Done with My Rocking Chair

I was Halfway to My Rocking Chair just under two weeks ago, and now I'm done.

I top stitched all the seams so they wouldn't unravel when I washed the panels.  I don't usually prewash anything, but I wanted to be sure the fabric was shrunk before I made the slipcovers.  It came out all rumply and didn't entirely flatten out after ironing.

The cushions were an odd shape, so I needed to make patterns.  I taped brown paper together until I had a sheet large enough, then traced around the cushions, being careful to keep the pen perpendicular to the paper.  The cushions are 4.5" tall, so I divided that by 2, added a 1/2" seam allowance, and that gave me my cutting allowance. 

To add the zipper, I sewed the front to the back panel, which made a long rectangle.  On the seam line, I used a basting stitch where the zipper was going to be, and a regular stitch going out to the raw edges.  I laid the zipper face down along the seam line on the inside, and stitched around it.  Then I removed the basting stitch, folded the rectangle in half, right sides together, and machine stitched the remaining three edges.

That was my plan, anyhow.  I had two variances:  

1. For the first cushion, I forgot to remove the basting stitch before sewing the slipcover shut, so I couldn't get at the zipper to unzip it.  Uh oh.  I had to rip out a hunk of a side seam to get at it.
2. The back cushion had quite a curve along the top and side edges, so I had to put the zipper on the bottom.  The next day I realized there was no way that opening was going to be large enough to push the cushion through, so I cheated and left the top open, put the cushion inside, then stitched it shut by hand.  This is exactly why I wanted to use zippers in the first place, so I wouldn't be resorting to this trick of "permanently" sewing a cover over a pillow.  

Oh well.  The whole experience was much less than enthralling, so I threw my patterns out and have no plans to make more slipcovers.  Next time I want a different look, I'm going to throw a big quilt over the chair.

Here is what I've been calling Side A.

And this is Side B.

The idea was to mix and match the two sides, so let's look at a few.

Side B back and seat, Side A footstool.

Side B back and footstool, Side A seat.

Side B back, Side A seat and footstool.

Side A back and seat, Side B footstool.

With the completion of this rocking chair, my UFO projects are down to just one.  And guess what?  I'm not going to work on it until who knows when.  I was so good this year, working through most of them and I want to work on NEW things.

This wore me out.  I'm going to go sit a spell.