Reupholstering the Antique Winged Chair: Putting on the Good Stuff

After tying spring, laying batting and covering all of it with muslin, I can finally start covering the chair with the good fabric. The chair was originally covered with a black mohair and had a floral pattern mohair on the inside back and one side of the seat cushion. The fabrics I picked out to cover the chair was from Barrow Industries a garnet colored velour for everything except the inside back and one side of the seat cushion. The velour fabric on the inside back was called Orono Redwood with a Jacobean leafy print on it.
I cut out the nosing and decking. Nosing is the fabric that shows in the front of the chair between the arms and under the cushion. The decking is a piece of fabric which never shows since it is always covered by the cushion. In the picture below, you can see where they are sewed together. I was very luckily that Alaine (my teacher) had an extra piece of fabric to use for the decking that complements the nosing.
The decking and nosing are sewed together and the seam is place just in front of the arms. The seam is pinned to the seat. The piece is then backed stitched in place along the seam line. Sewing the piece to the seat keeps the nosing stable and in place. I tacked the nosing in place except for the fabric above the shell carving about the leg. This area the fabric has several tucks in it and each side the tucking must match the other. It takes time and patience to match it.











Next, I tucked the decking along the seat to determine where to cutting the fabric, so it would lay smoothly around the arm supports and back frame. The outside arm picture show you where I needed to make my "Y" cuts in the decking before I pull the fabric between the arm and seat. When I put the muslin on the arm, I tacked the muslin to the seat. Therefore, I needed to pull the tacks out before I pulled the fabric through the arm and seat opening. Then I started pulling and smoothing the fabric before tacking it in. Below is the picture of the finished seat.