Monday, July 4, 2011

Crate Seats


Finally, I've made the crate seats!  I looked at a lot of different posts and websites about how to make crate seats.  I saw some that had the plywood on the inside lip of the crate with a chair cushion tied on the crate, and others had a lot of cushioning inside with the fabric stapled to the wood.  I thought the chair cushion was a great idea, that way you could wash the cushions or replace them easily.  BUT I couldn't find cushions at a reasonable price, and making them was beginning to look as expensive, plus very time consuming.

I decided that was important to me was cleanliness, multipurpose surface, and ease of construction.  I wanted the surface to be either removable or washable, so I went with a heavy weight vinyl tablecloth fabric so that I can disinfect it easily.  I wanted the cushion to be soft enough to sit on, but firm enough to use as a writing surface/table if needed.  Finally, I wanted the construction to be as easy and inexpensive as possible.

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I found some inexpensive vinyl table cloths at a discount store that I thought might do, but they ended up being too flimsy, so I went to JoAnn's and found a heavy weight vinyl table cloth (by the yard) with flannel on the back.  It was $9.99 a yard, but they had it for 50% off, and I had a 10% off coupon that I found online, so I got 3 yards for pretty cheap!  (3 yards created 12 seat covers)

I chose this neutral color because I try to stick with blues and greens in my classroom color scheme, but they did have black, red, dark blue, etc.  I just wanted something that would go with anything.

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The cushioning is quilt batting.  I used 3 layers of thin batting to create a soft but firm cushion.  This was free because my mom is a quilter and had a big bolt of batting.  I'm not sure how much it costs.

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Three layers of batting

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Cardboard template

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Sizing my cardboard template

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Finally, I bought a large piece of plywood at Home Depot.  I took with me a cardboard template to show the size I needed cut.  I bought cabinet grade plywood.  It is very sturdy and cost about $16 for the whole sheet.  I got 18 boards, so it was less than $1. They were nice enough to cut the entire sheet of plywood for me free of charge!  I think it is usually 2 free cuts and 50 cents for every cut after, but they are very kind to teachers. :)

Construction steps:

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Gather fabric, cushion material, scissors, plywood, and staple gun

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Leave 3-4 inches around when cutting out

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Place cushion (3 layers quilt batting) and then flip over batting side down

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Staple down two opposite ends

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Miter fold the edges in to create a tab (like wrapping a gift) and staple down

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Repeat on opposite side











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