Charlie's Chair

When Charlie's chair was passed down to his grandson it had witnessed many happy family dinners and seated many happy diners. Charlie's grandson decided it was time to give something back to the chair! The seat had started sagging so I rewebbed this and added more stuffing before attaching this lovely, but still masculine, material. As there was some material left I was even able to add a matching cushion to make Charlie's chair even more comfortable. 

These are two more chairs I reupholstered for the same people, in the most beautiful Laura Ashley remnant fabric. If you have something small you think you would like reupholstering it is always worth looking about for offcuts. Shops that sell material, such as Laura Ashley, will always end up with a metre or so from the end of a roll. This is often reduced as people aren't usually looking for such small amounts. You can try out the comfiness of my reupholstery, as well as the most delicious food, at Charlie and Evelyn's Table.

Cane Back Chair

The chair I started working on last week is now ready for it's top cover. And if you are interested, here is how it got there...

Last week I took it down to it's bare springs

This has had some new webbing (the pieces of material crossing on the bottom), added on the underneath to stop any sagging, and I have retied the springs down so that they can't move about when sat on. You can see in the photo that the old string in the middle has come loose and started to give, so all of these were replaced.

On top of the springs goes a "spring canvas" to cover them up and give your stuffing a base to go on. This needs to be sturdy stuff to stop your springs popping through, or your stuffing falling down!

 When I stripped the chair down the original spring canvas had rolls around the edges. This is to give the edges a harder line and allow the stuffing to sit in between them. As the rolls on the original spring canvas were in good condition I decided to attach this back on, on top of the new spring canvas. I then stitched the top of the springs through both layers of canvas (you can just make the stitches out on this photo), again so that the springs would not move around too much.

The original stuffing was placed on top and I used my hands to feel where the seat was uneven. I put a layer of new stuffing underneath the original one to make the seat more comfy and even it out. This photo shows the stuffing covered over with a layer of wadding to stop the spiky stuffing poking through the top.

I then used a huge double ended needle to stitch the stuffing into place so that it would not move about when sat on.

Finally I attached a layer of calico, pulling it as tight as I could. The chair is now comfy and ready to be loved again. For now it will go back to it's owner until a beautiful new cover is decided on.

This weeks project...

... is a gorgeous cane back chair.

 The seat is a little saggy and uncomfortable, and it needs some new material for an updated look, but it really is a lovely little chair. When I've finished it next week I will tell you all about it, but for now it looks like this...

Traditionally Upholstered Footstool - More

A very quick post to say I have now stitched on the calico layer over the second stuffing. This was an easy stage as all I had to do was pull the calico tight and sew a blind stitch all the way around to secure it. Now all it needs is a beautiful top cover!

Traditionally Upholstered Footstool

This footstool has become my nemesis. It is traditionally upholstered i.e made with proper stuffing and ties rather than foam, and therefore takes a lot of time and effort. It has been sat in it's present state by my sofa for almost a year. I look at it every day and think "I will finish you tomorrow....."

 To get this far (above photo) I have attached webbing to the wooden frame (which had to be handmade before the upholstery could even start), sewn springs on to this, tied the springs down to the frame, tacked on a spring canvas, bridle stitched the spring canvas, attached stuffing to the stitches, tacked on hessian over the stuffing, regulated the stuffing through the hessian to make it even, stitched four layers around the edges of the stuffing and hessian to pull it into place, and finally sewn bridle stitches on top of this for the next stuffing to be attached to. If that much effort goes into a wee footstool (that is not even finished) I am sure you can all appreciate why traditionally upholstered, hand made furniture costs so much more than your typical mass produced stuff. The time and skill that goes into these pieces means that they are more than likely to outlive you, let alone a mass produced piece that you'll be throwing out in five years!

So after all that effort I realised I had better stand up to my nemesis and finish the footstool. The above photo is the next step; I have attached the second stuffing to the bridle stitches. This takes a while because you have to make sure the stuffing is evenly spread out, so that when your stool is finished it will be even and comfy all over. And that is as far as I have got! Hopefully next week I will be able to show you what the next stage looks like. For now, the stool is sat back down next to my sofa.

Coffee Bean Chairs

Last month I bought some old coffee bean sacks and couldn't decide what to do with them. When I saw these chairs though I knew just how to cheer them up!

With a few coats of bright paint and coffee bean seats they have been completely transformed.

The close ups.....