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.