The Elections Returns Are....

If you look at the poll results on the blog, it shows option two and option three are tied. However, I also took into account social media comments of "I like both one and two" where number two was mentioned. It was close, but this is the winner.

I have to say, I am glad. There were a few of the options that were not my favorite but wanted to respect the voting process and would have heard the voice of the voters. Thank you all.

Give me a few weeks to order the fabric and get some things ready for this. I plan to get the bulk, if not all of this done, in one weekend.

Can she do it? I *think* I can. The one slowdown is sewing that may need to be done along the front of the legs.

Stay tuned!

It's An Election Year!

My last few upholstery projects have had some fun feedback. Thank you all for your support.

I want to make sure everyone knows...I'm no pro. I have craft and sewing experience, so trying something new doesn't scare me. But this upholstery thing is very new to me. I'm having fun doing it too.

Here is the next victim gem.

She showed up on the side of the road coming home from church. Free. I like free. She also came with a few bonuses.

Hair scrunchie, dirty spoon, crayon, pencil, Lego, pen, stylus, toenail clippers, and a pay stub.

One of my new favorite places to order upholstery fabrics is Warehouse Fabrics Inc. It's has a great selection of discounted fabrics. Their prices come in cheaper when I find an identical fabric elsewhere.

When I take in a new victim gem, I really think about it first. I think through color combinations, style, etc. I find that thought process interesting and I like the creative part of it. This piece has a faded denim/duck cloth on already that has worn through. It feels very casual. The fabric extends all the way to the ground with the legs being covered. That gives it a bit of a formal feel. There is also a sewn seam on the front down to the floor. None of these features are problems. It means this piece will add to my knowledge toolbox because I'll learn something new.

So formal or casual? Colors? Duck cloth or upholstery? I have narrowed it down and all the options are good, but hey! Let's make this interactive and let folks vote! Votes will be taken through August 12th.

One thing. I am looking to make the back a contrasting color from the rest of the piece. So I have juxtaposed the back fabric from the body fabric.You will also notice Option 5 is unique in that the back fabric is not a small patch of fabric. Nice little thing I tried at Warehouse Fabrics Inc. I bought upholstery fabric by the pound. I bought two pounds, and you get what you get, and I got this great golden fabric. There isn't enough to do the full chair with, but nice for an accent. Not trying to sway the vote, just letting you know another great way to get good fabrics for cheap.

Option One--Blue Denim Body, Duck Dynasty Back

Option Two--Blue Denim Body, Crop Circle Back

Option Three--Denim Blue Body, Traditional Blue Back

Option Four--Denim Blue Body, Feminine Back

Option Five--Cinnamon Brown Body, Floral Back

Option Six--Cinnamon Body, Cinnamon Striped Back

  Ready, set, vote! Often!

The Final Note

The last I left this project, the basic upholstering was done. I needed to complete the trim and cover the back. Here's how that went ...

First, the trim. You might remember back, I made quite a bit of that stuff. I found today I needed to make a bit more. You'll also find out I ran out of fabric. To make the trim, I used scraps. No problem.

I started on the inside arm of the chair and nailed down the beginning piece with a finishing nail. Then I glued down the trim with hot glue about 4-6 inches at a time.

Hard to take pictures and glue at the same time.

Nailed down on the inside, then start gluing.

Following the curves and dressing up the hand rest.

The trim does a great job covering the staples.

Interesting spot here. Not only is it an intersection of two runs of trim, but it's also the spot where I ran out.

No worries. I had already planned out the intersection. I slightly burned the ends of the trim to prevent fraying then hot glued them together.

I absolutely love the tailored look with the black and white tweed. You can also see in the background the inside trim.

Now here comes the part that makes me absolutely sweat. The back cover. But first....

I added a time capsule. I took a cutout of the fumigation label from 1964, wrote a note, and put it in a baggie. I nailed it to the inside. Any future DIY'er will find a piece of history and the story of the chair that I know.

 

Along the top of the back, you can see where I have stapled down a cardboard strip. There is where I start sweating, literally. The next part is using tack strip. It is a strip of tacks, and it is painful if handled carelessly, and if the fabric doesn't lay just so, it doesn't look right. So now, I will flip the fabric down the back, and start hammering....

Flipped over. Grab all tools from inside the chair, because it's about to be closed up.

Flipped over. Using a solid black tweed is my solution to running out of fabric. I like the result a lot.

Laying it down, creasing the edge, then dealing with tack strip.

You will also see along the right side, I added a piping trim. I wanted to dress up the black back a bit and frame it a bit. Without it, truly, it looked odd.

A few staples down first to hold the piping, then the cover back went over it.

There is a strip of tack in there, and I have just hammered it down.

All done. Nice, tight and slick.

The end result with the trim.

Not quite done yet. I flipped it over to prepare for the dust cover on the bottom. Again, I am so glad I used stitches instead of the metal clips. The dust cloth is tight against the jute with no protrusions.

The backside, all done. I like how the back highlights the black painted trim on the hand rests at the front of the piece.

Now let's look at this from the beginning...it's always good to see where we've come from.

I think we can agree, she was an ugly beast.

Almost bare.

The insides of the cushion.

Did I mention?
I have another chair already waiting for a new outfit.

Seat Yourself

So I got nasty sick for a week. I am also trying to get back into my running routine, and I work. Life took over a bit.

This project took a number to some other distractions.

However, I have two major phases to share with you.
First, the seat lining. This is a simple sewing of a lining fabric to a piece of upholstery fabric, doing a whip stitch along that seam to the springs, then staple it down internally.

The tricky thing with this chair is the curved edge. I needed to staple right up to that border and keep the fabric tight and the angles of the fabric from going off.
 

Tucking on the corner. There are many ways to finish a corner. I think I'll do something different in the future. This feels too casual for a piece that has formal curves to it, especially around the legs.

Another pic of tucking the staples close to the border. These staples will be covered in trim in one of the final steps.

Tried it out with the finished cushion.

The seat lining down tight.It looks a bit lumpy, and that bugs me a bit, but it's also part of the "charm" of old chairs and their internal springs. You don't see this in new furniture.

I could feel the beginnings of the nasty head cold, so the seat lining is pretty unexciting because I was high on decongestant. I finished this and went to bed.

The next step was the one I spent a lot of time thinking through. The arms. I know arms are done in two steps. Generally, the inside lining of the two arms, then the outside. But this chair has the crazy arms that need to be stuffed and the ledge where the staples land are odd because of that stuffing. Then there is the stuffing. How to make that puff up appropriately, apply the upholstery, and finish with a great look. Oh, did I mention? The arms also have the same ridge that requires a trim in the end. Gotta pay attention to the lines of that to make sure that can take the trim in the end.

No biggie! I'm not a pro and this was daunting. So...baby steps....

So I started with the outside of the arms. I won't do that again. All the pros out there are cringing right now. What this did was make it so that when I did the inside of the arms, I couldn't grab onto the best part of the internal frame to nail that down. Next time, all of you need to learn from me, do the inside first.

BUT! In my defense--I didn't do that because I didn't think things through. I did the outside so that I could do that arms right to be able to nail and create the puffed armrests. Again, this whole process kept me awake for several nights. I imagined how to smoothly create these arm rests and in what order. So while deconstructing a chair is great for creating a pattern for your project...it doesn't necessarily tell you the best order to do things, and I did my best. I don't know that I would do it in a different order in the future. However, I will not nail the bottom of the outside as thoroughly as I did so that I could reach the internal guts better.

Nailing along the border that will receive trim later.

Trimming.

The outside panel is done. Repeat.

And we lose some dermis.

Creating the right "puff" for the armrest.

My helper. Did I mention? It was an incredibly nice day today. I dragged this all outside.You can see the foam used for the armrests. I doubled that layer when a person will rest their arms. The challenge was to staple it down knowing it would smooth out after the fabric is laid over it, and duplicating it on the other arm. I like this result a lot.

Laying down the tack strip to then flip the fabric over the top. Notice the armrest foam install.

 

Fabric flips over....and now we work around the armrest, and all of it's decorative detail. Also, in that flip over, the foam is covered and the shaping of the armrests begins.

The folding and molding around the armrest begins.

After stapling, trimming.

Lots of curves and detail. I am pleased with the result. The fabric is perfectly smooth as it travels down the chair and goes over the arm.

A neat tuck on the armrest. Again, I am pleased as I stand back and look at all the lines and curves. It looks sharp.

I then upholstered the back.

I am not going to lie. I ran out of fabric and stretched the livin' daylights out of the back piece to get the piece to fit. I don't have enough to cover the back. So what I am going to do is use a jet black tweed to cover the back. While it won't match, it will be a great contrast and look sharp. I'm actually looking forward to how that will look. Before I do the back, my next step is installing the trim. That will require some time and finesse. It will be the subject of my next post.

If I can add this. Once you have the repairs, painting and cushion made, truly, with an industrious afternoon, you can upholster a chair in a long day. That is assuming you have all the supplies and tools on hand, but it goes fast.