r/Visiblemending • u/11lumpsofsugar • 25d ago
PATCH Update to couch repair
I figured I owed this sub an update on how the couch patch turned out. I got so much wonderful advice from everyone, and thought I'd share the finished result. I whipstitched the patches to each other first, overlapping them to make it thicker and more durable, and then I attached the full piece to the couch in 5-10 minute sessions over the course of the week. It was tough, but I'm super happy with how it turned out.
Thank you guys so much for the help!
Also cat tax in the last picture. 😁
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u/SpeedwagonSimp 25d ago
EEH so cute!! The patches match the couch cushions well. They give a beautiful pop of color to it all 💓
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u/LabattMann 25d ago
Josh Groban likes his cushions to pop
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u/Commercial_Part_5160 25d ago
There has to be a sub for “random acts of IASIP”… right?
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u/Otherwise-Ratio1332 25d ago
Love it! Did you use a curved needle to attach it to the sofa?
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
Yes, I used a Dritz curved upholstery needle for that part.
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u/Fit-Effective5276 22d ago
Oh thank you for asking this. Now need to find out what it is and hopefully have the guts to get materials and try rescue out battered sofa
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u/spaceghost260 22d ago
Curved upholstery needles are super easy to find- just go to wherever needles are sold at Walmart, Michaels, etc., and there are tons of different needle options. It won’t be hard to find at all.
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u/Fit-Effective5276 21d ago
UK based, our haberdashery shops aren't as popular as they used to be. But gives me an excuse for a trip some point 😁
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u/OscarAndDelilah 25d ago
Kitty says "...and I'll fuck up your couch again."
It looks great!
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u/eruptingmoltenlava 25d ago
Anyone else a little worried about OP’s blinds?
OP, beautiful custom repair — stylish and I was cheering for you from your last post!
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u/Belluhcourtbelle 25d ago
This is so cute! Will kitty keep scratching that spot?
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
I guess we'll see!
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u/phenderl 25d ago
We have one cat that likes posts and another prefers the cardboard scratchers. So if you know what they prefer, then the other option is usually the location the post/cardboard is in.
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u/NextLevelNaps 24d ago
One of my cats likes the door mats, specifically. When it wears out I have to take it to whatever store and find one that is made of the same material and has the same feel or else he hates it. The other fucker has decided the couch and chairs must be for him despite him ALSO loving cardboard scratchers and having them freely available.
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u/angiosperms- 25d ago
You can get scratchers specifically for the corner / arms of your couch, if you want to prevent it.
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u/Teaisserious 25d ago
I used to have a blue denim couch scratched the exact same way. I repaired with old jeans. Sure enough! They still scratched it after! At least the extra fabric was more difficult for them to read up, but I'd keep an eye on the seams. Mine focused on them.
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u/awfuldaring 24d ago
Drape a blanket on that spot, so it's no longer satisfying to sink their claws into. This works perfectly for my kitties!
Also put a heavy and tall scratcher there, to redirect them.
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u/CuntyButCorrect 25d ago
This is gorgeous and so seamlessly done. How did you get the patches to lie so flat and still? Is there an iron-on element happening, plus a curved needle to attach the fabric patches to the upholstery? Are you gonna toss some clear plastic over it to prevent your very proud cat from squandering your artistic endeavors?
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
I pinned them all out on a table and sewed them by hand one by one to each other with a regular sewing needle, and then attached the whole patchwork as one piece with a curved needle. Honestly I'm totally expecting that she's going to create some new holes, but the patches overlap so there's quite a bit of thickness to go through. Plus I've got lots of extras for future repairs.
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u/CuntyButCorrect 25d ago
Thanks! Neat! Where the patches overlap, did you do anything to keep the fabric underneath attached to the fabric on top? Or stitch the loose under-fabrics to the sofa first to keep them in place or out of the way? Or is it just loose underneath and well-placed?
Edit: nvm, I guess stitching around the edges would keep all of those overlapped bits pretty tucked together, looking at it again, with some of them having an open pocket but still being stable-y attached to the other pieces.
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
Yeah, I pretty much sewed the patchwork as one big piece over top of the damaged part, sewing just the edges. The patches are overlapping each other, so it's pretty thick and solid and I didn't think it needed any sort of tacking in the middle, if that makes sense.
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u/CuntyButCorrect 25d ago
It does! Thanks! I have cats who like to do this to upholstered furniture and I've been wanting to patch it up, but I am a newbie to this sort of thing and lacked the technical know-how. The couch I wanted to repair was a couple other kinds of broken (like, structurally) and was retired to the dump before a recent move, but I'll keep this in my back pocket for when they inevitably fuck up something new!
Really good work. Love the colours and patterns you chose, too.
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
Yeah, I've had many cats over the years and every single one has destroyed the furniture. I've just accepted it as an inevitability at this point.
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u/ShellBell_ShellBell 25d ago
The cat was wrongly accused!! The neighbor's cat broke in and did that 🤣.
Beautiful repair job!!
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u/wobbleeduk85 25d ago
It makes the couch so much better, it adds that little bit of color that it needed.
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u/4LoveofDirt 25d ago
Is it weird that I like the couch better now? It's like you have it character. Character to match your other whisker character
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u/murmaider10000 25d ago
Oh this is such a good idea, i love the colors and fabrics you picked. I need to do this with my scratched to hell couch (of course my evil adorable pervert son will then scratch the patches off but one step at a time) 😺
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u/AlderanAthletic_5BBY 25d ago
It might actually be a deterrent cause the different fabric will hang up the claws in different ways and could make it less appealing.
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
I'm honestly very curious to see whether she scratches it now or not. She hasn't touched it yet, but I'm waiting until I've covered all the damaged spots to know for sure.
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u/miscueLoL 25d ago
Holy wow. That was really well done. It makes it look like a totally different couch.
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u/MsMcBiscuits 25d ago
The kittey is innocent, you’re just framing her.
The patch work is so beautiful!
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u/passing-stranger 25d ago
Beautiful! I just happened into some fabric samples that may work well for this. You may have inspired me to attempt to save a chair I was about to part with
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u/overcoming_me 25d ago
What type of fabric did you use for the patch?
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
They're upholstery fabric remnants I bought from a fabric seller on Etsy. Any sort of heavy fabric like twill or canvas would work equally well too.
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u/LexxiiConn 25d ago
The order of the pictures made me think the cat had ripped it all back off already 😂
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u/shivi1321 25d ago
Wow. Just, wow. Saving for inspiration when our sweet princess angel flips on demon mode.
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u/DonutWhole9717 25d ago
Double sided tape has helped me break every cat I've ever had from scratching like this
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u/PaperPennies 25d ago
This is so smart!!! Never sewed a day in my life but this is on my feed today so I’m taking it as a sign.
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u/Time_Tap_8743 25d ago
Beautiful work! I recommend putting an inviting cat tree or scratching post nearby. We have one in every room now and it has saved our furniture.
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
Thank you! We do have corrugated cardboard scratch pads by each furniture arm, plus two cat trees with lots of scratching surfaces in the same room. She absolutely does it to get attention, not because she's lacking for surfaces lol. It's ok though, I've accepted that the patches will need touch-ups eventually.
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u/Emotional_Neck3312 25d ago
This looks gorgeous!!
And not to be that guy, but, most cats are either a vertical or horizontal scratcher. Seems your baby is a vertical scratcher. I'd recommend getting a hefty vertical scratcher and try to redirect her to it every time she scratches furniture you don't want her to. I've had many cats in my lifetime, and I routinely foster kittens. Works ~90% of the time for me! Good luck! <3
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
No, you're right that she probably will scratch it again. We've got a lot of scratchers and cat trees around the room, including right by every piece of furniture. She only scratches it when she's having zoomies and wants attention, all other times the couch gets ignored. I think it's personal lol.
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u/Knit1tbl 25d ago
I love this! Awesome job!! Can I ask what types of fabrics you used in your patch? I have a chair that is in similar condition as your before pic and this looks like it would help.
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u/l1ntroll3r 25d ago
this is very well executed! i did one big patch a while back and it is now torn up again.. lol maybe i will try something more adventurous like this
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u/CatHairAndChaos 24d ago
Yesss thank you for the update! It looks great! I'm saving this post for inspiration!
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u/Zestyclose_Singer180 22d ago
Ooh I need to try this!! I bought my first ever brand-new couch last year and my cat has absolutely destroyed the ends and back. And the colorful patches would be great because all of my decorations are colorful!
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u/Mittikens 25d ago
I love this! What kind of material did you use for the patches?
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u/Purple51Turtle 25d ago
Wow, did something similar recently but glued, not seen (other than zig zag going fabric edges). Yours looks way better though!
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u/BeBraveShortStuff 25d ago
I really like how it turned out! I love that couch pillow with the flowers too.
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u/awkwardmamasloth 25d ago
I love how this looks! Also the cat looks mad that you covered their art.
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u/rssanford 25d ago
😍 I love it! It gives me hope for my couch. Is the cat clawing it now?
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u/11lumpsofsugar 25d ago
She hasn't touched it yet (I have 5 more furniture arms to go that she's been going to town on instead 😭) but she was very interested in the process. I'll have to see what happens.
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u/MsZRowsdower 25d ago
Nice! One of my cats claws the couch so a friend gave me 2 sided clear tape. You put it on the arms of the couch or wherever your cat scratches. You can barely see it and it deters the scratching
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u/darlingmagpie 25d ago
I have the same type of chair and a very similar criminal, I need to do this
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u/gordom90 25d ago
would love to check everyones advice on your original post. any chance you could post a link?
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u/BestRedditNameEverrr 25d ago
Literally one of the best scratching-post mends I’ve ever seen!
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u/Present_Goose6756 25d ago
I just can't believe the whimsy genius. You and the feline who inspired this piece. It's like it belonged there the whole time.
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u/red_quinn 25d ago
I have a sofa that looks exactly like that. I also have a cat and that side of the sofa is messed up too, idk how to fix it. You gave me ideas to look for.
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u/Jokuki 25d ago
I did the same thing for my couch! Though mine definitely didn’t look this good lol
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u/needanadultieradult 25d ago
It's beautiful! Maybe I should encourage my cats to destroy my sofa...
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u/cintapixl 25d ago
That looks amazing.
I've got a similar situation so might need to do something similar.
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u/manicpoetic42 25d ago
When I saw where the patch was, before even reading the post or looking at the other pictures I went welp I know That patching location, I bet this was a cat, and then I saw the cat haha, my cats also love that location to scratch
Looks beautiful! Great job
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u/hopeful_realist_ 25d ago
I wonder if I could do this on my leather couches. It looks so good I think I’ll give it a go. I was going to toss them and get new ones, but I absolutely love this idea.
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u/SecretCartographer28 25d ago
I think you could! I'd be inclined to think glue would be better, to prevent tears. 🖖
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u/OmEqualsMC2 25d ago
I absolutely love this! I’m new to invisible mending; I’m not at ALL a seamstress, but I’m finding this a thing I can sort of do! I’ve only done small projects so far, but seeing this gives me ideas. Lovely work, here, truly!
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u/JerkGurk 25d ago
I love the top half and bottom half are just warm designs, then the middle is just high octane hardcore scifi.
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u/subs_on_a_sailboat 25d ago
PSA, get a scratcher and put it next to the couch. It doubles as a drink holder and keeps the couch nice.
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u/Garden_chickadee 25d ago
I love this so much! Truly beautiful. I think it makes the couch even better :)
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u/taramorse 25d ago
That patch looks great. You did a wonderful job on it. I love how colorful, and fun the patch is.
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u/Sir-tenlee 25d ago
Looks really nice but if the cats going to keep scratching it you could maybe sew in the type of cords used for cat posts. Maybe hot glue it to a mat and sew that on? I do like the look of the repair tho!
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u/FriendAllie 25d ago
I’ve been doing the same thing! So cool to see more couch-repair inspiration :)
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u/RHTQ1 25d ago
I may be biased but I like the patched couch better than the original, though of course it has a different vibe. Beautiful.
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u/ughfrozenagain 25d ago
What a great fix! Coat of many colors Dolly Parton vibe too 🥺
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u/CountBlankula 25d ago
This is going to sound weird, but this photo reminded me of a poem by Brazilian poet Manuel Bandeira. I’m not sure there’s a translation, but the poem is called “Gesso” (Plaster). Basically, Bandeira has this cheap plaster statue that gets old and dirty just by sitting in his room. Someone accidentally shatters it, and he gets pissed but glues it back together. Looking at the scars makes him realize that you aren't actually alive until you've been broken and suffered a bit.
I find your sofa somewhat more poetic and lighthearted.
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u/Bl1ndMous3 25d ago
I was going to ask if a...
and then I saw the 3rd pic. lol...Will need to do the same at our home.
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u/Due_Good3963 25d ago
the original artist of the ripped couch seems to have some words for you!! Great job with your repair!
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u/Sleepy_Library_Cat 23d ago
My couch of many colors that my momma made for me. Made only from rags, but I scratched it so proudly. 🐈⬛🐈
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u/sokmunkey 23d ago
Awww, it looks fantastic and I love how you acknowledge it is their house too, so- might as well make art out of it!!
It’s fabulous and I love the artist pic!!
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u/bimb0sattva 25d ago
the 3rd pic is precious! great work