Being fifty-something, I’ve got a lot to learn, a lot of stuff to do and a lot of distractions.

That’s my excuse for taking some seven months to dare myself back into upholstery after my first adventure that I blogged about here.

My second adventure into upholstery begins a long time ago when I spied this ottoman at an open house during one of our let’s-try-downsizing journeys.

Love at first sight. I’m not one to pay retail price (for anything!) but I checked around and found similarly stunning ottomans were fetching a pretty price, well beyond my budget.

So I sat back and visualised for a few months.

Then the magic started to happen. I came across a vintage cow hide at a garage sale. I was late to the party and the offerings had been well picked over by dealers but I spied this on the ground way off in the distance, asked if it was for sale and was told I could have it for five dollars.

Hello. Five dollars. I rolled that baby up and shouldered it to the car before the seller changed her mind.

The hide graced our dining room floor for a couple of months. Jack Sparrow (pirate cat) loved it! He spent hours each day lounging and rubbing himself on its furry animal-ness. I’m not certain it was always appropriate. It was what it was.

I spent the couple of months researching how I could use the hide to recover my tired old ottoman and transform it into something worthy of an open house.

I discovered that sewing leather (especially furry leather) without an industrial sewing machine is not for the feint-hearted.

Sad face.

I figured I’d already saved big bucks on the cost of the hide so urged myself to get a quote for a professional upholstery job. I would provide the ottoman, the cowhide and a picture of my desired final product. I was blown away when the estimate came back at over $300.

Sad face.

Back to the drawing board. Back to YouTube. Back to the stapler gun. And forward onto plan B, whereby I had only $5 and an ugly ottoman to lose.

I measured and cut a paper pattern of the top and sides of the ottoman, added a few centimetres at the bottom edge for tuck under, transferred it to the hide, TOOK A DEEP BREATH and cut it out.

The point of no return.

I purchased a hole punch tool for around $10 and used it to punch a series of (well, what else?) holes along the “corner” edges of the hide. Using black cord, I laced the corners together, leaving the black cord on the outside as a feature, rodeo style. I could never have figured out to hide it anyway. Invisible sewing on furry animal-ness is not for the feint-hearted

Mr P stepped in to help with the next step (I’m still harbouring illogical fear of that  staple gun). We turned the ottoman upside down, folded the raw edges under and stapled them securely. We fastened the corners under with upholstery tacks. All done!

Simple. Too simple. I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to this one but the result has made the wait so worthwhile.

Yee ha!