While I was designing my pattern as described in my previous post, I was experimenting with some cheap fabric that I did actually buy from Spotlight as practice material.  I wanted to iron out (mind the pun) any problems by sewing some cushion covers with this practice material first before getting the real fabric design custom printed.

There was much to enjoy about making the cushion covers for the couch.  Moving on from plywood to work with another material, attempting to sew for the first time since I was in school, sourcing foam and finding a suitable fabric with a pattern that would match the frame.  I knew the cushions would make or break the whole piece of furniture.  I also wanted to explore the possibilities of digital printing onto fabric.

Plywood has a property that is very useful indeed for ensuring your pieces are rigid: it doesn’t have a preferred grain.

If you wanted an ‘L’-shaped section using solid wood, you would need to fashion two pieces and join them together.  With any joint, there is inherent weakness: it’s weaker than if it were a single piece.  With plywood of course, you can make this a single piece as it’s a sheet material.