One of my half-done projects is finished.
I think she's pretty hot if I do say so myself, with her sexy curves.
This was my Granny's chair. I have no idea how old she is,but I'm guessing at least sixty.
I had her professionally reupholstered a couple of years ago for Alyssa.
See her there in the background? Only before shot I could find.
I really debated on whether or not to paint the wood.
I usually have no qualms about painting wood, but since she was my Granny's I went back and forth before deciding that in order for her to really shine, she should be white.
The wood just blends in with my floor and it was not in the best shape anyway.
I was a little disappointed by the job the upholsterer had done. I mean the work itself was fine, but instead of using cording made from the upholstery fabric to trim the edges, he used matching gimp.
It looked OK, just not what I expected, for what I paid.
I made double welt cording and think it looks a little more finished this way.
I took a few photos of the process, but I am in no way qualified to write a tutorial on upholstery.
Every piece of furniture is different. For this particular gal, the worst part was removing the old fabric. Holy staples Batman. To say I removed ten billion staples is no exaggeration. Well, maybe a tad, but no less than several hundred.
Can you see all those staples? They were in deep too. I couldn't get a flat head screwdriver under there to pry them out.
I have this pointy, poke-your-eye-out-if-you-aren't-careful thingy.
That did the trick.
I wrapped some tape around all but the tip so it didn't dent the wood.
Once all those staples were out, I just cleaned and sprayed the wood.
I kept the batting underneath, because it was only a couple of years old. I just taped the edges to keep it away from the frame.
The rest was pretty easy in comparison to pulling out all those staples.
Just staple on fabric in the reverse order it came off.
There are a variety of methods for making double welt cording.
I don't have a special double cording foot or even double cording. I use my zipper foot and regular cording.
Measure what you need for your project and cut strips of fabric 2 inches wide.
For this, I cut the fabric straight across the width from selvedge to selvedge instead of cutting the fabric on the bias.
I sewed the strips from end to end, at an angle- sorry, no photo of that step.
Now that you have a long strip of fabric, take it to the machine. Wrap it around far enough to cover the cording and using your zipper foot sew very close to the cording.
Sew to the end or your fabric.
Lay a second piece of cording up next to the first one. Snuggle it in close, but not too close. You want enough room to sew down the center. Not too much room. Just a little. How technical is that?
Sew down the center of the little valley between the two pieces of cording.
Trim away any excess fabric from the seam, so that it doesn't show from the front.
Glue that baby down with hot glue and your friends will be very impressed.
Glad to have one thing marked off my list. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some pillows to make.
Here's one more look at my sexy girl. You can stare at her curves if you want. She doesn't mind.
I'll be sharing this at the following link parties. Check them out for some great inspiration.
