I suddenly have a thing for linen. It's never been a material of choice for me before but after making the kitty cushion a while ago it really grew on me. So when it was time to make new chair pads for our dining area it's the fabric I got. Actually it's a cotton linen mix so it will be stronger.
I also made the previous pads. They were off white fleece and I used a simple blanket stitch to sew those. They were getting really worn though so new ones were due.
For the old pads I uses regular elastic (thread in between the layers) to hold them in place on the chairs and since it worked so well over the years I decided to do the same but better. No more knots. My new babies are being sewn in place!
So after several layer disasters where I got the wadding and/or the elastic in the wrong order I finally got it right. Layer 1: Linen. Layer 2: Elastic. Layer 3: Linen. Layer 4: Wadding.
The four layers were then pinned to each other. As you can see there's a little banana boat action going on there. It's because I wanted some tension on the elastic to be sure the pads would stay in place on the chairs after.
Popped the whole sandwich in the sewing machine and took extra care to make sure the elastic didn't snap away as I took the pins out one by one. I sewed around three edges and saved the last for some hand stitching at the end.
Since there are three layers and I didn't want bulky corners I snipped them before turning the whole thing right side out.
To prep for the hand stitching I turned the open edges in and made sure the wadding was caught in there too to prevent the wadding from shifting in the wash.
Then I pinned the open edge shut. Here you can see the construction of where the elastic emerges from between the layers. The great thing about this is that the pads are reversible, you just slip the elastic over to the other side if you need to.
Like I said, when hand stitching I made sure to catch the wadding in each stitch. It doesn't make for the best looking stitch but keeps the wadding in place.
So after spending an enormous amount of time on that first pad due to misplaced layers I finally could test drive it. Success!
After that it was simply a matter of assembly line. I cut all the layers for the rest of the five chairs, pinned and sewed...
... and finally hand stitched in front of the TV. It took a few days to do them all but...
... in the end they were all there. The elastics are now simply slipped over the fronts and backs of the seats.
After I sewed the white hallway bench cushion back in August and sprayed that with Imprenex (a Scotch Guard type of product) and have yet to wash (!) it even though it's Mini's favorite spot, I'm using Imprenex to stain and waterproof proof fabrics I want to protect. I gave all six pads a few coats on both sides and aired them out properly after. It's great but stinky stuff.
And there they are ladies and gentlemen!
They look a little "pinched" at the moment because the elastic is so new but from experience I know it will relax a little with time. Also the linen looks way too flat, linen's supposed to have that lived in feeling and shouldn't really be ironed but I had to iron it to make sure the pieces fit together properly. The creases and crumpledness will come with time though, so don't you worry! I for one am pleased as punch over the result.
