Transform an Old Ottoman with a DIY Ruffled Slipcover

Is your living room ottoman looking a little worn out? Or maybe just the color or style of upholstery doesn’t match your décor any more. It may be tempting to chuck the old ottoman and buy another, but don’t send that ottoman to the trash heap or donation bin! You can transform that old worn out ottoman into a stylish new ottoman. Collective Gen has a tutorial showing how you can sew a custom fit ruffled ottoman cover.

You can purchase fabric yardage for this project, but depending on the size of your ottoman you might be able to use an old tablecloth just the author did in this post. If you have a large tablecloth in good condition, that’s a great idea to save money!

A ruffled ottoman like this would also be beautiful in a bedroom as a bench or extra seating. And when you choose fabric that matches your bedroom décor it’ll look like it was custom made for that room.

Because all ottomans are different sizes, there aren’t specific measurements for fabric cuts given in the tutorial. But there are step by step instructions explaining how to drape the fabric over the ottoman to cut the right size pieces for this project. That way your ottoman cover will have a custom fit.

And while you’ll be working with larger fabric pieces for this project, the sewing is actually fairly easy. It’s all basic straight seams and some simple gathered fabric panels. This is a project you could easily do in one weekend.

I love this project idea because I’m always in support of saving money and also keeping items out of the landfills. Especially large items like an ottoman or footstool!

Head over to Collective Gen for this ruffled ottoman slipcover sewing tutorial.

[photo credit: Collective Gen]

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I used to always teach people how to knit by giving them bulky yarn, teach the knit cast on and have them knit a scarf (like this garter stitch scarf). That’s still a great first project, but I acknowledge people might get bored knitting all that garter stitch before they can say they’ve finished their first knitting project. Plus they might not want to wear something that comes out a little wonky, as first knitting projects often do.

These days I’m more likely to recommend a garter stitch washcloth to a new knitter.

Washcloths are usually made with medium weight cotton yarn, which is one of the easiest yarns to find at big box stores and craft stores, and it’s usually inexpensive and comes in lots of fun colors. You only need one ball of yarn and one pair of needles to make one, so there’s not a lot of outlay in terms of supplies.

Everyone can use washcloths, and even if you drop stitches, add stitches, have weird tension issues or all of the above, it will still work as a washcloth. And you can keep that first thing you made to see how much progress you make in just a couple of projects.

And if you still want more garter stitch when it’s done, you can move on to a scarf (or even a sampler scarf if you want to try some new stitches).

That post linked above is a great one for a brand new knitter or someone who just needs a refresher, because it walks you through everything you need to know how to do to make it. There’s also a full video tutorial for people who would rather see moving images rather than still pictures.

What was the first thing you made when you learned to knit? Or if you’ve taught someone to knit, what first project did you give them? I’d love to hear about it!

Easy Washcloth Knitting Patterns

Knit a Sweet Ducky Washcloth

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