I started sewing last spring. We had a lot of critters that raided our bird feeders, so I trap them, drive them out to the forest, and set them free. I had been using a towel to cover the cage during the drive but thought I could make one. Hard to believe a rectangle with an opening in the middle would be so difficult, but after three failed designs, I made one that worked. I trapped a raccoon that night and draped the cover over it so it wouldn't be exposed to the elements all night. The next morning, I found the raccoon had pulled the cover through the bars of the cage and torn the canvas fabric to pieces. That's where my sewing journey started.

I tried a couple more things, got a little better, and took on more difficult things. Over the past couple of months I've been trying to make boat seat covers for the swivel pedestal seats on my parent's pontoon boat. I'm not talking about upholstery, I'm talking about covers to protect the upholstery. It's a new boat and I wanted the covers to be presentable, so I started researching. Upholstery videos helped me with the design, blue jean videos and books helped me understand heavy fabric sewing, but when I found the International School of Tailoring a couple of weeks ago, that got me looking at my boat seat cover project in a new way.

Start with a form. Think about it. What shapes does it consist of? Do any of the shapes move? If my goal is to cover it with fabric, in a non-permanent way, how would I do it. Seemed easy enough; all I had to do is trace the seams, add a seam allowance, and sew it together. That got me close, but those pieces were meant to be permanently attached and applied to each part of the chair while it was disassembled. I wish I had found the tailoring school sooner.

The arm rests (arms) tilt up and down via a hinge on the side of the seat, kind of like shoulders. The seat back has a curved front but flat back, and the seat is like a padded desk chair, sitting on a swivel. Front, back, arms, and a seat...all it needs is a bespoke jacket! 🤣

I've babbled on too long already, so I won't bore you with the details, but the tailoring methods and theories have been a huge help. I'm almost done with the first one, then there's only four more to go. 😁👍 Oh, just in case you're curious, I'm making them out of bull denim and have bought a new sewing machine and a serger since I started the seat project. The only skill I have truly mastered is seam ripping. 😂

Just thought I'd share. 👍