How To: Simple Chair Re-Upholstery

So I know it's been awhile since my last how to post.  I've been working hard to get my etsy shop up and running.  I made my first Etsy sale last week and while it's good news, I still have a lot of work to do.  I have been meaning to do this project for awhile so I figured I share the process, and the results with you.  If you decide to try this out be prepared to use a bit of imagination and problem solving, since every piece of furniture is different and some may be more difficult then others.  This will at least give you a starting point for a very simple technique to bring new life to an old chair.

I found the chair I'm working on here at the Saint Vincent de Paul Thrift store for $10.00.  I thought the design and color went perfect with my newly purchased mid-century dresser from the Broyhill Brasilia collection.

YOU'LL BE NEEDING:

1. Pliers 

2. Screw driver (preferably with interchangeable heads to help you tackle any type of screw)

3. Rotary cutter or Scissors

4. A staple gun with 1/4" staples.

5. Upholstery Fabric of your choice (I got about two yards of this from goodwill for about $2.00 in the textiles section)

6. Lining fabric (any cheap cotton weave will do, I used and old bed sheet)

6. A chair that needs some love

DO IT:

Inspect the underside of your chair to determine how the seat is attached.  Mine is simply screwed on with four screws, one in each corner.

Inspect the screws to determine what type of tools you'll need to remove them.  Mine were little squares.  I'm quite sure that's the technical name for them.

Remove the seat from the rest of the chair using your tool of choice.

Now you're ready to remove the Upholstery.  In my case it was simply attached with staples.  I used a Flathead screwdriver and some elbow grease to remove it.

To my surprise there was yet another layer of upholstery fabric under the first so I removed that as well using the same technique.

I discovered some mold in the foam cushion.  Rather then throw it out and buy new foam, which I would suggest if you're not on as tight a budget as I am, I washed it in hot water with a quarter cup of bleach to kill any and all nastiness that might have been living in there and I threw out the old fabric. Here's the before and after:

 

Now Lay the seat on your lining fabric and cut around it with about 3 inches of allowance.

Use this as a template to create another identical shape from the upholstery fabric.

 Now begin to wrap the seat in the lining fabric.  You don't need many staples for the lining fabric as you are only going to tack it down.  work from the center top and bottom, then the center sides.  Always place a staple directly across from the staple you've just done to ensure the fabric is evenly stretched on all sides.  Neatly fold and tack down the corners.

Now repeat the process using the upholstery fabric.  Place the staples no farther then 2 inches apart, working the same way as above.  take care at the corners that the top and sides are as seamless as possible.

Now your seat should look something Like this:

  

Now replace the seat on the chair and re-attach using the original hardware and you're done!  My old chair now reflects my personal style, goes great in my bedroom and is an awesome complement to my new dresser.  Let me know how your projects go and good luck!

How To: Mushroom Pin Cushion

This simple project will probably take you less then an hour to complete.  I made it because I have been wanting a large pin cushion with a weighted bottom for my sewing room.

YOU'LL BE NEEDING:

 

1. Sturdy woven fabric of your choice, something cute and not stretchy

2. A sharp pair of scizzors

3. A plastic lid from something... salsa, hummus, sour cream, you get the idea.

4. A cylindrical container for the base.  Almost anything will work here.  I used a ceramic one made by my talented sister.  I like it because its lovely and it has some weight.  You could go for a cute rustic look with a tin can with some gravel inside.  Or a little wooden log.  Use your imagination.  As Chef John would say... you're the boss of your sauce.

5. Some yarn, I ended up using two colors but this is optional

6. A Needle and Thread

7. Some Poly fill

8. A Compas

DO IT:

Using A compass, approximate a circle with a radius about two and a half times that of the plastic lid.

 Now draft a circle on the wrong side of your fabric.

 Snip snip.

 

Put some poly fill on the bottom side of the plastic lid.  IMPORTANT! Use about 2 or 3 times as much as I did.  I had to go back and do this again because the stuffing wasn't dense enough and the pins didn't stay put.

Stretch the fabric around the lid and secure in back with a few stitches.  The fabric should feel tight.

Now fold over the other side of the fabric and secure with a few more stitches.

At this point I shoved a little bit more stuffing into the corners, just for good measure.  Pull catty-corners together at the back and secure with a few more stitches.

Do this again.

 

Now keep stitching the back, stretching the edges toward each other with the thread until you have all the ends tightened and stitched to the middle and it looks like this:

 Next you'll get your yarn and the base.

Wrap the top part of the base with yarn 10-12 times with yarn,  The more haphazard the better here.

 Tie a little knot and tuck in the ends.  Best to tie the knot toward the top, like it didn't do here.

 

Next you're going to stitch the mushroom top onto the base using the first few strands of yarn as an anchor.  Do it like this:

 All the way around now.

For this last step I used another color yarn but you could use the same one if you want. 

Wrap the top rim of the base with more yarn to cover the stitches. blend it down into the existing yarn.

Tie a knot and hide the ends.  Guess what? You're done!

Try it out, if you do, send pics to elizzaruth@gmail.com and I'll share them here! Thanks for reading.

Always
elizzaruth