Crafty and Colds

Young M is sick again. This has been the worst year for colds & flu, I swear. My poor friend J has been sick since early January and young M just keeps getting coughs, one worse than the next. So he is lying on the couch sipping tea and we are noticing that the extraordinarily expensive Mucinex DM does not, in actual fact, work. Of course it is true that no cold medicine really works but time, yet hope springs eternal. I stayed home from work today myself to nurse a sore throat and have sympathy for young M and, which is more important, to go to Foam & Fabrics and launch myself on another mad crafting whirl by reupholstering my couch.

Do you, uh, know how to reupholster a couch? my naysaying friends have been asking me doubtfully. No, of course not. Like all the best ideas, this one came to me late at night - that sleepy inspiration that says, hey, I bet I can reupholster my couch with cheap fabric, spray adhesive and a staple gun! So far I have the fabric and I borrowed S' sewing machine, because while I'm at it I also intend to make some pillows and recover the red chair. Foam and Fabric is fabulous, by the way. I had never been there before and I immediately fell in love with the place - giant bolts of fabric, strange lumps of foam, ancient salesladies - what's not to love? Fabric stores are like crack to me, though, and it's best if I just maintain the willpower to keep away. I got 5 1/2 yards of nifty upholstery stuff for the couch and a big hunk of fake fur to go under my bed for the dogs to sleep on (maybe they won't eat it. Maybe.) and some great stuff for the red chair.

I did the red chair already tonight with this utterly fabulous gray and black cow print fake fur. You must understand, I am of the quick and dirty school of crafting: I folded the fur to about the right size, ran two seams up the other ends, stuffed the (partially chewed up) foam pillows into this makeshift pillowcase and then, holding the pillow up with my leg, somehow maneuvered another seam along the other end and hey, presto, chair cushions recovered! Except not quite, because halfway through the last seam on the second cushion the damn bobbin ran out and my sewing skillz are not up to first filling and then threading a bobbin - I'm going to need S for that.

And, it turns out that 5.5 yards is not quite enough for the whole couch. I put a big piece over the back and it looks great - I'll glue it later or maybe just leave it hanging. Then I need to do the arms and I'm out of fabric - I put aside enough to cover each cushion. HOWEVER, I do have this other tapestry fabric I got years ago that sort of but not really goes with the stuff I'm using on the back. The question is, do I do the arms different or one side of the cushions different?