Day 2 of Re-upholstery 201

Welcome back to day 2 of Re-upholstery 201.  If you missed day 1, you can catch it here!

Yesterday - - we completely stripped the chair, laid our old pieces of fabric on our new fabric and cut the new fabric out with extra clearance all the way around each piece.  Now it’s time to get to the fun part!!!

Now’s the time to pull out your tools!  Chalk, scissors, staple gun (my favorite tool!) and eventually your sewing machine!

 

Now, looking back at when you took your fabric off your chair, what was the very last piece you took off?  It’s going to either be your front back of your chair, or the seat support.  We are going to tackle both of these today.

Let’s start with the seat support or the part that is under your cushion.   On this piece, it is very important that you copy your pattern piece (your original fabric piece) as closely as possible.  This will help you line up all those frame supports that you are going to run into.   You will notice that this is made up of two different pieces of fabric sewn together right along the front.  If you want to just use one solid piece of your new fabric, you can do that, but just know that your going to use 1/2 a yard of  your pretty fabric on a place that no one is ever going to see.  It is very simple to just sew your pretty fabric  to piece of canvas with a straight stitch. 

(ok - - forgive me on this one - - but I did my chair out of order and had to go back and fix things, so disregard that the chair is mostly done - - just look at the details!!  Do as I say, not as I do!)

Lay this fabric along the bottom of your chair and down the front.   It might be time for you to refer back to your pictures again to see how they have attached this fabric.  It should be stapled on both sides to the frame under the arms and then at the back to the frame.   You will have to make slits to fit it around the front of the arm.  These will be angled slits that you will fold under or tuck in between the cushioning. 

The fabric that folds down the front of the chair will be  stapled directly to the front of the chair far enough over that the arm fabric will cover up the staples.

All you have left on this piece, is to attach it to the bottom of your chair.  Simply wrap the fabric around the bottom of your chair, smooth it out, and staple it along the bottom of your chair.

Now, lets move on to the front back of your chair - - this is probably the easiest part of your re-upholstery job, so it’s great that it’s the first thing we are going to do!!  Refer back to your pictures to see exactly how it was attached.  Was is smoothly wrapped around the back, or is the fabric pleated and bunched to make it work around some curves?  You are going to re-create exactly what was done before.

Take your piece of new fabric that you have just cut out.  Remember it is going to be a little bit larger than the piece you took off.  You should have transferred all the slits from your original piece to your new fabric.  These slits will be where the frame of the chair land and it will help you place your fabric and also ease around the bottom curves.  You might notice that sometimes when they put this piece on - -there is a “scrap” piece of fabric sewn on the bottom of the pretty fabric.   This is just one way for furniture manufacturers to save some money by only having the pretty fabric in the places where you can see it - - if you are tight on fabric, this is a great option for you too.  I generally just use one piece of fabric - - I don’t sew the extra piece on.  Mainly because I seem to always have enough fabric and because I don’t have a lot of patience so I would rather just do it all in one piece!!

So, back to that piece of new fabric.  Lay if over the front back of your chair, lining up the slits with the frame.  Smooth your piece out and stuff the bottom portion of the fabric between the seat and back cushion.   On this particular chair, the fabric just wraps completely around the entire top of the chair.  On chairs that have wing backs, you will actually push the fabric through a slit between the back and the wing.  This will be stapled at the back of the chair….BUT you will need to upholster the wing back portion first so that when you staple the back fabric, you can pull it around past the slit.  ( I know that all sounds kind of confusing, but if you watched as you took your fabric off, you will know exactly where you need to staple it!!

You will be tucking your fabric in around the arms - -this fabric should tuck all the way through to the back so that you can staple it to the frame at the back of your chair.

Once you have laid your fabric over the back and you are satisfied with the placement (as in you love it so much, you wish it was already finished) then it is time to start stapling.  You can staple all the way around the top and the sides of the chair - -making sure that your fabric is smooth as you go.

  

Now all you have left is to staple the bottom.   Pull the fabric from the back and make sure it is laying nicely - - not too tight and not too loose.  You are going to staple this DOWN - - when I say DOWN, I mean DON’T pull the fabric up to the frame….PULL IT DOWN and staple it.  If you pull it up, you will find that you have a funny gap when you are finished with your chair, if you pull it down, you will not have a gap.

Are you getting a vision of what your chair is going to look like - - this is a fabulous time to really envision what the final product is going to look like and keep yourself excited to finish the project!!  Join me tomorrow as we tackle the arms.    Don’t be nervous - - they aren’t as hard as they look!!

Re-upholstery 201

Welcome to Re-upholstery 201!!!

Let me introduce you to our next victim…um, I mean re-upholstery project!!  This upholstered rocking chair is very similar to my red rocker that I just posted about last week.  The only difference is that mine is a wing back, and this one just has a flat panel back.  It is the perfect chair to work on next.  It is definitely harder than the Re-upholstery 101 chair that I did, but still not too difficult!

This chair had experienced some loving!  Any piece of furniture that is white is going to show it’s wear and tear quickly.  A few markers and a couple of spilled drinks had definitely left their mark on this chair.  It was time to give it a make-over!

First step - - pick out your new fabric.  This is actually a very important step.  Other than the obvious, that you want something long lasting and something that is going to fit your style, you want something you love.  I have a running joke around here that if you have “fun” fabric, you move to the top of my to-do list!!  This is also what is going to motivate you to keep working on your project.  You are going to be so excited about what the finished product is going to look like that you just keep pushing yourself.  If you have an ugly fabric, you really are not going to feel motivated - - and truly, what fun would it be to work with a fabric that you hate?

The fabric choice for this chair is a fabulous black and white floral paisley.   Are you aware that you don’t have to use just fabric that you buy by the yard?  This is actually a king duvet cover!  The fabric is a very heavy weave and super soft!  You could also use curtain panels, table cloths, quilts - - anything you love, just as long as it is a heavy enough weight to be long lasting and not easily ripped!  Think outside the box!!

After you have your fabric, it’s time to start taking the chair apart.   Carefully take each piece off, doing your best not to rip your pieces, you will be using these to cut out your new fabric pieces.  The important thing to remember is that you are going to put your chair back together in the opposite order that you take it apart.  For example - - the very first thing that you will take off is the dust barrier on the bottom of your chair, then the back panel.   So, when you are putting your chair back together the last two pieces you will put on is the back panel followed by the bottom dust barrier.

For this chair, the first step was to take the rockers off the bottom of the chair.  It was super simple, just 8 long screws easily taken out with my drill.

Another important thing to remember is to take pictures as you go.  In the beginning, when you are doing your first, second, even third re-upholstery project, you will want to take pictures of each piece before you take it off.   Take pictures of every area where two different panels meet, take pictures of every place where things are stapled, take pictures of any area you think you might not remember how to put it back together!!  This will help you tremendously as you put your piece back together!

I also label each of my pieces as I take them off.  I label each one with where it came from, what direction it goes, where cording is attached or meets up, and any cut-outs or slits that are on the original piece.  This will help tremendously when cutting out your new fabric and clear up a lot of confusion!!

To take the fabric off -  you are going to start by grabbing your small flat head screwdriver and prying it under the edge of your back fabric.   Once you have a small section loosened, then you can take a pair of pliers and grab onto the edge of your fabric and give it a huge tug.  Most times you will be able to just rip/tug/pull your old fabric off.  Sometimes, you will have a stubborn staple (or a thousand stubborn staples!) and you will need to pry it out with  your screwdriver.

After you have taken all the fabric off your piece, you are going to take each of your pieces of fabric from the chair and lay them out on your new fabric.  I try to leave at least 5 inches between pieces of fabric.   I never cut my new pieces out exactly the same size as the pieces that I took off.  1. because those pieces are stretched out and misshaped and 2. because when they make the furniture in the factory, they trim the excess fabric - - a lot of times it is such a tight fit that there is no way you would be able to pull your fabric and be able to staple it down.  So leave plenty of extra room around each of your pieces!

Alright - - I think that is enough for the day!  Join me again tomorrow as we start putting the fabric on the chair!!

Spring Break

Wow!  What a great response to the “Half Way There” post and contest!  Thank you all so much for your encouragement during this deployment.  It feels good to be on the down-hill side, but it does feel like time is starting to go slower!

This past week was a productive week for me!  One of my best friends from college was here.  We did exactly what I thought we would do - - lots of pampering, shopping and late nights!  It was fabulous!  We also celebrated Charise’s 7th Birthday.

I did actually get some projects done while she was here, nothing big, but since we are counting, I thought I would share them with you.  But first, the big news of the day is that Re-upholstery 201 will be starting tomorrow and continuing through the rest of the week.  Many of you have been asking for a tutorial on a more complicated chair or even couches, so this next project is a great “stepping up in difficulty” project!

One of my first projects  (#55) to report is the most obvious.  I’ve been “spring cleaning” on my blog.  It was getting too messy and too busy - - so I went for a cleaner look…BUT now all my pictures have resized and things aren’t laying out correctly.  I wish I was more computer smart - - but that just wasn’t one of the gifts God gave me.  So – hang with me as I attempt to figure this all out!

None of my other projects were overly exciting  this week, but since we are keeping count, here is a quick list!

1 more bag (Project #56)

 

3 more pillows (Projects #57 – #59)

3 sets of curtains (Projects #60 - #62)

 

this is also a quick peek at a bigger project I am working on - - but more on that one later!

This set of curtains was a “re-make” of some curtains we found at World Market - - loved the fabric, but they needed to be tweaked a little.  I’m still waiting for “after” pictures, so for now you can just enjoy the beauty of the fabric!!

Join me tomorrow as we get started on a new chair for Re-upholstery 201

Half Way There!!!

Sunday was officially our half-way point for this deployment!  Half way - - heading down-hill now instead of up-hill!!  It seems to have gone by quite quickly except these past two weeks.  I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of one of my best friends from college.

Becca and I have a crazy story of how we met!  We both grew up in Wisconsin about an hour from each other, but we actually met at a youth convention in Florida where we both realized that in a few months we were both going to be going to the same college in Georgia.  Then, when we each got to college in Georgia, we found out we were in rooms right across the hall from each other.  Were you even able to follow all that?  We hit  it off right away and have been great friends since we met 15 years ago!

So this week promises to hold lots of laughs, late night talks, spa days, shopping, site seeing, and chocolate!  I am so excited I can hardly stand it!  I’m guessing that I’m not going to have many projects to post this week – unless getting a pedicure is considered a project :)

So, since I am halfway through this deployment and I have already completed (and posted about) #54 Deployment projects, I thought it would be fun to play a little game with this. 

How many Deployment Projects Total will I complete before Handsome Hubby returns to us in July?

So far I have:

re-upholstered  13 couches and chairs,

slip-covered 3 chairs,

made 22 pillows,

made 7 bags,

sewed 4 shirts 3 skirts and 2 dresses,

1 Jedi robe,

1 camera strap,

made 3 quilts,

painted 1 picture,

totally made over 2 rooms,

and fixed 1 truck mirror!

Wow!  Sounds like a lot when I write it all down!  If you add up the numbers you will realize that I need to do better at posting everything too.  Sometimes it’s just hard to make sure I get pictures of everything because I’m so darn excited!!  Of course, I only count the projects I actually post! :)

To enter the contest, in the comments, you have to leave your guess at the total # of projects and make sure that you leave an email address so that if you win, I can contact you!!  I will be putting together a prize package over the next three months of different little projects that I make and whoever is the closest - -without going over will get the prize!!

Sounds fun doesn’t it?   ok, go ahead and give it your best guess - - hey, I’m guessing too - - I have no clue how many projects it will be total!!

Red Rocker Re-upholstery (Deployment Project #54)

Do you remember your very first piece of brand new furniture you ever bought?  There is an emotional attachment to that piece isn’t there?  The first piece of furniture I ever bought on my own from a furniture store is this red rocker.  Handsome Hubby and I had been married almost a year, we were stationed at Ft. Gordon, GA and I had my first official job - - teaching at a Montessori school.  Handsome Hubby and I were out shopping – looking for nothing in particular - - when I saw this red rocker chair.  I fell in love with it and had to have it!

It has moved with us 8 times, been in a place of prominence in almost every room of our house, I have rocked and nursed both my babies in this chair - - and it shows!

It was time for my favorite chair to get a make-over!  I knew just the fabric I wanted to use for this chair.  I’ve been protecting it and saving it for just this project.  Almost every customer that has come to “shop” my fabric stash has wanted this piece of fabric. 

It is a sweet natural cotton with branches and birds printed on it and I love it!!  There is no markings or labels on the edges of this fabric, so I can’t tell you who makes it or what pattern it is - - all I know is that I wish I had more of it!

I have one scrap 6” x 10” left over - - so it was a tight fit!  In fact, that is why I used a contrasting brown welting for the chair, because I knew that there was not going to be enough fabric for both!

The coolest part about this project is that the two kids who were rocked and fed in this chair - - the same two who made it so nasty - - helped me re-upholster it.  They both helped with the tearing apart and then Cameron got to use the stapler and Charise documented the whole process with the camera.  Both of them loved helping and have both told me they will help with ANY re-upholstery projects I have!!

(Charise’s photography skills - -notice how she captured my best side and my fabulous hair-do!)

What about you?  What was your first piece of furniture you bought that you still have an emotional attachment to?  Is it time for you to give it a make-over?