There may be times when you find yourself with barely enough fabric for a project. I recently had firsthand experience with this very problem. Not having enough fabric to pull and staple can be very frustrating and result in a below par product. This week’s tip only takes about a minute to do and will save you from an unnecessary headache.
Last week, we were busy upholstering benches to send to all of the shops that will be hosting our book tour classes. For one of those benches, we chose this great cut velvet fabric by Gaetano Ponti in Dragonfly. Normally, when measuring for fabric, we like to add an additional 3 inches to each side of the measurement. As you can see, we were just a few inches shy of having this luxury. What’s a girl to do? Well, I will tell you!
Scraps of fabric come in handy for all kinds of things. In this case, I simply seamed a piece of scrap fabric to my bench fabric to create what we call a stretcher or a pull.
When upholstering, it is always better to pull fabric with your whole hand as opposed to pulling with two fingers. Pulling with your palm helps to pull the fabric more evenly and will give you a smoother finish. Having this extra stretcher gives you plenty of material to hang onto with the palm of your hand.
There you have it! Sometimes a little scrap of fabric can really save the day. I hope you get to use this nifty little trick soon. Stay tuned for more upholstery tips from yours truly!