Mum Who Loved £1,000 Velvet Sofa Makes Her Own For Just £38
- Becky Johnson, 29, was dreaming of a £1,000 crushed velvet sofa
- Rather than splurging, she made her own
- All she needed was some material from ebay and some Wonderweb
All of us know the feeling of shopping online only to find the furniture of our dreams for a sky-high price.
However, when one mum found herself dreaming of a particular sofa, she decided to make it herself for a fraction of the price.
Becky Johnson, 29, a mum of one from Brighton, fell in love with a crushed velvet sofa she found online - but it cost over £1,000.
However, rather than splurging on the expensive item, Becky decided to revamp her existing sofas using £38 material she found on ebay - and they look fantastic.
Becky told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "I’ve been wanting a crushed velvet sofa for a long time and after looking online I just couldn’t afford over £1,000 for one.
"There was nothing wrong with the sofas I already had - they just needed updating to match the rest of my decor.
"I looked on ebay and searched crushed velvet material and thought £38 for 10 metres was a good price.
"l already had a staple gun indoors as I do a lot of crafting in my spare time anyway. So I thought ‘well, if I spend £38 and it doesn’t come out ok then I haven’t lost a massive amount’.
"I made sure to cut the fabric to size before applying it to the sofa and left about eight centimetres of extra fabric either side of the fabric.
“This was so that once I stapled the fabric into place, I could then use the extra fabric to wrap over the staples.
"I went on to Wonderweb them into place using an iron.
“I had an old sheet over the fabric before I ironed it into place to fasten it, as the iron would ruin the fabric and this gave a really tidy staple-free look.
"The whole new look cost £38 with a little bit of material left over which I’m going to use to make some small cushions to match the sofa.
"I found while doing the upholstering that I wanted to make sure I had a tidy finish, so after I’d done all the stitching, I left myself a little bit of material about one centimetre wide to place over the stitches.
"I used Wonderweb to secure it into place and then showed a clean finish with no stitches showing.
“You can use fabric glue as well but I stick with Wonderweb because I was worried fabric glue would make lots of mess.
“I already had loads of Wonderweb at home but you can get it from ebay or Amazon.
"I did the same to hide the staples on the arms and the back and it’s still secure with no sign of coming loose and that’s after two weeks of people sitting on it.
“If you want to do the same, I’d also advise making sure you apply a lot of pressure while putting the staples into the frame as without this it won’t hold and the staples will just pop out.
“Also, have plenty of staples before you start as you will be needing them - I used about eight strips of staples for a three-seater sofa.”
Becky found the project to be a great distraction during the lockdown, and is chuffed that she has saved hundreds and hundreds of pounds while still getting her dream crushed velvet sofa.
"This helped me during lockdown as I ordered all the material delivered to my home, including the Wonderweb, so I didn’t have to go anywhere and it was quick delivery,” she adds.
"Within two days I had the material and was ready to go.
“It took me about three days to complete with doing bits here and there with a small child to pre-occupy and work around.
"I loved doing it because I felt sane for those few days and didn’t think when' will this lockdown end?' as the days just seemed to blend into each other and I lost count of what day and hour it was.
“My little one loved seeing me change it and kept saying ‘mummy, it’s beautiful’.
“The main advice I’d give is just to go for it! I never in a million years thought it would come out the way it did but it was so easy and I loved doing it.
"Now I have a brand new looking sofa for £38. You don’t need to spend thousands to get something you have your heart set on.”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “I love a money-saving hack, and the crushed velvet trend isn’t going anywhere.
“Becky’s sofa transformation is an ingenious way of replicating a pricey sofa for less than £40!
“She has saved hundreds of pounds and got the sofa of her dreams, all thanks to ebay and a little DIY.”
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