Every year when I visit my twin sister Diane over the Thanksgiving holiday, I work on a home dec project for her. It’s a small way to repay the generous hospitality she and her husband Ed show my husband Charlie and me on these annual visits.

This year I’m making a slipcover for an ottoman that goes in the master bedroom. This is what it looks like now:

Ed and Diane’s dear departed cat Alexis (Alex for short) liked to sharpen her claws on the ottoman, and she left the evidence behind:

Alex  was an equal opportunity kneader. She managed to work her magic on both sides of the ottoman:

On my visit last year, Diane and I found this lovely basketweave fabric which we thought would be perfect to recover the ottoman with:

This year we found the perfect trim for it — 50% off — at Frugal Fabrics:

Today I got the fabric measured and cut. Here is the top with boxed corners pinned and ready to sew:

Tomorrow I will get out my trusty old Elna sewing machine (bought in 1975), which now lives at Diane’s house, and will start sewing. It will be good to sit in front of a sewing machine again!