Is it possible to stencil an upholstered sofa?

By leslieinbham

I have this sofa with a wicker frame and natural-colored cotton twill upholstery on the cushions and interior. I have these three redheaded little boys with the expected age-appropriate tendencies to spill/paint/draw/leak...

So, like I said, I have this sofa.

I've covered it for a good long time now, but lately I've been sort of cleaning the upholstery with my rug cleaner upholstery attachment thingie. Most of the really gucky stuff comes out but there remains many different shades of that there natural-color twill depending on god-knows-what-or-why. So it's clean-ish and I am bloody tired of trying to cover it (don't let the good folks at Surefit fool you--NOTHING is sure fit when three year old twins are involved) and so I'm wondering if I can stencil a pattern on the actual upholstery that will, well, give the vague impression that the upholstery is supposed to look like that. Take the edge off. Hide the worst of the transgressions. Not even an all over pattern, I'm all about hit or miss (did I mention the twins? and the other kid? it's a lot of juice). Am just wondering if this is practical and relatively un-crappable. I have textile medium that works w/acrylic paints, but what is the most effective way to do this? I'm thinking of sticking with a neutral palette --rather like the stains, but in a coherent pattern that might fool the eye into not noticing the stains so much. Does that make any sense at all? I'm supposing I need stencil adhesive for whatever I choose, but are there any upholstery-specific things/tricks I will require? I didn't want to use stamps, mostly b/c I am better w/a stencil and I was thinking I could get a more uniform look w/a stencil, but tell me if you think otherwise.

Yup. Fully aware that I'm babbling. Am so tired of gonzo-childproofing I could scream. You would not believe how I had to pimp up my baby gate to keep small people away from my sharp and heavy and adhesive stuff. I'm not even sure it works, but the cats keep trying to clear the gate and bouncing off of it and both husband and I have found that we can no longer climb over it w/o big owies in the sensitive bits. Not that we seem to need them much anymore, but that's a whole 'nother project.

Forgive my prattle. What must I do to make this turn out okay? (should have asked that same exact question before filling house w/small redheaded juice-squirters, I suppose...ah well)

What do you think?

Always appreciative,

leslieinbham

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February 28, 2008

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About: In another life I was an 8th grade English teacher in a steel mill community. ...

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ModHomeEcTeacher

February 29, 2008

Hey, I do upholstery and I wouldn't post pictures of some of my pieces that are tucked away in bedrooms, never re-done and always an eye-sore. Cobblers children, you know.

O.K. Go for the camoflage with stencilled leaves--use a palatte with one and two shades lighter so that even if the stains show through, it will look intentional. Put those kids behind the baby gate and just paint away. Make a tape of yourself periodically saying "I know honey, I'm almost done." and they should be good for, say, maybe 10 minutes. Good luck and be sure to give us an after picture.

leslieinbham

February 28, 2008

No, I can't imagine a sofa that even vaguely resembled new (much like myself) but here's some more info--I've already removed and washed the six cushion covers. They go back on, but tragically match the interior upholstery in palette. I've made new 8th grade home ec-looking covers for the sofa cushions out of an old slipcover that got smart with me on the wrong day, e.g., any day and they'll do. At any length, it taught the other slipcovers a very important lesson indeed. I've dyed (sp?) slips before w/good results, but it was a teastain sort of thing over a pattern (to dull the very VIVID grandmother sunporch pattern of last second hand sofa--rip) but I think that if I can figure something for the interior back, sides and that part the cats always claw, then I can make the cushions covers work, or even make some new no-more-stylish-than-the-last-ones. I have no pics of naked sofa, but will see what I can do. Have many glamour shots of sofa in variety of slipcovers in various stages of slipping...I use C-clamps to hold them on. Now, you know that just ain't right.

Am envisioning something sort of leafy, just here and there (over worst neighborhoods of the piece) because, well, I'm really into leaves right now and because leaves will be roughly the same size and shape as average-sized 3 year old unbathed hands, don't you think? All about camo.

Keep thinking that posting pic of uncovered sofa is not unlike posting a swimsuit pic. Children will breed that sort of neurotic thinking in a person. No lie.

thanks so very very much and please continue to ruminate on this rescue.

leslie

ModHomeEcTeacher

February 28, 2008

Hey Leslie, Loved your dilemma. Being the upholstery fixer and queen of the quick fix, I will give you my advice, but I need to know more. Are all the cushions and stained upholstery removable (loose cushions) If yes: You could remove cushion covers, try to dry clean-don't wash them, they'll never fit back on. You could dye the cushion covers-if it's 100% cotton, the dye will take. If not, it may be streaky, which wouldn't be the end of the world. If some upholstery that is stained is not on a removable cushion--go for it with the paint and stencil. Acrylic paint mixed with textle medium should be fine. Find a cool pattern, possibly a wallpaper or fabric--make copies of it and cut stencils out of that plastic stencil material (available at Michaels or Hobby Lobby) You could even take a pattern like to Kinkos and have them enlarge it on their Gigandis enlarger and you could transfer the pattern onto your fabric if you can remove the covers and lay them on a flat surface. Handpaint the pattern from there. The sofa will never look like new, but you can perhaps get a couple more years of use from it. If you would post a picture of your sofa, I know I could think of more ideas to rescue it.