Surprise!

Beginning with the final product. These chairs are so fun! 

Here we are at the before... a friend of mine brought me these chairs to see if they could be redone. They have had a long, long history with his wife's family and he wanted to surprise her with a new look for them for her birthday.  Sure - no pressure to make them fabulous or anything! 

He wanted them painted black and the rattan repaired and he left the fabric choice to me - FUN! 

You can see here the rattan is in pretty good shape but there was one spot to repair (you likely can't find it). These chairs were originally manufactured in Czechoslovakia, they are incredibly good quality and a very comfortable design. It was a real pleasure to work with them.

And so I began... took the chair apart and stripped out the rattan. 

Painted the frames all black. I used chalk paint and finished with a hard shiny top coat.

This is the base of the chair before....

I stripped off the old webbing and painted the frame black...

Attached new webbing.  Tight webbing is what makes a seat firm and strong. 

I covered the webbing with fabric... here is the underside. 

Then started on the rattan. 

This was a process I had never done before but it came out fantastic. If I don't know how to do something I research it, buy extra materials and just go for it. I love a good challenge! 

So here is the process: 

• Roughly cut the rattan to size. 
• Soak the rattan and spline for 20 minutes in water to soften it, then when it drys it shrinks and gets tight like a drum. 
• Lay rattan over the piece, make sure it's square (sounds easy right?)
• Pull excess rows of rattan away so it will easily press down into the groove. (There's a groove.) 
• Using a wooden wedge work the rattan from the center of each side to the corners in to the groove. 
• Using a chisel trim away the excess that is on the outside of the groove.
• Run a bead of glue into the groove. 
• Fit the soaked spline (this is the piece of wood that holds the rattan in place) into the groove, lightly tap it in with a mallet and when it dries will hold the rattan tight. 
• Cut the spline on 45 degree angles at the corners.
• Done. 

Phew - that wasn't so hard. Especially considering the back is curved and the sides are angled... 

They came out perfect if  I do say so. 

I don't have a close up... I was on a deadline, no time for photos!

Both these photos show the process before the trimming and the spline.

Then I put the chairs back together.

I discussed fabric with my client before I got started on this project. His desire was to use these chairs on his covered deck and he has small kids so he wanted something really durable that would handle being outdoors under cover. I suggested outdoor fabric and foam, it's very comfortable but dries quickly and is designed to not fade quickly from sun exposure. 

Although he left the fabric selection up to me I gave him some choices to make sure I was on the right track. He narrowed it down to three very different choices for me and so it was a surprise for him too! 

First I made the piping (the round trim around the edges of the cushions). 

The zippers on the old cushions were superior quality and I knew I wouldn't find anything like them so I stripped them off the old cushions and sewed them onto the new ones. I start with the zipper sides of cushions, this works best for me. 

Then I cut the foam and fit it into the cushions.  

I am really pleased with the end result. The client LOVED them and he was excited to surprise his wife for her birthday with brand new chairs - she didn't even recognize them at first! She loves them. 

If you have a some old furniture around, if it's a good quality frame it's likely worth revitalizing! Even a wiggly frame can be re-glued. You too could have a beautiful surprise!

Peacock Commission

This was a commission piece for a customer who is sentimentally attached to this chair. She wanted it revamped in honor of her parents; wonderful reason! It came out really fun in peacock and she's in love with it which is always a great outcome. Another successful transformation!

 As usual I like to start with the end, this is the after photo.

This is the before... it came to me with two arms attached, I just almost forgot to take 'before' photos! It is a rocking chair and didn't squeak a bit!

I put a bit more foam on the seat and a new layer of dacron to make it more comfortable but overall this little rocker was in great shape!

This shows the underside of the chair with the rocking mechanism. 

I made piping from the same peacock fabric and sewed it all together to cover the seat just right with the piping on the edges of the seat.... that was challenging! 

Perfect placement of the pattern and the piping.

This is the back, it's the same green as the seat, just weird color in the photo. 

We decided on no buttons as they would compete with the pattern, I like the simplicity of this. 

Upholstery complete.

I brightened up the wooden arms with a little cleaner and polish and she's all ready. 

Fabulous in Floral

It's always nice to start with the after photo because it's so awesome! 

This was a commission piece for a fibre artist friend of mine who likes nice things.... 'no pressure, just make it nicer.' I am really proud of this chair, I learned a lot about the process and also learned that I'll 'figure it out' if I'm not sure how I'll deal with something. A good lesson - just keep going. 

All finished and ready to go home with Judy. 

I'm going to give you a running commentary of the process, comments above the photos so you'll know what you're seeing. 

This is what I started with, an antique chair with beautiful lines and a very solid frame. It needed some help to be comfy again and take it up a notch on the wow scale.
Judy and I had discussed the look she wanted, so I got started. 

Fabric removal revealed foam and another layer of worn velvet fabric.
It is very common to just add padding over old fabric when it is re-upholstered as it is time consuming to replace stuffing and often unnecessary.
I guessed this piece had been recovered a few times given the numerous nail holes in the wood. 

Under the velvet on the back - straw... interesting...

This is an antique chair, straw was a very common stuffing along with horsehair. 

Under the velvet was burlap and under the burlap - more straw. Sometimes when you are reupholstering a piece you can reuse parts of the stuffing but I did not this time.  I don't claim to restore, I redo. My intention is not to maintain the antique integrity of a piece. This may have been done quite differently by an antique restorer.  

Under the velvet on the seat there was muslin cloth holding all this down.  

1000 nail pulls later - poof! Sneeze... sneeze... 'maybe I should find my dust mask!' 

I love seeing what is inside old chairs, it's so interesting!

Next...

Cut the ties, saggy webbing - it's all coming off! 

And we have a very nice, new starting place. 

 I painted it black at this point... you will see as it goes on further. 

Redid the webbing.

Sewed on the springs - I reused the old springs, they were still very springy! 

Bart tied the springs in the traditional eight way tie.  He is the knot master and he really likes this part and I so appreciate the help. This is the most important part of making the chair solid and comfortable. He did a fantastic job, this chair can now be recovered many more times without having to re-tie the springs again. 

Covered the springs and the back with burlap so there's a base for the foam. Staple, staple, staple...

High density foam. This is when I sliced my finger, labor of love. 

Dense cotton batting. 

Close up.

Dacron fiber covers everything so the fabric will lay nice and smooth.

Staple, staple, staple - I have pneumatic stapler - love it. (Air pressure powered) 

Staple, staple, staple.

Trimmed away the excess.

Now for the back - foam over the burlap. Deciding how to shape the back. 

Cotton batting.

Dacron 

Staple, staple, staple... trim. 

I did the other side too - stuffed with batting, then Dacron, then staple... you get the idea.

Re- stuffed - waiting for fabric.

Here is a shot of the bottom - shows the webbing.

I covered the bottom with a light dust catcher fabric. Usually I do this very last but the fabric wasn't wrapping around the bottom this time so I could do it before the floral fabric was put on.  

Test drive - "mmmm, comfy" (This is my niece Anna - brutally honest in the best way.)

Judy saw the chair at this point and was pretty happy. 

"You exceeded my expectations, it's fabulous, wow!!! You're amazing." It was pretty satisfying. :) 

She chose some fabric and mailed it to me. 

I spent quite a bit of time making sure I had the pattern laid out to best show the floral's. 

Then I cut and stapled, stapled, stapled, stapled, trimmed.

This shows how close I trimmed to the staples. I had to put 'no fray' (basically super sticky glue) on all the edges so I could trim tightly without it fraying.  

Then I waxed and touched up the paint, let it all dry and buffed it up.

Then finally the gimp trim to make it all come together. Glued on very, very carefully. 

 A very happy ending.

Now to get it to Judy in Bragg Creek. 

                                
       I just love the dainty wheels.

P.S, I just showed her a photo on Facebook, she said I am a magician! Blush. 

(And she has another chair for me... sweet!)