Saturday, November 18, 2017

Face Lift

 I did a spontaneous double-take on this fabric and instantly saw it on my dining room chairs.
This set is old;  inherited from Bill's parents.
 I had a rough idea of the fabric needs and thought I had the foam measured out right.  
(I didn't but that comes later!)
 When I pulled the seat off the chair and pulled the staples from the cover, 
I was quite surprised to see another layer underneath!  
The velvet was disintegrating and the padding was so discolored and musty!
  You've served your time;  goodbye!
This fabric is typical of the 1940's and I have even seen another chair at a friend's and she concurred the time frame.   
Since that was when his parents married, 
we assumed the set was from then.  
 I am thinking much earlier now!  
  
 The chair seats are of solid mahogany-no pressed plywood these!  
The wood is still in great shape and no splits or warping.  
 (I wish I had treated it with wood oil before I covered them again!)
 I traced a pattern......cut out my fabric,
 cut out the batting to cover the foam and then cut out the foam.  
Covering chairs is easy in this case;  no sewing but there is a lot of muscle-
in both pulling staples and real tacks 
(the small black kind most of you will remember if you are over 50! lol) . 
 Also a lot of picking up and turning over to unscrew the seats with the drill 
and then reverse the order to put it all back together again! 
 It is so worth it to have the dining room get a face lift! 
 I will show you the whole room when I finish the other two chairs! 
Remember, I said more on that-yeah, I ran out of the foam
 but we will stop and pick some more up today so I can finish them!)
  (I'm pretty sure there is enough to do a table runner, too!  Yippee!)

8 comments:

  1. I've done that job on some bentwood chairs my grandmother left me and it is hard work-but very rewarding. It looks great!

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  2. I need to recover my kitchen chairs, Little Buddy's braces snag the fabric and it gets pilled. Maybe after the Holidays. Love your teal shawl it is gorgeous.

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  3. Nice job on reviving the chair cushions. I have a similar chair that I purchased in a second hand store too long ago to remember. I striped the finish and needlepointed a cushion cover, but it hasn't been finished. The chair is in the shed and the needlepoint in the cedar chest. I REALLY need to finish that project.

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  4. That fabric is beautiful. Is there anything you CAN'T do????? LOL

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  5. What a fun project with a fabulous result! I love that the fabric is an elegant beach theme rather than the typical cutesie beach — perfect for your home!

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  6. Wow. You are amazing. I would never tackle that! The newly covered chair looks fresh and wonderful

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  7. Nice! Before we got Dave's grandma's dining set, his Mom gave us some chairs she picked up a a garage sale. They had a bunch of fancy carved work with padded seats. I'd intended to recover the seats (the fabric was very '80s) but we discovered all that carved work on the backs was actually plastic! And it was getting brittle and cracking.... they just dont make 'em like they used to. Yours are lovely!

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  8. Beautiful fabric you are using. Can't wait to see pictures of the entire room!

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