Hello, Ribbon Retreat readers! I am so excited to be back with another installment in my room makeover series. I think that the key to taking a room from nice to fabulous is the details, don’t you? Attention to detail is so important in every aspect of life, and decor is no exception. While envisioning my son’s room I laid out in my mind where each “play zone” would be.
The dress up zone, the reading nook, and the kitchen play zone, which could also double as an art table. I spotted a cheap red end table and darling colorful stools at Ikea, and when I went to pick my son up from the Ikea daycare/play zone (which is brilliant, by the way, and every store should have one!) I spotted these stools with cute covers on them that make them look like mushrooms. I decided to do something similar with Dr. Seuss fabric to personalize the kitchen. So, today I am going to attempt to teach you how to make simple stool covers for these stools or any stool that you may have at home!
If your stool is similarly sized to mine (12 inch in diameter) you really only need one fat quarter per stool, but I wanted to mix up the colors some, so I ended up cutting up three fat quarters from the Green Eggs & Ham fat quarter set. If you want your stool covers to be solid and/or the same you can order the fabric not in a set here. You will also need thread and 1/8 inch wide elastic.
Start by measuring your stool. My stool’s seat was 12 inches in diameter, but stretching from underneath the seat, straight across, and under again was 16 inches. My fat quarter of fabric was about 22″ wide, so that is the size that I worked with. I began by folding the fabric in half like a triangle and cutting it into a perfect square, which it wasn’t quite. Then I folded my square in half and cut down the middle diagonally. I used scissors and didn’t stress out about perfection since I knew the project didn’t need to be perfectly exact.
Next I folded my two large triangles in half again and cut them down the middle, so that I now had four triangles, as shown in the pictures below.
I repeated that process with the other two fabrics. Now take two triangles and lay them right sides together and pin. Sew them along one edge using a very small seam.
Open the triangle and iron the seam flat. Now lay out the other two triangles to ensure you are going to have the final layout that you are hoping for and repeat the pinning and sewing procedure.
Once you have sewn and pressed flat the seam of the second set, carefully pin the now two large triangles together. Pin the center first so that the seams will line up perfectly. Sew.
Now I simply “eyed it” and used a pencil to sketch out a circle on the back of my fabric and cut. Once again, I knew this didn’t need to be absolutely perfect since the elastic would be gathering it all in and clinging to the stool anyway.
Now press the center seam flat with your iron and then go around the edge of the circle, folding and ironing, to create a casing for the elastic. As you can see, my casing was imperfect, bumpy and uneven. It was about 1/2 inch, but I didn’t stress about it since it would be hidden and scrunched up under the stool. I love how forgiving this project is, especially for a kid’s room!
Sew the casing down, being careful to stay close to the edge so there is plenty of room for the elastic, and LEAVING AN OPENING FOR THE ELASTIC that you will sew shut later.
Now measure around the legs of your stool. My stool’s legs were about 30 inches around, so I cut 20 inches of 1/8 inch wide elastic.
Time to turn to an old tried-and-true scrunchie-making technique. That’s right, I said scrunchie-making! In the seventh grade my mom taught me to sew scrunchies as my first-ever sewing project. I made about a million for my friends and I, and then I didn’t really sew much after that until after my kids were born. It is fascinating how times change, is it not? Anyway, my scrunchie-making technique: safety pin one end of your elastic to the fabric so it can’t sneak into the casing and get “lost.” Then put a small safety pin on the other end and wiggle and scrunch it through until it comes out the other end, as shown below.
If you are using a thicker elastic you may want to sew the ends together to secure them, but since I was using such thin elastic I simply knotted it tightly and trimmed off the ends.
Now sew the opening shut, stretching the elastic out with your fingers so that the fabric will lay flat while you sew.
You are done! Go pop that cover onto your stool! I hope you are thrilled with your result, because I know I am! My son giggled and danced around when he saw his new “kitchen area.”
I personalized the space a bit farther by using another fat quarter, cut in half and hemmed, to make curtains for his little kitchen, which we found on Craigslist some time ago. I love how colorful the whole area is. This room is going to be ridiculously wild and colorful! Eeek!
See you next week for another colorful installment!
Thank you Sarah! I love these adorable stools and what a great addition they are to your little fella’s room. Fabric is a great way to transform something old or drab into something new and FAB! Thank you again for sharing your incredible talent with us today!
Do you have an old stool that needs to be redone? Check out our wonderful selection of fabric. We have a great array of colors and designs that will match any room you are redoing and giving a face lift to. Home decor projects, like these cute stool covers, are so much fun! Visit these other home projects for more decorating inspiration…
Fabric Covered Storage Bins, Fall Rosette Wreath, Ribbon Garland, Pillow Upscale, Fabric Mod Podge Star.
What is your favorite home decor makeover project?
Please share. I would love to hear all about your home decor transformations!
Happy Creating & Happy Decorating!
