my big project was completed last week and here are the photos to prove it.
on the left you see the fabrics i used, gleaned from the sale tables at vogue in evanston. i hadn't been "new fabric" shopping in years and found this old fave a bit diminished from it's former glory. but the sale tables rule. on the right you see the finished slipcover. and pillow covers (with zippers!).
what i learned (the hard way) on this project:
:: sale fabrics are awesome deals but can be lacking in certain important aspects. mine came with dry clean only info but no fiber content. expect some surprises if you buy the bolt. this buff colored heavy ultrasuede-ish fabric was unrolled in the back room for measuring before i bought it. when i opened it at home i discovered about a yard of staining on the wrong side at one end and lots of damaged selvedge. at this point i wasn't too worried... i have a lot of experience working around these kinds of issues from years spent using second hand materials almost exclusively. but i would definitely examine the goods prior to purchasing next time.
:: measure. measure. measure. then trust your gut. in all of the research i did before shopping for fabrics the estimates for yardage seemed excessive to me. one site calculated a total of 12.5 yards of 50 inch wide fabric were needed for a two cushion love seat, another calculated 19 yards. having only worked with the fabric i had on hand in my own slipcover projects, i was a novice at estimating how much to buy in advance. but i was certain i'd used less than 8 yards on my own love seat at home. the bolt pictured above measured 11 3/4 yards at 54 inches wide. i crossed my fingers and bought it. before i cut it i was very worried, but at least 2 yards were left over at completion.
:: if you stink at math this project will be daunting. if things don't fit properly, snip out the seams, remeasure, trim and sew again. forge ahead. if i can do it, you can do it.
:: even tho it might make good sense in theory, do not use upholstery fabric for this project. it is too heavy for the manipulations necessary in slipcover construction. use a canvas or denim weight cotton instead. it is durable but still soft enough to bend to your will.
:: use a new denim needle in your sewing machine. this makes the stitching so much easier.
this possibly useful information comes to you exclusively from the diy queen of learn from my mistakes.
hope it's helpful :)