Last weekend I had the chance to tackle one of my many, many projects that I seem to keep piling upon myself. I wanted to do something relatively quick and simple since Lobster was in town and I’m pretty sure the idea of watching me fight with fabric and a sewing machine is not his idea of a good time. So, in order to make Lobster happy and still get a project done I turned on the UT football game and handed him a frosty adult beverage. This seemed to do the trick. A train could have barreled through our kitchen and he would not have noticed. Unless it ran over the rest of the beer or caused a power outage.

Back to my point…

So I re-upholstered the simple but fabulous ottoman that I scored at the Pottery Barn Outlet for thirty-some-odd dollars. It took me around four hours to accomplish, but I’m a beginner. Here’s a simple girl’s guide to re-upholstering an ottoman:

1.  Measure each side of the ottoman and write down your numbers. Add two inches to each measurement (one inch of sewing room on each side).

2.  Play with silly ottoman kitty (optional).

3.  Cut your fabric based on your measurements. Pin the two long side pieces to the corresponding long side of the top piece (right sides facing).

4.  Sew each side piece and repeat the process with the short side pieces. This is the tricky part. I had a hard time with the corners so they’re not perfect, but they’ll do.

5.  Once you have the new fabric sewn, fit it onto the ottoman to make sure it fits. Make any adjustments as needed.

6.  Flip ottoman over and remove the legs.

7.  Pulling the fabric taut from the middle of each side and then progressing outward, go crazy nuts with the staple gun, but make sure you leave the leg holes (?) free of fabric so you are able to reattach the legs. (Side note: please notice the super awesome Team Lobster t-shirt that I am wearing. Lobster refuses to wear his at the same time I wear mine. Boys are so weird. There’s nothing at all creepy with couples wearing matching t-shirts bearing the name of their gooey pet name for themselves…right?)

8.  Reattach the legs. When your hands get tired of manually screwing on said legs, enlist boyfriend (making sure that football game is over and now he’s just watching crap t.v.) to do the rest.

9.  Collapse from exhaustion.

10.  Finished!

What do you think? Not too shabby for a simple girl, eh? I picked an ivory cotton twill for my fabric. It’s very simple and natural looking, which I love, plus it’s supposed to be an easy fabric for beginners to use. Yes, I know that it really doesn’t look much different than it did to begin with but I can assure you that it looks much better in person. The pics don’t do it justice. And yes, I know the corners aren’t perfect, but neither am I, so DEAL WITH IT.

I kid, I kid.

Anyway, I’m glad I got that done. Now on to the two unfinished chairs (as seen in the background). These will be far harder to pull off so I might have to wait until I have another nice quiet weekend at home (and maybe two or three football games) to start on that project!

Related posts:

That Time I Tried to Make a Slipcover and FAILED DIY Upholstered Platform Bed DIY Curtains and Pottery Barn Knock-Off Naptime Project: Simple and Sweet Letter Wreath