How to Upholster a Chair (or what did I get myself into???)

Well, campers.....

We left off on Saturday with the chair cleaned and painted.

I will now show the before and after!!!!!

Sooooo.....

let me show you what I went through to get from the beginning to the end!!!!!

After I painted the frame, I had to tie the springs back into a position that would create a comfy resting place for a discerning tush!!!

I started with the springs in this condition..... 

They was tilting every way but the way the were supposed to.....

So I pulled out my notes on how to do an 8 way hand tie, 'cuz what's the point in doing something if you're not going to do it the right way????

Step one....,

 I tied the springs in a row, front to back, pulling them down on the ends to create a crown.....

 The knots I used were a clove hitch, the only way I know that's what they're called, and how to do them, is that's the way the diagram showed it, and called it.....

I found the instructions here

Then I tied the springs side to side....

Making sure that they tilted down on the sides for the crown.....

 Then I tied them diagonally.

Look how the whole thing forms a nice crown!!!!!

I know what you're thinking right now......

You're thinking,

 "Boy, that Betsy, sure is da bomb!!!!!"

I must admit,

I was

VERY IMPRESSED WITH MYSELF!!!!!

Then I attached burlap over the springs with my trusty staple gun and compressor.....

 I stapled around the outside of the frame, and then folded the burlap over and stapled it down again.....

 Then I pulled out my fox edge.

 It comes in different sizes.

It's burlap folded over cording.

It's used to soften the edge of the wood frame, sos your tender thighs don't get bruised by the chair.....

 I stapled it to all four edges.

Line it up, so the outside edge of the fox edge just sticks a little beyond the frame.

Now it was time to create a back for the chair.

I pulled out my jute webbing......

 And I got my trusty web stretcher.....

And started building up the back. 

 Starting in the middle, I placed strips of webbing, and stretched them tight with the stretcher.

Then I stapled the ends back over.

Then I wove the horizontal strips across the back stapling them the same way.

This needs to be nice and taut.

 Then it was time to cut the foam for the seat.

I used 2" medium density foam.

Cut it to fit around the arms.....

To cut foam, I used an electric meat knife that I just bought from Bed Bath and Beyond.

I bought the cheapest one they had.

Attach the foam to the burlap with spray adhesive.....

 Then get the dacron out.....

 The dacron is wrapped around the foam tightly, and creates a nice seat.

 Then stop what you're doing,,,,,.....,,,,,

and realize you haven't put the burlap on the inside back of the chair yet.

And you're supposed to do that before you do the seat.

OOPS!!!!!

 Fold the burlap over at the edges and tack down with staples.

THEN PUT THE DACRON ON!!!!!

 I just kept making mistakes!!!!!

At this juncture, I had stapled the dacron to the bottom of the frame.

DON'T DO THAT!!!!!

So then I had to pull all those staples out and staple it to the side edge of the frame....

I just had a little brain fart.

That is happening to me more and more lately.

Jeesh.......

Because I was using antique French grain sack fabric, from an antique French grain sack, that is antique, and from France, and used to hold grain....

the fabric wasn't wide enough to cover the seat or inside back of the chair, so I added some plain linen fabric that I bought from the same vendor who sold me the grain sacks. The linen is also old and was from an unused bolt of the fabric the farmers used to make the sacks....in France.....that held grain!!!!!

Then I laid out the fabric so that the stripe was centered.....

and tacked the fabric to the center front, center back, and sides.....

to hold it in place while I worked on the chair.

Then I started in the center of the front and worked my way to the corners, smoothing and pulling the fabric taut.

Normally, I would start in the back, but because it was difficult to work in the front because of the decorative stretcher, I started in the front.

I cut out a slit for the arms and folded under the fabric in a pleat.

I'm not showing you how to do this because it's hard and you can see a tutorial here by this really good teacher.....

He shows you everything.

Problem is.....

Each chair is different, so you have to improvise.....

tuck in the fabric around the front leg and then cut the fabric around the back leg.....

Then staple to the bottom of the frame in the back, pulling it so that it is smooth and tight, but not so tight that there is no play in the foam and springs.

Then, starting in the middle of each side, staple the sides, smoothing the fabric and pulling it outward as you go.

Then stand back, and tell yourself what a trooper you are!!!!!

I forgot to shoot this, but I put a couple of straps of webbing over the outside back, then covered it with burlap.

This way someone won't cave in the back if they push into it.

Then I trimmed the burlap.

Now it's time to work on the inside back.

I traced the curve of the chair top, cut the paper, and lay it on the foam and traced the curve on the foam.

I used 2" soft foam for the back.

I cut the foam with my upholster shears.

I cut the curve and around the arms.

For the curve, I cut 1/2 in from the finished edge so I would have room for the tape and nail head trim. 

 Then I covered the inside back with dacron.

Fold the dacron over and lay the scissor's point centered with the arm, that's how you know where to make your cut.

 Stop around 1/2" or so from the arm and make a little Y cut, then you can fold the dacron down around the arm.

 Tuck the dacron through to the back and tack it down with staples.

Then trim it.

Then I started pulling it up and stapling it along the top, staying 1/2" away from the finished part of the frame with the carvings.

Then I stapled the sides onto the back. 

 Then I trimmed all the decron close to the staples.

lay the fabric so it's lined up, then pin in place.....

 staple along the bottom onto the back of the frame.

 Pull the fabric up, smooth and tighten, and staple in place.

Cut around the arms.....

CAREFULLY!!!!!

(This is really nerve wracking!!!!!) 

 Stand back and jump up and down.....

  Cut along the fabric line with a razor blade.

I tucked in the corner at the top.....

I am not very good at nailing in nail head trim, so I started each hole with my regulator.

A regulator is a very important upholstery tool. It's used to tuck in fabric and  adjust pleats and all kinds of neat stuff. 

It looks like a big needle.

That white plastic thingy is a nail head spacer, it helps make sure that the nails have been evenly placed.

 I made the tape out of the same fabric as the chairs.

 At this point, I was very please with myself!!!!!

But I still had to apply the nails to the legs and arms.......

OY, OY, OY!!!!!

So I added the nail head trim to the legs and arms.

Now it was time for the outside back.

I'm not going to lie.

It nearly did me in.

I'm not going to show everything, because the YouTube tutorial is so much better than my pathetic attempts.

Suffice it to say.....

There was lots of blood and band-aids involved!!!!!

But I will show part of it.....

First I made welting.

 I got the chair up on the work table, ready for my attack.....

 I started stapling the welting around the outside of the back.

I ran my finger along the side as I stapled, to hold the welt in place.

The center of the welt cord should line up with the edge of the chair frame. 

 When I brought the two end pieces together, I cut  back the fabric on one end and cut back the cord on the other end, 

 and folded the excess fabric over.....

 And stapled it down....

At this point I added the curve ease along the top edge.

You really need to look at the tutorial on YouTube.

I cut my hands to #$% on this stuff just getting it out of the box.....

Then I cut dacron to lay inside the welting to pad out the back, and tacked it in place with staples.

Then I  trimmed the dacron.

 At this point I was freaking out and calming down and freaking out and calming down, etc. etc. etc.,

and forgot to take any more pictures......

Sooooooo.....

let me show you how to finish the bottom.....

Flip the chair over.....

(I am so helpful....)

Staple welting all around the bottom edge.  

 Then get some black cambric fabric and staple to the edge of the welting.

 Now this is a trick I just learned from the YouTube tutorial.

Then, staple cardboard stripping against the edge of the welting.

This keeps the bottom welting nice and firmly in place.

 And then you is 

DONE!!!!!

So here's the finished product.....

So.....

It's going to be a while before I tackle something like this again.

It's for sale at Amy Chalmer's Boston store, Maison Decor.

If someone buys it, that will make me a professional upholsterer!!!!!

Here's a shot of it in her store!!!!!

I think this is just too cool for school!!!!! 

So, that's my story....

Latah, Gatah

 
Partying at:

Cozy Little House
 

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Reupholstering an Old Chair

I decided to look on Craig's List for my next project.

Amy felt she had enough little tables in her shop, Maison Decor, so I wanted to find a chair to redo.

I thought I had found something that wouldn't kill me to tackle.

I was wrong.....

I AM NOW DEAD!!!!!

And am writing this from beyond the grave....

(I'm gearing up for Halloween...)

This is what I saw in the Craig's List ad.....

But the seller stripped the fabric off after she took this picture, so by the time I drove out to pick up the chair, it was just the frame with all the staples and tacks still in place.

I like to be able to strip the chair myself.....

This way I can see how it was done, and it acts as somewhat of a tutorial about how to redo it.

It's always a good idea to take pictures as you strip a piece of furniture, because you'll believe that there is

NO WAY

you'll forget how it was done......

BUT YOU WILL!!!!!!!!

The seller told me she would email me the pictures she had taken when she stripped it.....

but she already had my money.....

AND SHE NEVER DID.....

So this is what I got.....

This was the way the springs looked.....

This is the way the frame looked.....

These are just some of the tacks I pulled out of this monster.....

So, without any pictures of the stripping process I was on my own.

NEVER MIND!!!!!

I have my buddies at Drape It 

(my drapery/upholstery workroom) 

(also some of my best friends)

for advice.

So I hauled the chair over there for a consultation with Gil 

their resident expert.

He is my guru.

I started by taking all the old ties off the springs.....

So, now it was stripped of all the tacks and ties.

IT WAS READY FOR IT'S NEW FINISH!!!!!

I began with a coat of French Linen.....

So the carved top went from this.....

To this.....

Here's the frame all painted with one coat....

THEN THE RED TANNIN STARTED BLEEDING THROUGH!!!!

So I had to go get some spray shellac to seal the frame.

At this point, I stood back and thought about how I wanted to place the fabric.

There were several options.

One way was the way it had been done, with the fabric wrapping around the legs.

I decided that I wanted the full leg post to show, so I had to fill in the nail holes from the previous upholstery job...

OK, at this point I went crazy with paint.

I was calling Amy every couple of hours telling her I had a paint compulsion and to come over to my house and take the paint away from me.....

The b@#$ didn't rescue me!!!!!

She's the one who sells me the chalk paint, so she was probably thinking...

"Yeah, paint the whole world Betsy with multiple coats!!!!!"

I painted Old White over the French Linen.

Then I painted a mix of Abtibes Green and Greek Blue over the Old White....

Then I painted a mix of Provence and Louis Blue over the green.....

Then I dry brushed French Linen over all that.....

Then I added some dry brushed Old White......

Then I sanded through some of the paint to show the different colors.

 Then I waxed it with natural wax, and then added some dark wax.....

You can see the different colors showing through..... 

I really like the way it looks on the carvings.....

I realize it's a very subtle effect, and I could have gotten away with just doing a dry brushing of Old White over French Linen.....

but I wanted to try a multi-colored layered effect.

So here is the frame all painted and ready for reupholstering.

I will continue this story with the re-upholstery on Tuesday.....

So, that's it for today....

Latah, Gatah

Partying at:

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Recycling old recycled stuff, In Other Words... Re-recycling

This is a story about 

Really, Really, Really

recycling.....

When my bidness partner Kris and I first started our

TREMENDOUSLY SUCCESSFUL

ENDEAVOR 

(One of these days we'll break even!!!!!)

(I know we will....)

(I'm pretty sure.....)

(OY, OY, OY)

We were in a warehouse type of space in a group antique store.

I wanted to create a display wall to help separate our area.

WELLLLLL.......

Kris was away for a little while......

I was very excited about our new bidness!!!!!

I found a behemoth of a cabinet that I was sure once it was fixed and painted would just do the trick!!!!!

There was a weird wood spindle railing galley type of detail around the top of the crown molding.

We took that off before this shot.

It's too bad we didn't have a picture to show you.

IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!!!

It was an East Lake style and had some nice detailing.....

I accented the carvings with a white detailing....

WELLLLLL.......

We painted it.

This was in 2006.

BEFORE I KNEW ABOUT CHALK PAINT!!!!!

So we sanded, and we sanded, and we primed and we patched......

then we tried a few different colors for the inside....

We finally settled on something I feel was pretty......

Then we were kicked out of the antique store!!!!!!!

The proprietor didn't like that I called a customer and asked for my money.

She had walked out with a little lustre ware pitcher promising to mail the check the next day.

WELLLLLLL.......

When a week went by and I hadn't received my money.....

I simply called and left a reminder message on her answering machine.

WELLLLL.......

The customer was outraged that I felt it necessary to call with a reminder.

She felt insulted, as if I was accusing her of not planning on paying.....

Look, folks.....

Don't say you're going to mail the check, not mail it, and then act all outraged.....

So, I got the boot!!!!!

This was just when my buddy Josh was opening his showroom in the Boston Design Center!!!!!

Next thing I know!!!!!

Kris and I are in the bigtime!!!!

Now we sell out antiques in the Boston Design Center at Studio 534.

And our display cabinet looked great there, for a time.....

After a couple of years, Josh wanted to change things up in his showroom, so this cabinet went to summer camp in my parents garage.....

Then Amy Chalmers got a store in Boston!!!!!

The cabinet could have a new purpose!!!!!

It could have a new life!!!!!

It could feel popular again!!!!!

She took the doors off and now it holds all her Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, that I didn't know about when I painted this monster.

Here it is in the center of a class.....

Amy's given it a new purpose, I look like I'm really generous, and Kris is just glad to get it out of the garage!!!!!

So that's my story 

Latah, Gatah

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