Benchwarming

This weekend was filled with lots of little craft projects - it was too cold out to start on some of the bigger ones I want to work on.  Basically I spent the weekend gluing stuff to other stuff.

One medium-sized project I did complete was recovering the bench at the foot of our bed with sturdier fabric. 

It's just a standard bench with faux leather. We have it because, when Little Dog really was a little dog she couldn't get up on the bed by herself.  She'd just hang there with her front paws on the bed, waiting to be lifted.  Even though she's big enough now, she forgets most of the time and still likes to climb up and down using the bench. It's probably better for her joints anyway. 

Usually the climbing down is done at a high rate of speed, the bench is top-heavy, and it gets flipped over all the time.  We now have it tied to the bed to keep it in place (in case anyone thought those cords were for something else - and why are you thinking those things?) 

Also, when the bench would start to flip, the dogs would dig their nails in resulting in tiny (or not so tiny) rips in the fabric.

So it's not that aesthetically pleasing.  No one is hollering to feature this guy in their magazine spreads.

I bought some heavy grey flannel - the kind used to make suits - a few months ago.  It's so distinguished and preppy and sleek looking.  Not to mention soft to the touch.  And it cost about $19/yard so you can bet that I measured at least 6 times and drew out my plans 3 times before I went at it with scissors.

I decided to cover the bench using three pieces - one for the top and long sides, and one each for the ends.  I sewed a hem along each of the edges that would be stapled to the underside - to give a nice finished look. 

I then pinned the center of the end piece to the center of the short side of the top piece and worked out from there.  (Does that make sense?)

It wasn't easy curving the top material around to meet up with the short sides of the end pieces.  Next time I think I'll use five separate pieces for top and sides.

I enlisted Tom's help to staple the edges down.  We started by stapling the middle of each side, then the ends, and then filled in between. 

See that finished edge? Smooooooth.

Here is the finished product. 

 

It's pretty simple, but we haven't done any work to the bedroom so I want to keep my options open when choosing colours.  Right now the walls are a pale yellow with a faux stucco effect on the top half that I despise.

Sasha (not so little, right?) tested out the new bench for me this morning. 

She seems pleased. 

We have another bench downstairs that I'll also be covering with the same material.  It has a lid that opens though so that'll be a bigger challenge.  So glad I had this one to practice on first!

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I'm linking up to these parties this week!