About Teal Majors and SLIPS

I have been sewing for more than 30 years. I was a professional pattern maker in the garment industry for 15 years until I left to follow my lifelong dream of crafting custom wedding dresses. I was quite happy with this work when, in 1997, a friend asked me to make a slipcover for her 3-year-old son's favorite chair. Because I had not been exposed to slipcovers before, the project was especially interesting. While making the pattern, I found myself looking at the mechanics of furniture in a whole new way. Never before had I thought much about the styling of furniture. Unlike brides, furniture doesn't gain or lose weight; it is what it is. I made a few more slipcovers for myself and friends in the next few years; in 2000, I answered an online bulletin board posting for a slipcover maker. Within 24 hours I had 7 slipcover jobs and a new chapter in my life had started.

I contacted some fabric showrooms and started carrying fabric lines. I love upholstery fabric. It can be rich and hearty or soft and delicate. The colors are often deeply saturated and invoke moods. Fabrics can calm us or jazz us up; make us hungry or sleepy. I love being surrounded by these fabrics all day long.

Although I appreciate upholstered furniture, I have become a proponent of slipcovers. I like the idea of recycling old furniture and seeing the transformation of a shabby, tired chair into something fresh and inviting.

I love my job; I love helping people choose fabrics. I love helping to make a house into a home. And I am thankful for each and every one of my clients who have asked me into their lives.

Please call me so we can talk about an "extreme makeover" for your favorite piece of furniture!

The Process

After we arrange to work together, I will come to your home and measure for the fabric. A successful slip cover begins with the pattern. If the pattern isn't right, the finished slip cover won’t be right. I use muslin to drape a pattern on the piece of furniture; using pins and markers, I make a pattern. I usually follow the design of the original furniture, keeping as many of the original style lines as possible.

I then take the rough muslin pattern back to the workroom, where I clean up the pattern and sew a sample slip cover, also in muslin.

I then slip the sample on the furniture to check the fit, marking any adjustments that need to be done. Once the fitting and pattern corrections are made, we cut the real slip cover fabric.

All Slip Covers Include:

• Over-locked edges
• Cording
• Pre-washing if necessary (there is a charge for this service)
• Delivery of finished product unless otherwise arrange