The Story of How We Built a Couch

Once upon a time Jason and Chiara wanted to get a new couch. Their couches were old, ugly and abused and they figured it was time to upgrade. They searched throughout the land but could not find a couch that was what they wanted or in their price range. They desired a big, overstuffed couch that could serve also as a bed for guests and that would have plenty of storage--for their home was small. So, they came up with the brilliant plan to build their own--from scratch!
This tale has been one of blood, sweat and tears, over the course of 6 months. But it is a happy tale because we finally finished it! What an accomplishment! I feel as if a very heavy burden has been lifted and I can now continue on with my life! It was a great feat-one I wish never to repeat in my life!

So without further ado, through picture story telling, here is the story of how we built our very own couch:

First, the supplies we needed:

Wood-- we chose to use 1x1 to build the frame and plywood to cover the sides

Upholstery fabric--we chose a light brown chenille fabric from Jo Ann Fabrics. We used approx. 50 yards!

Batting--We used a brand called Dacron. This added additional cushioning to the sides of the couch

Foam-- Rather than buy the pre cut squares of foam, we ordered shredded foam-both regular and memory foam--online because it was much much cheaper!

Tools: Jason built a work table so he could use his circular saw and drill press. We also needed a regular drill, an electric staple gun ( for upholstering), wood glue and screws

All of our supplies!

How to Build a Cushion:

We came up with a template for all the cushion sizes, including 1/2 " seam allowance when sewing.

 I cut all the fabric pieces and sewed simple rectangles for the most part. Sewing on the zipper for each one was the hardest part for me.

 After sewing the cushions, we glued a layer of dachron in each one so that you wouldn't feel the lumpines of the shredded foam.

 The spray glue made the fabric bunch so we would have to stretch it out like below:

Then we put the pre-stuffed cushions outside to air out

Let the stuffing begin! We used a mixture of regular (blue) and memory foam(pink).

 Building the Frame:

 First, like mentioned before, Jason had to build a work table to do all of his drilling and sawing.

 Then came the assembly of each frame that would make up the different chairs in our sectional couch.

After building the frames, using screws and wood glue ( for extra strength) we put the plywood on

Look at all that room for storage! :)

After building the chair, it was time to put the dacron and upholstery on it to make it look like a real piece of furniture!

Each chair has a lid that is also dacroned and upholstered.

 

The corners were the hardest parts to do:

Sometimes our house got a little our of control! It was an ongoing battle to fight entropy!

But we managed to somehow stay sane through it all, taking periodic breaks throughout the course of the 6 months to enjoy what we had built so far.

 

The final part was to build the two platforms that would serve  two different functions: 1) the first platform was to allow people to sit comfortably on our unsually high chairs and 2) the second platform would allow us to use the couch as a bed. We ran out of fabric and had to wait almost a whole month for more to come before we could finish!

 

And that is the story of how we built our own couch!!!!

Enjoying the Season

Jason's Company Party

'Tis the season for Christmas parties, pretty lights and eating lots of yummy food!  Before I continue, I should add that I know this is NOT what Christmas is all about! It is a time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is what makes Christmas so wonderful. Whether or not people want to believe it, the foundation to all the extra sharing, caring and giving that goes on during this time of year is Jesus Christ. We give gifts, we share, we are kinder to people because we are following the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. It's a way to recognize and celebrate His birth.
         With that said, I will also add that I LOVE all the fun festiveness that comes with the spirit and season of Christmas. I love the parties, the goodies, the beautiful lights--I feel like there are so many things that go on during this time of year to celebrate the goodness of life. This week I went to our Relief Society Christmas party, the Bellevue Botanial Gardens to see Christmas lights, our Young Women Christmas party and then tonight some ladies in our ward had a cookies exchange. I know this may sound kind of busy to a lot of people, but I truly enjoy the opportunity to share  fun moments with friends.

Enjoying lots of Christmas goodies at the cookie exchange. This is my friend, Cheryl.

Enjoying the lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens

With our friends, Daniel and Fernanda.

The Pregnant Trio

Here we are, all of us great with child, two of us ready to pop any day, one of praying she'll make it through the end of the year so she can finish up some unfinished business with her calling and unfinished projects at home --cough, the couch!, cough cough! Stacey, to the right, is my secretary. She is due December 17th. She and her husband are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first child, a little girl. Molly, to the left, is my first counselor. She is due December 30th, two weeks after Stacey. She and her husband have twin little girls and are eager to welcome their first little boy. I am due January 12th, two weeks after Molly. I am the Young Women President right now and I'm kind of freaking out. Virtually our whole presidency is about to go MIA, off to "church calling maternity leave." Luckily I have an awesome 2nd counselor and two advisors who are really supportive and, the bonus, not pregnant! But oh, what fun it has been being pregnant with these awesome ladies! Good times!.

What A Wonderful Month!!

I love that it's December! Can I just say right now how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas time? The lights, our cute little Christmas tree, Christmas music, the yummy goodies I feel must be baked during this time of year, hot chocho, seeing family--I could go on and on! To add to the wonderfulness of this time of year Jason and I are anxiously getting our little home ready for our little Claire! Yippee! I am a nesting fiend right now. :0) We went to our 3rd birthing class last night and yes, I got to have my back massaged for like 30 minutes! It was glorious! Totally worth the money! To add to the excitement, we are almost done with a VERY big project we've been working on. I am going to be very happy and relieved when it's done! Stay tuned in the upcoming week for a blog post and LOTS of pictures of this project.
Have a great month everyone!

Birthing Class 101

So Jason and I started taking birthing classes last week and they have been...interesting. It's a series of 4 2.5 hour classes taught over the course of 4 weeks, every Thursday. They could easily compress the 2 and a half hour class into 45 minutes, but then maybe we wouldn't feel like we were getting our money's worth? We have learned some important tidbits of information like the 3 phases of labor, what to expect from contractions, how to decide what pain relief you want ( if any) and expectations of the spouses. But the best part this last time was when we got to practice breathing during  contractions. All the ladies in the room got into some comfortable position and then their husbands had to massage their shoulders or back. It was great! We were supposed to try a few different positions and every time Jason had to keep massaging me. So thats why you go to a birthing class! That, by far, as been the most, eh, helpful and benefitting part. ;0)

My latest creation

So I started this way back in August and I intended to give it to my friend Molly as a baby shower gift. And then I got lazy. And I stopped working on it. Until two weeks ago when I found out the exact date of her shower and realized "oh crap! I gotta finish!" This was one heck of an intense baby afghan to crochet, but I think the finished product turned out well. Don't you? Note to self: don't ever do this one again! Took WAY too much time. But the look on her face was worth it; I think she liked it. :)