It took me almost three months, but I finally finished sewing a slipcover for the parsons chair in my office/craft room! I used this tutorial. Technically, I didn’t even finish it myself – my mom added the “skirt” piece for me after I sewed it on wrong TWICE. The skirt also came out too short. But the slipcover is done and on and it’s good enough for me, so…
I bought the parsons chair on sale a couple of years ago, and my cat Peach quickly made it her personal scratching post. At first I tried to stop her, but I’m already vigilantly protecting all my other furniture from her claws, and honestly, I gave up on this one. Besides, I figured I would want to change the look later anyway. This fabric is from the outdoor section at Hancock and I think it’s perfect for the room!
My other cat, Gandalf (who prefers clawing carpet over furniture), loves to hang out with me while I sew. He came right over to give the newly re-covered chair a head-butt of approval. ♥
After taking these pictures, I had to cover the chair in clear contact paper to stop the cycle of destruction. It still looks fine, but isn’t the most fun to sit on. I’ll probably replace the contact paper with vinyl or something. Fellow pet owners, any better furniture-protecting ideas?
One more project done. Yay! :)
Ooh, you did a really nice job! I don’t know what to tell you regarding your chair, though; Pickles (the others do too, but not to the same extent) claws our couch to no end.
What do you use on your other furniture to get them to stop scratching?
Well, the entire backs, arms, and lower portions of my living room couches and easy chair are covered in clear sheet vinyl from the fabric store, with accents of clear packing tape. :\ I don’t like the 1950s sitting-room look, but it was either that or let the cats shred my very expensive purchase. Thankfully they don’t go to town on the cushions, or really any other furniture besides this chair. Oh and I’ve tried the fabric spray that supposedly repels them. It didn’t make any difference.
That’s not very encouraging, heh. Thankfully our purchases of nice furniture is way down the road!
declawing? I’ve never owned a cat…I used to really want a cat, and if my husband wasn’t allergic I might have still considered it…until now. I think you (and your friend above) just talked me out of ever getting a cat. I have no idea how you would stop that…especially since it sounds like they never outgrow that behavior. :( My dog used to destroy things when he was a puppy but he outgrew that phase.
On another note..your slip cover looks awesome! And I think it’s great that your mom can help you with those projects. I remember your mom being super talented with a sewing machine. :)
Yeah, they don’t outgrow sharpening their claws because they have to do it. And declawing is expensive and can be painful to the cat. Between my family and mil who lives with us, we have four cats, but it’s only one who really claws, and it’s only our really ratty blue couch. She doesn’t really bother our other furniture. Another of our cats occasionally sharpens his claws on the rug, but it’s not a nice rug and it’s not very often. I think for our cats if we get a clawing post, that’ll solve our problem. *crosses fingers*