 12 bucks for it, I was SOLD. When I asked the sales clerk about buying it, she marked the price done to $ 10 bucks, even better. During check out, I may have hummed finders keepers, losers weepers in my head like I was six again :) Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels like this when they find an amazing piece for their home. I'm not sure how old this ottoman is but given the weight and old gold flowered fabric I'm guessing its from the 60's or 70's I could be way off. When I got home I placed the ottoman in Avery's nursery -- perfect fit for the Luxe Chair .

For the fabric I knew I wanted a print and a solid color piping. Then I remember I already had the perfect fabric, I bought a long time ago for Euro pillows for our bedroom. I'm so glad I never got around to using this fabric. The fabric is Cross Section by Waverly in Grey. A few years back BB { before blogging } Mr. CHL and I reupholstered a vintage, the project was pretty easy mostly stapling and sewing piping. So I was pretty confident I could diy this project, it just involves more sewing.

Starting the Re-upholstery Process.

I flipped over the ottoman and took off the bottom fabric. The bottom fabric was so old it fell off. Next I used a seam riper to open up the corners on the ottoman, to loosen up the old fabric. Then I cut into the piping on the bottom and pulled it off using needle nose pliers. Then started to carefully pull back the fabric off the ottoman.

After looking closely at the ottoman I could tell it was sewn on, so I used my seam ripper to separate the the cushion from the bottom portion. The cushion was completely covered in the old fabric, so I plan to do the same when I recover it. Next, I carefully removed all the fabric from the bottom of the ottoman. I planned to use the old fabric as my pattern to cut my new fabric out with.

I pinned the old fabric on top of the new fabric and then cut it out. Thankfully the fabric is small pattern so I didn't have to be careful about placing the old patterns on the new fabric. After the four sides out I carefully pinned the fabric on the corners, I also marked the fabric with a pencil to use as a guide for sewing. I sew two sides at a time then attached them together. Once all four sides where sewn together, I placed it upside down to make sure it fit properly. Once the fit was good, I turned it upside down. The fabric was looking really good on the ottoman.

Next up, I'll be sewing piping for the bottom of the ottoman and the pillow cushion. Then spray painting the feet of the ottoman and sewing a cover for the cushion. So far its turning out really good. I think the pattern will look great in Avery's nursery. Can't wait to finish up this project.

What do you think? Have your re-upholstered anything?

Follow Along: As we create a nursery for our baby boy due in June 2011 (He arrived early 6/3/11) From the beginning; Nursery Bare Bones, Paint Makes the Difference, Bye Bye Boob Light &Hemming & Hawing, Crib Notes, To Rock or Not To Rock? Nursery Artwork