After I completed this chair, Wally walked into the room, saw it, and said “oh, wow, look! a chair!” Then he flopped all over it and stayed there for the better part of the evening. I guess that’s as good a review as I could have hoped for!
It’s made from a commercial pattern – McCall’s 9665. It was fairly easy to sew up, but the cover does not stay all tucked in there around the seat like it appears in the pattern envelope photos. The pattern envelope recommends purchasing the cushions needed for the chair, but the company that made the special-order cushions has gone out of business. Fortunately, the pattern also includes directions for making your own cushions.
The pattern recommends just stuffing the cushions with fiberfill, but I had leftover shredded foam from our giant beanbag, so I used that instead. It makes the cushions nice and sturdy. The other alteration I made was the zipper. Technically, the cover is supposed to have a massive zipper around three sides of the bottom so you can get the cushions in. Well, having just completed the giant beanbag covers and dealing with those massive zippers, I was not only all out of massive zippers, but I just plain didn’t want to be bothered. So I left one edge of the bottom piece open, inserted the cushions through that hole, and just sewed it up. If I need to wash the cover, I’ll just rip out the stitching. I can always replace with a zipper later if I need to.
I picked the fabric out a long time ago, and you can see my major design difficulty – I cannot mix patterns. One pattern, two solids for me! But I think it looks nice – kid-friendly without being kiddish. And, apparently, it’s quite comfortable.
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