Sunday, January 29, 2012

Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge: It's Done!

The final post is here - yay! Almost a month ago, I joined the Imagine the Impossibilities challenge. It was a push, and encouragement, to take on a project that challenged you, that either you've always wanted to do, put off for awhile, or that you were ready to jump into. This baby definitely took me a few weeks - a lot longer than expected - and certainly challenged my patience, motivation, and apparent upholstery skills. Check out the progress here: the beginning & the update. Below you'll find a fun photo trail of all the craziness that this bench became - fun times! I learned a lot (I should own a staple gun, I should take an upholstery class maybe, staple gunning is quite an arm workout, and piping is not easy without a sewing machine).

Heeeere we go!
In the beginning...

As far as I got on Day 1. I mean, she took FOUR hours to strip!

But oh! Those legs! Aren't they gorgeous?

Anotheer lesson learned: I probably shouldn't have done the seat first. True story. But it was easiest, in mny defense, and I wanted to be sure I could actually do the whole thing!
I'm thankful that as I've taken on these random upholstery projects that I learned to take apart pieces and use the old fabric as your pattern - genius.
I learned why white sewing pencils came in handy...
                                  
And am not ashamed that I started all the piping processes with a glue gun. It IS still my best friend, after all.
If you look at the update entry (see above), I hand-sewed the pieces that drape the arm (three separate pieces, including the piping) and the panels that cover the long length underneath the seats. That part definitely took me the longest, because I was so overwhelmed and intimidated by this project, that I worked on them for almost two weeks! Whew.

So as I came to the end of this baby, I decided I was over the piping - the black was just boring to look at, I kind of messed up the seams at the corners, otherwise I wouldn't have done the corner piping at all. But then I found scraps of the headboard I had made and decided that would be a little fun flair to add, and to boot, I could use that to wrap the corners without doing piping also! Win! What do you think?
I'm pretty happy with how these corners turned out. What do you think?
Ta-da!
And so you don't have to scroll back up to the top... here you have the before and after of this very, very tedious but oh so lovely project!

Black, faded, boring, and torn... to white, glossy, black and floral patterned!

PS. Once I finish re-arranging my bedroom, and therefore have room for this beauty at the foot of my bed,
I'll post another photo! Excited!

16 comments:

  1. So lovely! And I cannot believe that you hand sewed ... I'm lost without my sewing machine!

    Love the piping and the refinished legs and the scraps from the headboard that you incorporated into the bench. And it will look so lovely at the end of your bed ...

    Linda
    itallstartedwithpaint@gmail.com

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    1. I can't believe I hand-sewed either, in retrospect! Thanks so much! - it's not as great (up close) as I'd like it to be, but the scraps fixed a lot of my mess-ups. I'm pretty proud.

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    2. Yes, scraps and ribbon is the caulk of the sewing world!

      Thanks so much for joining up and linking up!

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  2. Wow - you go with your upholstering bad self! I can't sew a button so this is very impressive. So glad you are joining our challenge!
    Kelly

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    1. Thanks Kelly! I am pretty excited about it, especially with all the sewing involved. Thanks for hosting! :)

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  3. SIMPLY AMAZING!!!!!!!! you sure nailed this project! So very glad that you joined in our challenge! The end results are spectacular!

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  4. I am IN LOVE with it. Your little fabric detail around the legs is just perfect! And there should NEVER be any glue gun shame! I'm looking forward to seeing you all linked up tomorrow! Great project!!

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    1. Thanks Karah! Definitely no glue gun shame, I just got a little sloppy at some points! :) She's all linked up!

      Megan

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  5. I had to come back and say THANKS FOR LINKING! So fun to see the project again, you know I love it!! Thanks again Megan!!

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  6. Great transformation! I can't wait for the final reveal! Looks like you have conquered your "impossible." Thanks for joining the party!
    blessings,
    karianne

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  7. Gosh! Aren't you clever. That bench is just beautiful. Congratulations on making your impossible possible! And making it so lovely too!!!

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    1. Thank you! Lots of work... I love how it turned out. :)

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  8. Thanks Misty! I'm pretty proud of it - and I love your transformation! Looked like a lot of work.

    I followed back, for sure!

    <3 Megan

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  9. Megan, your bench is gorgeous! I helped my mom reupholster a couch when I was little (well, I my job was more in the lines of providing moral support), and I remember how tedious it was to sew the piping, pillows, and cushions all by hand. Kudos to you for taking on this project! I love the detail of the black and white fabric on the corners. It really makes the bench unique. This will look FABULOUS at the end of your bed!

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    1. Thank you! It definitelyw as tedious but i'm pretty happy with how it turned out! And I'm glad everyone's loved the black and white corners so much - I was second-guessing it (and still sometimes do when I look up at it), so thanks for the positive feeedback!

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