ULTRA SUEDE SLIPCOVERS

I did these slipcovers for a client in Rancho Santa Fe, though looking at the pictures and the colors in the house, you might think they live in Boca Raton or Palm Beach.

The good thing about ultra suede is it is indestructible.  It is made of polyester and can be washed without shrinkage.  It doesn't wrinkle.  It is soft like suede.  The not-so-good- thing about it is the cost.  The fabric for this sectional was $90 per yard and I think I used about 45 yards.  Not inexpensive, to say the least.  There is plenty of fake ultra suede out there that is just as durable and at a fraction of the cost.  Those fabrics are not as thick as the real thing but look almost as good.  And they are much easier to work with, at least as far as pinning it goes.

Sewing ultra suede is easy.  Pinning it is not.  I meant to take my leather thimble when I went to cut this job, but I forgot it.  Big mistake.  Not even half way through cutting, I had to ask my client for band-aids.  It is really hard pushing pins through the fabric and it got to the point that my thumb was so sore I needed the band-aid for extra padding and to help me be able to get the pins in.  I kept thinking, oh this is going to be a pain to actually make, but the needle in my sewing machine was fine.  It was just my poor little thumb that had trouble.