We moved into our first home this past year and like most first time homeowners know... you're house just doesn't come together overnight. Our upstairs living room finally came together with the purchase of a few shelves and the gift of a chair.
My sister was getting new furniture at her house and I called dibs on a chair that she had. This chair needed a lil' pick-me-up and so my creative wheels started turning- fast! I decided that I would recover the chair. I priced out fabric that we liked that I would use to cover it... but, in the end that fabric was just too expensive. Then, lightbulb!
I remembered these curtains that I loved from World Market but, we didn't use in our living room because they didn't look good up against the wall color. The base colors were too similar. So, a trip to World Market and $75 dollars later and we were ready to begin, The Chair Project!
Here is the before...
First, I pulled out the staples and nails from the existing fabric that covered the chair. This helped me to understand how the new fabric would be attached to the frame of the chair.
Pulling all those lil' buggers out took such a long time. I also found lots of fun things when the fabric came off like: chapstick, a sock of my nieces, some polly pockets and $1.87!
*Note the towel that is under the chair. I would recommend putting something down so... 1. Your floors don't get messed up and 2. The staples/nails that you drop are caught in the same place.
The hardest part of covering the chair were the arms. This chair had piping on the edge of it and so when I got to that point... I got stuck on how to cover that. I got stuck hard. I think I just stared at the chair for 2 days thinking of what to do. Then it clicked and after a trip to the fabric store we were back in business!
I bought a few yards of fabric piping. Which I found on spools in the "cut by the yard" ribbon section of my fabric store. Then to eliminate unnecessary sewing I used the tops of the curtains, where the curtain rod would normally go, and threaded the piping through. I pinned the piping to keep it snug and sewed a straight stitch running right next to it.
After that it got easier... I figured out how to make all of the pieces. Now, I just needed to put them together.
*Note, use a heavy duty staple gun to attach fabric. You will want the extra "punch" of the heavy duty staple gun to keep your fabric tight. Also, DO NOT be afraid of using too much fabric glue to hold fabric in place along with the staples. I used 2 bottles and the best part- it dries clear!
One arm done...
Almost there...
To sew the "seat"of the chair I used 3 fabric pieces, one large piece for the middle and two smaller pieces for the sides. I laid the big piece of the fabric in the middle, pattern side down and tucked it into the back and sides of the "seat". Then I took two smaller pieces, one on each side (pattern side down) and pinned them around the curves of the seat. After it was all pinned, I took the fabric off turned it around to make sure it fit snuggly. Then I tucked and stapled the "seat" into place.
Alright everyone... we are about to have the big reveal. Are you ready?
TA-DAAAA!!!
After finishing the chair I had extra fabric so I cut fabric, sewed it up, stuffed the pillow and then tufted it. I did this because I didn't want to waste the fabric and I thought it would be nice to pull the room together. The tufting was easy and it's a nice lil' touch on the ordinary throw pillow!
I have never recovered anything before, so I didn't really have a particular order for doing any of it. I just let my creative mind run wild and in the end that worked out just fine! There is a great sense of accomplishment in completing this project. We also saved a lot of money by recovering this chair and using curtains as opposed to upholstery fabric. A chair brand new in a pattern fabric can be anywhere from $150- $400 bucks...yikes!
I love, love, love the chair and it completes our living room perfectly!
So, for all you happy crafters looking for a project... get yourself a chair!
HAPPY CRAFTING!
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