I don't know what I was thinking 12 years ago when I spent good money on this chair with the diamond print fabric, but I've been loathing it for at least 5 years now. Just hating the fabric, there is nothing wrong with the chair itself. Which led me to think the best thing to do was re-upholstering. How hard could it be? The answer: not that hard at all! Thank the heavens above. Because once I started pulling it apart there was no going back. My friend Melissa showed me an adorable chair she had re-done while taking a class and suggested I take a class too. I'm too impatient for that, so I just started.
I've never let the fact that I am clueless prevent me from trying anyway. Hers is better though because she did piping. I don't think piping is all that necessary, is it? Just say no. I surmised, correctly, that if I just tore everything apart, then I could use the old pieces of fabric as a pattern. What surprised me the most was how little actual sewing was involved. Its almost all just tucked in and around and stapled to death. The hardest part (three days worth) was removing the 3,141,5926 staples some maniac had driven in. My best friends were a slender flat screwdriver, a pair of needle-nosed pliers, and an ice pack for my right hand.
I love my dh for buying cool tools and occasionally letting me borrow them. A pneumatic staple gun rocks my world, though I jumped every single time the thing made that crazy loud noise. Notice the full face protection. Glamorous, no? After the accident, we are a bit fanatical about our eyeballs around here. Foot protection is obviously optional.
If you are considering doing a project like this, you can do it! You will love it. I used 4 yards of fabric for this chair. I wish I had bought a little extra for a throw pillow or two for the couch. Christine, if you are reading this, I know the wall hangings are too high. I'm working on it.
Its kind of a shinier fabric than I thought it would be. Hopefully I will love it for several years. Its going to take that long for my staple-prying hand to recover. Ouch.
I have no idea why this picture/text formatting is all wacky. I've tried for an hour to fix it.
9 comments:
That looks AWESOME! Good job! I would LOVE to reupholster the sectional couch we have in our family room, but if THAT took you 4 days, the couch would take me 4 months. I am way proud of you though!
Fabulous job!
wanna come do my couch??
That looks WONDERFUL!!!! Boy, I'd be proud of my mad stapling skills if I had done that! Way to go! It's good to know I am surrounded by the talented.
The chair looks great! Way to go!
Looks great, you are my homemaking hero!
I am so impressed! It looks great. Melissa
I have two chairs that I'm considering slipcovering, but after seeing how beautiful your chair turned, maybe I'll try my hand at upholstery...
fabulous!
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