First off I would like to wish you a Happy Saturday! I have been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. Why? Sometimes you need a weekend without anywhere to be or anything to do (except projects of course.)

I wanted to share another thrift store barrel chair update – this project has actually been going very fast…when I work on it that is. I probably could have done the whole thing over a weekend but I guess I am on the 3 month plan?

So I have decided to pseudo slip cover then upholster the chair, this was how it was originally done anyway. I found this fabulous silver quilted curtain panel at BB&B a while ago that was marked down to $6 for this tiny like stain (stain that washed right out.)

*If you are trying to find fabric never underestimate the power of premade items, it may end up cheaper than any length of fabric. Think curtain panels, shower curtains, table cloths, etc.

My panel was 120″ long… you can’t find nice fabric for under $2 a yard (or if you can please share your secret!)

Anyway silver pattern means that cutting out my pieces will be a little trickier.

1. I have to be aware of the pattern, or your eyes will alert you to something very wrong when yo are all done.

2. I have to cut all my pieces in the same direction (even if there was no pattern, any kind of shiny fabric has a “nap” and if you change the direction of your pieces the you might as well have you used 2 different colors of fabric)

This applies if you are making clothing as well – so general fabric matching tips!

Anyway I had my pattern pieces laid out and I found where the widest section of the chair was (closer to the top) and drew a line across my pieces at this spot. This is where you want your pattern to match. When I say match I don’t really care about what it looks like at the seams, you can’t have a perfect match to the actual motif if you have any shaped seams so don’t stress yourself out!

What really matters is that this line/point is on the same area of the motif  for each pattern piece – visually you will see your seams but there will be a continuous run horizontally of your pattern across this chosen point (and for the most part it will fall into place elsewhere.)

does that make sense? think if you had a striped fabric and the stripes were going horizontal – you would want your red stripe to match with the red stripe at the seam otherwise complete chaos would be unleashed on your eyeballs.

I know the motif on my fabric is a little hard to see but it was pretty easy, I could draw a straight line through the diamonds and match it with my straight line on my pattern pieces.

If you are working on clothing, again pick some of the most prominent areas to use as a standard match point such as your bust line or hips.

*I know I previously said not to worry about what happens to the motif at your seam but I lied, just don’t think you need to try to match one half of a flower with the other half (or whatever your fabric may look like.) I would however just keep an eye on the surroundings of your seam, you may have a large motif and it can look a little awkward if you end up with the same piece of the motif close together.  Practice Practice, and you will get it.