I am sure you have already met my two buddies – Simon (The Grey) and Sophie (The Skittish).
As you can see, The Cats pretty much took over our old couch. So when we purchased a new one, I knew The Cat’s old habits would be very difficult to break, but I didn’t want my new couch to be destroyed neither!
So short of covering the whole thing with heavy duty plastic, I needed to find a suitable couch cover. I searched all the stores and on-line for a suitable cover. No such luck. I didn’t want something with too loud of a design on it and half the ones I did see were the wrong size anyway.
But how much longer could I look at the fluorescent green fleece blankets that were protecting my new couch?
Obviously, I turned to the fabric shop’s upholstery department for suitable fabric, and then a department store for a twin flat sheet. I found this sturdy fabric – navy blue with light coloured flecks in it (it even matched our carpet). I ran it through the wash right away to ensure that I would be able to launder it in the future, if needed. Remember… The Cats!
To buy the correct amount of fabric, I measured how much of the couch I wanted covered, found the area, and made sure that I purchased enough fabric to cover that area, even if I had to cut a strip off the side or something. The sheet was the correct area, but I had to cut a six inch strip off one side and sew it on to another.
The same with my upholstery fabric. I had to correct the length by cutting a strip off the width and sewing it onto the length.
After all was done I had a double layer couch cover, upholstery fabric on one side with mitered corners and my sheet fabric on the other.
A far cry better than fluorescent green fleece blankets… don’t you think?
And able to withstand whatever The Cats could throw at it!
When was the last time you adjusted your habits or home to accommodate your family pet? I’m sure I’m not the only one!
Before I leave, I am participating in Me Made May again. I think this year I am going to post my daily Me Mades on Instagram and Facebook.
Happy Sewing!
27 Responses to “Just a bit of practical sewing…”
Oh, I like your version! I bought some “tough” fabric to cover my leather sofa, but discovered it is really for outdoor furnishings and is not at all soft and comfortable. Will be going back for more, and think the sheet backing is a grand idea.
Thanks! I’m sure your fabric will come in handy for some other project in the future. (I’m sorry, I just noticed your comments went to “spam”. I pulled them out! That’s the first time that has ever happened to me!)
Ack! I’ve been spammed! Actually I’ve been rather inactive lately, and noticed yesterday that none of my comments had been posted. I contacted WP and inquired, they gave me some technical speak that made no sense….apparently they’ve reinstated me? We shall see. 🙂
I found you in spam. Knew you had commented freely before without going into spam, so I “un-junked” you. Then I read that sometimes commenters are thrown into spam without mercy, so it is up to the blogger to decide if they want them out of spam. So I unblocked you. I guess something in your coding didn’t pass their test this time but did all the other times. Silly. Anyway I hope you enjoy blogging, reading and commenting!
Great idea for kitty-proofing the new sofa!
Our kitties have free reign on the furniture, but they’re pretty good. (Although Saoirse, Sophie’s twin, likes to climb up the back of my couch with ALL THE CLAWS like it’s a rock climbing wall. O_o) It helps that our couch and chaise are upholstered in sueded microfiber in a dark shade of navy blue/black and are easy to clean. We’ve had the stuff for over 6 years now and it’s still kicking! If anything, our dog is the biggest problem with the furniture: he’s heavier than a cat and is always around, shedding and licking and jumping on stuff. So now we have a blanket on the seat cushions and that’s been okay, but not super attractive.
It sounds like you have your hands full! But they are so much fun it’s worth it!