Believe it or not, friends, I used to own the same identical sofa pictured above, picked up at a thrift store nearly 15 years ago for a song.
It was already beaten up when I got it and became much, much more so when we got dogs. Here's Michael lounging on it a decade ago. Look at those lustrous curls!
Back then, before I ever dreamed of sewing celebrity, my apartment was done up in true mid-century swinging bachelor pad style. I do sometimes miss my aubergine walls...
Anyway, being the thrifty person I am, when the sofa was finally too beat up even to sell on Craigslist and was about to go to sofa heaven, I stripped most of the leather off the cushions, and I've had the scraps in my fabric stash ever since. This was a high-end sofa in its day and the leather is soft and supple. I've been meaning to make something with it and now I know what: a leather newsboy cap!
Ever the prescient sewer -- I even kept the covered buttons!
I've practice-stitched on pieces of this leather many, many times and it has never given my machine problems. Can I actually make a wearable garment? We'll see!
This is what I'm aiming for:
Readers, some questions:
1) Have you ever turned old furniture into new fashion accessories?
2) Would you consider a project like this to be upcycling (since the sofa was headed for the landfill), recycling (since I'm not working with actual garbage), or the catch-all, re-purposing? I want to get my terms right.
3) Don't you think Michael should grow his hair out again?
To the sewing machine, Batman!
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