Monday, March 21, 2011

My old chair made new...

I have posted this chair in other places to get feedback from others and the feedback has been great!
This is just a little 'behind the scenes' detail.
I bought 2 of these good quality chairs off Craig's list for $75. The upholstery was in poor shape but padding, springs and frame were outstanding.  The first one that I re-upholstered took over a month to just get it stripped down, staples removed, and back and arms dismantled.  The chair was easy to upholster once all that was done and it turned out quite nice (pics on another post in this blog). 
I have waited over a year to tackle the 2nd chair because I did not want to dismantle another one.... So I didn't dismantle it.. Bad decision!
The fabric that I used was also a bad decision...proof that 2 bad decisions do not make a good one!...did I quote that right? anyway...
I just decided not to remove the old and just 'cover it up'...
The vinyl suede would not slide over the old fabric...everything had to be tugged and yanked and pulled.  (In case you did not know this, if you grab a piece of vinyl fabric with a pair of plyers and yank on it... it rips...quite badly...)
Also, if you staple it, then have to remove the staples because the fabric needed tightening up a bit, the staple holes do not go away, plus it gives a dotted line for the fabric to tear on when you try to pull it tight.  nuff said... I was not particularly pleased with the results of my chair.

It looks OK from a distance..
 I felt a need to cover up my cover up...so to speak.
So, I made a little quiltlet cover up (a cover up to cover a cover up to cover a cover up)?
It does not hide the flaws in the upholstery job, but provides a focal point so that they are not quite so noticeable.   I backed the quiltlet with polar fleece so that it would cling to the suede fabric and not keep sliding off.  so far it has stayed put.
 This is a close up of the quiltlet.  I did not have a pattern, I just winged it with some scraps of fat quarters that were in my stash.  All in all, I am liking it now..