Saturday, August 10, 2013

Upholstering the Inside Back of a Chair: Chapter 2

Hoe Kay.....
I'm back to talking about my struggles with the reupholstery project that's trying to kill me a real challenge!!!!!
Last we visited this nightmare undertaking, we had gotten this far.....
If you've been following me, you know that I started with the chair looking like this.....
Soooooo.....
for the past week.....
I've been struggling with the @#$ thing!!!!!
Because I have no shame,
I will show you all the stupid stuff I tried.
The fabric is pricey, and my buddy Kris (it's her chair) paid for it, so I am trying to be really careful and not ruin it.
A chair like this takes 6 yards.
Sooooo.....
I pulled out some old sheets that my mom gave me, and used them to try and make a pattern.
Since there are going to be buttons on the back, I used my big T-pins to hold the fabric where buttons might go.
Then, I started to pin around the chair.
Then, I pinned the arm piece to the back, as if it was a slipcover.
soooooo.....
I got one arm pinned on, and it was lookin' pretty good!
I was feeling pretty smug!!!!!
I had no idea that I was in.....
way over my head!!!!!
So, I seamed both arms to the back piece and put it back on the chair, to see if it would fit.
WELL.....
IT DIDN'T.
It didn't fit at the bottom, was too tight.
Sooooooo.....
I pieced in a little fabric to make it fit.
Then I took it all apart to use as my patterns.
And bravely started cutting the linen fabric.
Put it on the chair.....
and proceeded to have a melt down.
Sooooooo.....
I did what I always do in this type of a situation.
I CALLED MY BUDDIES AT DRAPE IT!!!!!
For those of you new to my blog.....
Drape It is the work room I use for my window treatments and for my custom upholstery.
They are also some of my closest friends.
I begged Joe (the proprietor.....) to please let Kris and me bring the chair over for a tutorial with his fabuloso upholsterer Gilles.
Soooooooo.......
the next day, Kris and I hauled the chair over to their workshop and found out everything that I was doing wrong.
I will show you guys what Gilles taught me in my next post.
It's dinner time, and I'm hungry, so I'm not going into it now,
but I will show you a shot of how far I got today.
I still have to trim the fabric.
Add the buttons to the inside back.
Reupholster the outside back.
Cover the outside back.
Add double welting to cover all the staples.
Oh yeah.....
and make the cushion.
Out of down.
'Cuz Kris wants a poofy cushion, and I try to give her everything she wants.
For those of you wondering why I'm doing this.....
Why do people climb Mt Everest?????
This is my Mount Everest!!!!!
On that note.....
Latah, Gatah
Photobucket

15 comments:

20 North Ora said...

Beautiful job so far!!

Judy

Vikki said...

Amazing job Betsy. I admire your stick to it ness. Vikki in VA

sweet violets said...

OMG....looks great!!! Can't wait to see how you achieved this front piece.....you are a goddess!!!

When you end up in the wack-o ward, I will send you cookies......

Amy Chalmers said...

Woah. This is a lot of work, and you are doing an amazing job sticking with it. How lucky you are to have an upholsterer buddy to set you back on track when you get stumped. I think I am marching my new old chairs straight to the neighborhood upholsterer cuz this is way over my head!

Betsy Speert said...

Amy, if you bring one by my house, I will help you.
Maybe we could have Colin make a video of the tutorial?

Marian said...

I'd love to learn how to upholster well. I've done 3 different chairs, a headboard and a sofa all more OK than really well. Whip that sucker into submission.

KatieQ said...

What a difference knowing the tricks of the trade can make. It's looking good.

Anonymous said...

Yes, make a video for us please!! Love, love the chair and would love to know how many hours this has taken you to do, Kris better take you out for a great dinner!!

Beth C. said...

I have some good friends, but not that good. Betsy, you're a gem. This is like a tele novella. I can't wait for each installment...Best, Beth C.

Lady Courtney said...

I really like the idea of a video tutorial!!! The chair is looking amazing...and I can imagine what a pain in the @$$ its been, but the outcome is going to be gorgeous!!! :)

Jayne said...

I can't wait for the next installment! the chair looks beautiful so far :)

Betsy Speert said...

I can't wait for the next installment either!
With fear.....
With hope.....
With trepidation.....
I'm switching from wine to scotch......

Anonymous said...

It's going to be so pretty! But I gotta say, I'm not sure I would have the patience for this project. You are so brave ;-)

No wonder having reupholstering done is pricey. You'll be a pro by the time you finish this gorgeous piece :-)

Jan said...

Wow...the chair looks great! I do admire your patience. I am anxious to see what you were doing wrong...when it seemed to make sense...sigh! YES...the video tutorial would be an awesome idea!!! :-)

Scribbler said...

It is going to be a knockout if you ever finish it. The fabric is beautiful and the shape is so unusual. I am trying to learn some upholstery skills myself, so it is interesting to see how you do this.

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