Part III Reupholstering the Antique Winged Chair: Putting on the Good Stuff

The first thing to do on the inside arms was to pad the arm cap with a thin layer of cotton batting and staple it in place. The cotton batting is split in half about 1/4-inch from the edge and then staple. The top half of the cotton is place over the staple. The fabric was layered over the cotton and tacked in place. Once the fabric was lined up with the tacks, I stapled it permanently and cut the fabric around the stained wood. I had problems cutting the fabric close to the finished wood. First, I used a razor blade and found the fabric pulled back from the edge showing some of the muslin and polyester filling. Alaine, my teacher, suggested using a good pair of scissors would work much better and edges did show less when using the scissors.







The wing part of the chair is above the arm cap and everything below is the arm section. Each of these section is a separate cut piece. I cut all the arm pieces from the garnet colored velour fabric. I brought this wonderful cording to sew between the inside arm and wing pieces. The cording also wraps around the inside and outside of the arm cap.

Once the two-piece were sewed together, I lined the cording along the cap's edge. I used t-pins to hold the fabric in place before lifting the arm fabric over the cap to secure it in place with staples. The picture below shows how I pinned the fabric in place. On the seat you can also see the gimp braid I will be using to cover the fabric raw edge next to the stained wood.




Now that the center line is securely in place, it is the usually tucking, cutting, before tacking the piece in place. This time I will be tacking the bottom arm fabric to the seat frame not the arm. Doing this keeps object from slipping in between the inside & outside arm fabric and gives the chair a smoother look with fewer gaps. I did the same thing when attaching the back bottom to the frame. The back section of the arm and wing were also tack to the back wood supports f achieving the same results. The last thing I did was stapling everything in place.

Here is a picture showing how not to do the back. I had to pull tacks out of the arm and pull the fabric to the back support.







The inside chair is now done and the outside arms except some trimming and gluing the gimp on. The chair's back, cushion and dust cover are what is left to do.

Part II Reupholstering the Antique Winged Chair: Putting on the Good Stuff

Now it is time to work on the inside back with that beautiful Orono Redwood fabric with a Jacobean leafy print on it. Using the old inside back fabric as a pattern, I cut the fabric large enough to cover the back. I prefer to mark the center of the fabric at the top, bottom, left, and right sides. The chair is marked in the same places. Then fabric is centered on the back of the chair and a tack is placed at each mark. Once that is done, check to see if the fabric is long and wide, enough cover the back. If the fabric is a little short sew on a scrap piece of fabric, this will be used as a pull. The pull will not be seen but it will make it easier to put the piece on. After it is lined up, I start tacking from the center to the side arms on the bottom and top of the piece. After much pulling, tacking, cutting, and folding, the fabric around the frame and the back is smoothly in place, can I consider the job done. The first picture shows the tacking and the other the finished back.















The two inside arms are next to be done but there is a lot more to described so I will leave it to the next posting.

Preparing for Winter

These last two months I have been winterizing my house which usually involves a very long "TO DO LIST".

1. Remove all the wooden screens, clean windows put in the wood storm windows and caulk them all in with removable silicone. Done mid-October
2. Clean three-season porch window and cover inside and outside with plastic. Outside: done mid-October. Inside: Not Done.
3. Clean up flower garden: Pretty much done if it snows tomorrow no big deal.
4. Clean up vegetable garden: Done except cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, and beets. Brussels sprouts are the last to harvest; I do it around Thanksgiving.
5. Roll up and store fencing around the vegetable garden: Done late-October except the garden with the beets.
6. Clean shed so I can put yard furniture in it. Done 11/2/2010
7. Put front porch cushions up in the attic. Done 11/2/2010.
8. Clean gutters: Done mid-October but after the big wind storm the white pine needle fill the gutter up again. Hopefully, I will get it done tonight.
9. Put in a fan in the bathroom: I have cut and installed the roof vent. Partly installed the fan in the bathroom ceiling: Waiting for the electrician to do the wiring before permanently caulking it in.
10. Clean inside windows and putting caulk cording around the windows. Not Done
11. Check for gaps between where sliding and fountain meet. Last winter I found large gaps where the sliding corners came together over the fountain. I had moisture condensing in those areas in the house. I found approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch gap between them and could push the foam straw up about 2 to 3 inch up the sliding on the north side. Done
12. Clean bird feeder and put heater in birdbath: Not done.

I got most of the list done, so I no longer feel rushed and worry that I will not finish before the snow come.

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.