The Upholstery Forum

I am a beginner. I decided to attempt to make a cover for my son's "stair step" 3-tiered brewing stand. I have purchased outdoor waterproof canvas for the project.


My plan:
1) Sew the 3 side panels together first for each side.
2) Join the side panels with one long strip of canvas from front to back to minimize seams on the top surface.

There will be 12 boxed corners involved after all is said and done.

Does this plan make sense?

thank you in advance for your help.

I see seams, not sure how that long strip would work in there. It seems like it would work but not sure.

Is it a dust cover or does it have to stand up to weather or moisture? Does the canvas have an inside and outside? In the end is it a single assembly or 3 separate covers?

Can you show us a pic of the stand you are covering?

Thank you for your responses! Providing more info as requested.

There are seams but there could be more along the top flat surface without the long strip from front to back.

We have to leave it under our covered patio due to lack of garage space.

We don't get much weather here. It is very dry. More than anything, it is a dust cover.

The canvas has a waterproof coating on one side in case it rains

I was planning to make it one cover. Hoping I can get the "boxed corner" skill down.

Thanks again for your help! Much appreciated.

I would be tempted to do it in 3 pieces, 2 identical ones with the steps in it (front and back) and a third piece (top) climbing the steps and down the back. Make sense?

Makes sense to me. That's what I will do. I just hope I will be able to manage all of the canvas I will be working with once I start piecing it together.

My dad was an upholsterer but he is no longer here to ask questions. Now that I'm older, I appreciate his skill and craftmanahip. Thanks again.

If it is just sitting under the deck I would not complicate the cover and think of it more of a cover over a car unless you want it looking great and to take a load of time with it.

Personally i would try to simplify it by making the 2 sides in a sort of triangle shape and straightening out those side seams rather than "climbing the stairs". Take you from having 12 hard corners to having 2 hard corners on top in the back and 4@45 degrees coming up the front, also it'll help shed water if outside. Just a thought

A cover with triangular sides without all the corners sounds like a suitable design for a beginner like me. The boxed corners were causing me anxiety. Great idea! Thank you much!

Don’t sweat the box corners, watch John and practice a few

Yeah your original plan will work. I would also consider what Adam said about making it more of a triangle. I think it would look better and you could store thing in side that space as well. However if you made the cover like that you would probably have to install snaps or velcro on the bottom to hold the cover in place.

I think he is set and will have that made in no time

It was a project filled with lots of lessons but I finished. The stitching is crooked and I had to do some patching due to an error cutting the canvas but it will serve it's purpose.

Thank you for the advice. I have referred my friends to this website.

Take care all.

It is amazing and a cover! Look at commercial covers and they are not even as good as yours. Great Job!

Looks great!

Well done!

Very nice! When will samples of whatever he is brewing be going out?

Looks good!

Looks great! Nice job. Time for some beer!