good news and bad news

I'm home early from upholstery school today; the absence of garden photos has not gone unremarked (nor has my leaving you hanging about the state of the chairs); and the rogue calla at the bottom of the deck stairs is cracking me up. So I'm killing two birds with one photo. Plus, look, the euphorbia's starting to bloom! Always a happy time. So that's the good news.

Why did I skip out of class? That's the bad news. For me, anyway. I hit a dead end with the chairs. You see, this fabric is really lovely — very soft, nice color, great texture. And also: it's crap. It was practically disintegrating on me as I was sewing, so easily does it unravel at the cut edges. (Although, as I was sewing it, I felt immensely proud of myself and just wished my mom could see what I'd sewn.) But then when it came time to make cuts at the corners so it would fit down over the foam, everyone told me I needed Mr. Teacher to cut it because if I screwed it up, I'd have to start all over. So he cut it, and I got the front and back stapled in place and went to work on the sides and, um, the cuts were made too close the edges. So this week I showed up with a bottle of fray check and a lot of optimism. I got the sides stapled, doing what I could with the fray check, and pulling the fabric, and stapling as strategically as possible. And then just as I was getting really worried about what was going to happen to those corners as people sat in the chairs, I noticed that the fabric was already beginning to shred around the week-old staples on the back side.

Given that I don't think this fabric, lovely though it is, is doing the chair any real favors, and not wanting to put more time and effort into trimming the raw edge of this one, sewing and attaching and trimming the next one, and then not loving them and never letting anyone sit in them, I've decided to cut my losses. The chair came home with me. By next week, I'll remove all the staples from the seat cover, find and cut new fabric, and next week I'll begin again.

And I need it to be something totally different. Peacock blue satin? Painter's canvas with red welt? What?

p.s. If anyone wants one of those pups the Agave mediopicta alba birthed over the winter, let me know. I'll be happy to send you one, wherever you are.

Comments

[millie rossman kidd]

So sorry to hear your frustrated. Maybe you can do a pillow with that fabric after you take it off?

It does look nice in the garden. Outdoor room anyone? Put down one of thos eco "carpets" and perhaps pick up some nice Sunbrella outdoor-worthy fabric?

[dgstrong]

I was going to say the same thing. It looks great out there! And I always like those unlikely setups, like an upholstered chaise longue in the middle of a field.

[Karen Templer]

If we didn't already have more furniture in the garden than we do in the house, I might seriously consider it. But these are still needed in the living room. (At least in the near term.)

Millie, you're right that there's plenty of fabric there for pillows. Good call.