Upholstery Tutorial
Last summer I was headed to a friend’s house when my foot took over my vehicle and slammed on the brakes! (This is not the first time a chair has stopped me in my tracks!) A garage sale will cause it to do that every time. There wasn’t much out in front of that run down garage….but what was there….looked fun. I got out…and went over, and to my dismay….inside that garage….was PILES of stuff!! Including this little green baby! I bought five chairs that day….one of which I guess flew out of the back of my pick-up on the way home, because it was missing, but it’s seat was still there when I stopped at the barn to drop the tired ladies off! lol So….if any of Y’all need a spare seat….I have one! If you found my missing chair….please bring her home! Y’all can’t imagine how much crap I’ve lost out of the back of my truck! ugh!
when I started on this little girl, I had my doubts that it had ANY padding on the seat at all. As I began to take her apart…and peel back the years, I found out why! (I should have taken a picture….but it was so gross…I just balled it up and went straight to the dumpster with it!) She had FIVE different fabrics under the one you see above. That one, I have to say….is the WORST choice of all of them!
You could actually tell what decade each of them came from. Seriously?…I’m sorry…but this green…hasn’t been popular in all of those decades….blacccchhhh…..I guess living though the seventies….has just burned me on avocado green and orange. Although I LOVE avocados and oranges…..I HATE this color….and I really don’t like orange either!!! ANYHOO…..she didn’t have foam…NONE. What was there….and I’m not kidding….was a layer of carpet padding!!! REALLY?!!! in all those years of recovering her….you couldn’t come up with something more comfortable than carpet padding to put between the layers of fabric? REALLY?….and the fact that about five pounds of gross disgusting dirt was left behind when I laid the pile down on the deck (thank goodness it was a pretty day, and I went out on the deck to do this) All that didn’t clue you in? Okay…I’m being a bit harsh….but really? Folks….if you’re gonna recover a chair….and it isn’t hard. Take the time to take off the other layers….and see what you’re working with. Make sure the foam is in good shape…and shake the dirt and grime out! ewwwwwwe that was as nasty as pulling up old carpet!! People…..PAAAALEEEEESE!
I looked all over my house…..and I guess Karma was paying me back for thinking such bad thoughts about carpet padding for a seat cushion….because I couldn’t find a piece of foam in ANY of my stashes…at least not the type I was hunting! So I came up with some indoor…outdoor foam. I guess not too bad of choices….since this actually might get used for eating (go figure…it’s a dining room chair) I personally wouldn’t use it for that…but what ever! lol
It’s hard to tell the foam from the quilt batting but I tried to point it out here…Let me explain what’s going on in this photo. The piece of fabric you see me holding up is just a scrap….actually it’s a discontinued sample from a furniture store…lol The reason I used it is to keep the foam from rubbing on the wooden seat frame. (I have it all upside down in the photo) So…wood gets wrapped in scrap fabric…then foam. The quilt batting is another little trick I learned from my upholstery friend. If you’ll place quilt batting over your foam…and give it just a slight pull…before you cover with your outside fabric….it softens the corners of your foam…and you don’t get that sharp corner of the foam showing through….play…you’ll see what I’m talking about.
No…what I do is take my corners…like in this photo…and bring them in…giving a little tension….I do them first.
Next…I take the two edges…and bring them over…and staple down.
I forgot to get a picture of my next step…but here’s what you do. Pull in at the center of a side…with about as much tension as you did at the corners. (Try to keep the tension even everywhere…or you’ll get a lopsided look on the seat). I work across ways. So…pull your first center….staple….go to the center on the opposite side…and do the same. Then the other two. Keep working your way out to the corners in this manner. One side…then the opposite. You’ll sort of be able to tell when you can just finish a side without worrying too much about going back. Usually it’s a staple or so past your centers.
Flip ‘er over and screw it back on! I’ve never very content with the way my edges look. Even though in this picture you’re looking directly at the edge…and seriously if I caught my company looking this close…and at this angle at my chairs…I’d probably ask them to leave! lol But at any rate…I know it, and it bothers me! So…I almost always put trim around the edges. And I did later you’ll see.
The paint I used here has two colors of blue below my green…plus the original green. I didn’t sand it off…because although I don’t like it all over the chair…It does look good peeking through with my blues! I aged her…Y’all know how I love my recycled treasures to tell their age…and say….I’ve been here a long time! Then I gave her a nice little wax coat…just to keep her stuck in this age! lol
I did a little experiment on this chair. I noticed that the design on the back made it a little weak…and I had to repair a place that was already broken.
I didn’t want this to happen again….and I could have just removed this weak portion all together…but I liked it…and I wanted to add emphasis to it….so I patched the broken portion….and placed a piece of structure behind it….and I like the way it turned out. So…here she is….with her new clothes….paint….wax…repairs and trim….
The really awesome part?…..I had the trim just laying around! AND….the Paint!!!
I hope this helps Y’all be brave enough to brave re-upholstery job on your dining chairs!
I just adore the fabric on the back. Now…that’s a green I can live with! How bout Y’all? Would you eat on her? What shade of green do Y’all prefer?
Love Y’all!
michele@hellolovelyinc says
loving the fabric!
hope you will find a moment to stop by and enter a giveaway i am hosting for followers (i hope you win!):
http://hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com/2012/12/personalized-lovely-giveaway.html
happy weekend to you!
michele
michele@hellolovelyinc recently posted…personalized lovely & a giveaway!
Tammy says
Thank You! I’ll check it out! 🙂