In the Pottery Barn Living Rooms book, there is a picture of a leather sofa with a slipcovered seat cushion made of quilted velvet. It's so beautiful that it inspired me to make a quilted velvet slipcover for the cushions of one of my sofas (it was a CL find and while most of the sofa fabric is a nice tan velvet, the seat cushions are a horrible floral - definitely needs a slipcover!). I haven't attempted it yet, but I'm planning on starting this weekend.

In the pic, the slipcover is kind of a loose fitting box cushion, and interestingly, it looks like they just made one big slipcover then put the 3 separate cushions inside them - you can see the divots between the cushions. But I actually thought that helped make the look seem more intentional/casual on purpose, instead of a tacky coverup for trashed cushions or something.

If I had a scanner, I'd scan the pic for you. Maybe I can get a good one with my camera.

lkplatow: that's what I was planning to do : just 1 giant box cover for the whole 3 cushions. I'm going to use either a quilted fabric, or thick upholstery linen in brown sugar color ..

I have the PB decorating book (the big one - not the living room) .. I will search for that picture. Hopefully I can find it in there --

Thanks!

I have a large wood chair with dark brown leather seat and small, darkish leopard fabric back and I love the way it looks (family room)....I think if you buy fabric that is similar in color to your leather that helps make everything work.

We have leather furniture in our family room and the couch is my designated spot for television watching - I have a large thick faux fur throw that I tuck around the cushions when we watch t.v. and I love the way it feels - I fold it up and place it behind the couch when not in use.....or you could just wear faux fur slacks whenever you sit on the couch :-O

If it would not be a huge pain or expense to make them, then go ahead. It will probably do what you want it to, and it won't look "tacky". I've seen plenty of higher end upholstery that has the mixed fabric. Maybe make a few pillows for the couch and other chairs to pull it together. If you choose just the right fabric it will look fine.

If you're still not sure, use a throw or good blanket to keep the seats warm in the meantime.

I've seen some that were fabulous, and others that were tacky...
So what's the difference?

To me, the great ones all had a sort of Texas Ranch or Arizona Native vibe, or occasionally a Shabby Victorian vibe. The tacky ones were more 'non-descript' or 'safe'. (This is not a 'safe' design -- don't be afraid to go 'way out there' with your fabric choice.)

The great ones used a really nice fabric and trim and had some throw pillows that used some of the same fabric.

If I recall, most of the great ones were really big pieces, though a few of the tacky ones were too.

I'd Google 'fabric and leather sofa' to see what does and does not work in your mind --

faux fur slack - now that's something I would never thought of :-D

I google and the results are pretty tacky. Maybe because the sofa's style is tacky in the 1st place, the fabric choice is also tacky, and they use the 3 cushions instead of bench style cushions.

I've been using the quilt wrap on the cushions but it looks sloppy & doesn't stay on. It probably takes me couple hours to make this thing so it isn't a lot of work -- just the cost of fabric is something I have to consider. Maybe I can use an old ticking quilt to try it out first. Comfort wise the solution would be a winner -- the issue is to how to make it chic, not tacky.

Thanks for all the thoughts.

I think it could look chic.

Take a look at the sofa from Horchow. Another one from them is the Collage settee but just for the transition from the leather bottom to the gorgeous bench cushion. The rest of it gives me a headache. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Horchow

Neiman Marcus has a line of furniture with leather and fabric.

Here is a link that might be useful: Only $2000 for this chair!! WhooHoo!

Found the PB pic online for you.

I saw a Ralph Lauren photo somewhere where they put a single long, fairly thin pad on top of the cushions. Like a velvet maybe and there may have been some light tufting. It looked really great. I'm keeping it in mind for when the wear on my leather sofa cushions finally gets to me.

I liked it because then the leather around the edge still showed, while the addition of the fabric pad on top made it more intentional and less like a big bag-o-cushions. The look of fabric on the seat top only is something I love from the lodge style and antique look I try to go for.

I sewed a fabric to just the top only of an antique leather chair (has a thick cushion like a sofa) and it looks like it was originally there, instead of being a "fix".

lkplatow: wow-- That's pretty much perfect. I'm thinking of making it in linen because the other furniture in the room are slipcovered in linen but wow, that quilted velvet looks pretty good.

parma & nicole: Thanks for the sites. Lots of great idea in term of fabric choices & combination. Now I just have to narrow down to the right one.

Thanks again.

I don't love the idea myself, but I am also the person with a matelasse coverlet on my sofa all the time except when company comes. Dogs get stuff dirty and having the washable coverlet helps me keep my sofa fabric in good shape. Of course, at night while the Red family watches t.v. the sofa has the white coverlet and the Red DD has a red throw covering herself, Red has a matching red throw wrapped over her legs, and DH sitting in his brown leather recliner, gets a black throw...........so I guess I should just bow out of this whole tacky conversation!

I vote for leopard fabric like I'm putting on my antique dining chairs!

Red

RED!!, LOLOL....I love a little bit of leopard in a room or two...good leopard fabric is a classic.

I have fantasies of doing this with both the seat and back cushions on my leather sofa because I hate the feel of that cold leather on winter nights. But I can't sew and I've spent too much on other projects lately. Show us what you end up doing so we can see! Meanwhile, one of these days I'm going to replace my leather sofa with an ultrasuede sofa from American Leather.

I would invest the $$ in a luxurious quilt you can open up and sit on for lounging. Like someone said above, sometimes the combo works beautifully and most of the time it looks odd, like you couldn't decide if you wanted leather or fabric, lol.......

About 3 months after buying our leather sofa, I realized that I did not like sitting on leather so I took the cushions to an upholstery shop. The upholstery guy showed me a sofa that he was working on that the had a 1 piece, bench seat and I loved it. He covered mine in a nice chenile. No cushions to slip out of place and I think this bench seat is going to last forever. Love it