hello this is Joe Keenan with modern
homemakers and today I'm going to show
you how to fix your ugly couch so we're
gonna take you from ah my kids have
destroyed it my neck splutters over here
to AH my new couch that only cost me 60
bucks okay so first thing we're going to
do is we need to go shopping for
upholstery fabric you want to get
upholstery fabric because it's more
durable so I got mine on sale and I'm
only doing the bottom cushions of my
couch because nothing else has problems
so this whole project is going to cost
me like 60 bucks and I'll probably have
leftovers to do pillows I can't tell you
how much fabric to buy because I don't
know how big your couch is so you know
the all else fails take your lovely
cushion with you to the store and make
sure it's wide enough to go around so
first thing we need to do is we're going
to trim away so we have a smooth surface
so my scissors here so for me I am NOT
going to remove anything I don't have to
so I just want it to be smooth so you
cannot see when you get the new stuff on
there
this stuff's even tearing right off so
you can't see any uneven surfaces so
what you're going to do is lay it on top
of your new fabric high which I have up
here is my tablecloth for the day plop
slide down move it's yucky down there
and what we're going to do is leave
about an inch of space around the
cushion this is your seam allowance so
that much around servers going to cut
all the way around in the shape of the
couch
this is one of those projects where I
recommend you just use the floor in your
living room because it's a big cushion
it's a big prior
now what we're going to do we've got to
do something around the sides so we're
going to leave a little more extra space
on this one because we're going to hide
how we stick it to the couch on the
bottom couch is ugly on the bottom we
don't really care at all but it's going
to look like we've got to have enough
overlap to come past the sides and down
to the bottom so what I'm doing is yeah
that's more than enough space cuz I'll
be able to take this if you come in I'll
turn this you look from the side I've
got that inch of space that we need to
sell and then I've got a whole bunch
extra to be able to stitch to the bottom
because you don't want to see any of the
yucky how it attaches to the cushion
stuff so to figure out how much we need
here I'm gonna roll and move with the
couch then we'll drag it down and drag
it down oops
down one more no scissors down one more
and then we're gonna do some extra on
the end because you can always make
something shorter we all know you can't
make it long all right so that's enough
to get it up to the point and we're
going to keep that on there as extra so
we've got enough for that so I'm going
to do several inches extra as a buffer
for when I'm sewing it to the back at
this point couch cushion because we're
just making sure it stays straight with
itself
I'm going to pause and so you have to
watch me do this whole thing and we'll
come back in just a second
hi so we're back again and we've got
everything cut and this is the point
where if you have any wrinkles now is
the time to iron and I forgot to say you
don't have to wash your upholstery
fabric because you're never going to be
throwing it in the washer unless you up
my design in that zipper so you can
throw it in the machine so I actually
chose not to on purpose because I didn't
want to risk any color changes this
fabrics really expensive so double
checking that it's big enough it's
fitting over the thing and this if you
go all the way around with it real fast
you'll see that it's that more than
enough space to go all the way around so
now it's time to have some fun with Sony
and what we're going to do once again
we've got lots of extra for that width
around because we're going to trim it
when we get closer to the end because as
you round corners you might have some
give-and-take so what we're going to do
is we're going to take our square piece
and we're going to make sure that it
matches up with the right side of fabric
so good sides together matching up with
here and I'm going to hide for the way
my couch cushion is you're going to have
your ugly side so obviously the bottom
is ugly but I don't want my nice front
cushion that everyone's going to see to
have my seam on it I'm going to hide
that where they hid all the ugly stuff
in the back here so this is the where
we're going to do all the work back here
so for me that would be like right in
here
is the back of my cushion because it's
the longer so so that's why I'm gonna
start pinning and we're gonna go good
side a good side and we're going to pin
all the way around and if you can sew a
straight seam you can reupholster your
couch cushion so just painting all the
way around and I'll show you how to do a
corner and then we're going to pause
again so you don't have to sit here and
watch me pin all the way around so we're
at a corner here and I'm just going to
pinch it a little and turn it
and then keep on going and we'll be back
in a bit and I'll show you what it looks
like when it's all picked
okay so you've pinned all the way around
and I went ahead and I slipped it on my
cushion just like it's going to be so
that we can get rid of this big chunk of
excess I told you to have on there and
if you can see I fold it over the corner
where I started so we've got some give
in there and I'm going to meet this up
just where that would be and I'm going
to do the same that's out is that about
an inch and a half of extra so we're
going to clip that and try to just get
it off without making a big mess so
we're going to cheat and use our fabric
here since we've got stripes and we'll
go about the same distance down so
you'll have to measure if you don't have
this awesome stripy type pattern okay
save that for your scrap pile for
pillows and I'm going to go ahead and
pin that in the same position and that's
still leaving you with some excess just
in case you make a boo-boo or it doesn't
go right when you turn it or whatever
can always rip out that seam okay so at
this point you'll notice it fits on the
couch cushion but you know you've got
like a finger width of extra space on
the corners this is your chance to treat
this like a dress model and you were
going to custom size this baby down to
where you want it to be so fidget with
your pins you know you don't want it to
be tight because it is gonna have to fit
on there but you want it to fit so I'm
gonna just
and it should be mainly the corners that
you have issues with so I'm going to
continue all the corners and when I'm
done it should be you know reasonably
snug you shouldn't have a bunch of
billows and stuff in your fabric it
should lay flat so I'll be right back so
I've taken it off the cushion and you
can see them at the ugly backside and
I'm going to start on the second flap
here so they can end up there and you
were just gonna go all the way around
and you're gonna stitch right where you
put those pins because that is your
magic spot so we're gonna go all the way
around we'll be back in a little bit
okay so you took some time with your
sewing machine and you sew it all the
way around and if you had any parts at
this point where it didn't look right
when you slip it over the front that's a
chance like if you've got a big gap in
here or something go fix this now but
now what we're going to do is starting
from the pretty side on the front of
your couch not the ugly flap side we are
going to make sure that all of your seam
allowance is going to go down because if
you don't do that you might see it up in
here so we're gonna push that all down
towards that part we're going to go all
the way around the couch or all the way
around the cushion doing that and then
because we're in the front where it
matters most what you see we're gonna
line up and make sure it's good so and
then we're gonna pull and we're gonna
start pinning the bottom so I'm just
gonna throw a quick pin in here we'll
come around and we'll do some more
detailed stuff and a bit hang couch
cushions are big anyway so you can see
we're going to start pulling around now
one of the things we're going to have to
do is after we get it pinned in the
front we're going to take some there's
going to be some excess and we're going
to take it and make a nice seam with
that which will be hand stitching later
so I'm going to go ahead and put my pins
for that right there
and we're going to go all the way around
and do the same thing where we're
constantly pulling it tight and making
sure everything looks even from the top
so when we come back you should have all
this gone pin to the bottom and we don't
care what it looks like on the bottom
because no one's ever going to see it so
we back in a bit okay so you've got it
pulled tight all across the top probably
took you 15 minutes or more like it did
me and at this point your bottom still
really ugly we were just petting it to
get it out of the way to be the right
hotness if you will from the thing so
from the front we'll have fold it's kind
of like wrapping a present we folded it
to take our excess there and we've done
that you know not on the front but to
the side of the front on each spot and I
also did the same thing in the back
where we've got our flap of excess and
two of those so just play with it toilet
looks nice from the top and now comes
the fun part and that is where we have
to get some sort of flatness over here
so it really is just like wrapping a
present so we're just going to fold
things and tuck them and we're going to
turn it under so that it can't fray all
over the place see how I just turned
that under and I'm going to shift my pin
over here and there's just no easy way
to do this you're going to have to old
needle and thread style here and they
sell these really cool things called
upholstery needles and they're curved
see it's like a u and that makes it
really easy to come out but just to
prove that you don't have to have one of
those I've threaded just a normal needle
and what you're going to do is always
hiding your thread and very tediously
obviously you're going to go around and
you're going to make this whole thing
flat and you know you don't care if you
see this you just what I want it to
Ravel everywhere but very tediously
you're going to go through and remind
yourself that you're saving several
hundred dollars on a new couch cushion
so this is worth your time and just
tediously going through so
now you want to be really careful when
you're on the front and doing these ones
because you don't want to see the thread
so be really careful with your thread
choice and try to hide the thread as
much as possible so I'll come back
probably in a half an hour when I've got
this sewn and I'll show you what it
looks like completely done okay it was
hard work but you just saved a bunch of
money and your couch is done unless you
mean that one more cushion to do but I
am out of time today the baby is going
to wake up any minute so I'll give you
the sneak peek you can see how that
looks before but it's ugly on the bottom
and no Mike Harris cuz you're never
gonna see it and that's pretty much it
enjoy your new couch and don't let those
kids put their shoes on it because that
ruins it bye