Upholstery Class

I have not written about what I have been doing in classes lately, so here is the update. In March I was working on the Tab Curtains for the living room.  I did finish the pair of curtains for the single window but ran out of the matching thread for the double windows on the living room’s south side.  I ran all over town and still could not find a match then I tried the internet.  There were problems with back orders and it took a month before I found the thread at my front door.

During that time I was glad to have the 1930’s chair to work on.  As I have said before the fabric is removed in the reverse order as it is put on.  The first thing to remove is the dust cover on the bottom of the chair but it was already gone.  So I first marked all the pieces with a marker.  Once that was finished I started pulling all the tacks attaching the back fabric to the chair’s bottom and around the outside arms to the top of the back gentle pulling the loose fabric from the frame.  Because of the curved back all the back pieces (fabric and batting) came off as one piece.  I will leave it as one piece until I cut the new pieces; there will be less a chance the piece will be pulled out of shape.  The chair was lined with a white fabric to keep the batting and fabric strength and support, that also needed to be replace.  By the time I finished, there were tacks everywhere.  I try to keep them from getting on the floor but there still a lot to pickup.  When I take a chair apart I always need to check the bottom of my shoes for tacks in them and there are usually 1 to 3 tacks in either shoe.

The next class I started to work on the inside of the chair.  Again I started pulling tacks along the bottom of the chair to loosen the inside back, nosing and seat lining.  I did my best to keep the pieces together where I could.  The inside back and nosing with seat lining came off as two pieces.  The nosing and seat lining is the last piece off and the first piece on.  The seat batting was marked before pulling it off.  I have been taught to keep the batting and mark it so it can be used as a template for the new batting.  The edge roll was removed and should be replaced.  The roll is use to support the edge and keep the cushion in place.  The burlap covering the open space on the inside back was pulled too.  The only thing left that is not wood is the cardboard supports on the inside arms and inside back.

 

When I brought the chair I knew that I needed to do so bracing in the back and found what was causing the problem.  The left back leg was cracked and the chair’s base near the cracked leg also was crack.  Note: To determine what side of a chair is right or left, stand in front facing it and the chair’s left side is the same as your left hand and versus.  I talked to a guy at work about fixing it.  He suggested that since the crack is almost complete that I would be better break it off and gluing then trying to use a syringe to inject the glue.

 The chair is on hold since the thread came in.  I want to strip the chair's finish off first and then fix the leg.  I hope to complete the curtains for the living room double window by the end of May and I am look forward to working on the chair.  I cannot wait to see the finished chair.

Updating an Old Oak Chair

Last night I finished working on this piece. It was a very easy job and took about 6 hours. I torn off the old leather seat covering and determine it was the original covering to the chair. My upholstery teacher thought it might be so I was wondering if I should even fix it up. There was another student in class who is an antique dealer told me that the chair was not worth much and it would not matter if I removed the old covering. The old leather seat was torn while trying to remove it so there was no going back at this point. The blog called “New Arts & Crafts Chair” show the chair in its original condition.

After the leather and padding was removed, I cleaned the chair with soap and water and wiped it dry with paper towels and determine that was all it needed. I was lucky the chair looked great and I wanted to keep its patina as is. The old padding was replaced with a ½” polyester padding and staple in place. Then the leather covering was cut to slightly over lap the padding and temporarily tacked in place. Four 1” wide strips were cut about 4” longer for each edge. I marked a center line along the length on the back side of each strip and apply double sided tape down the center line. Next I pressed/folded the both raw edges to the center line forming my taped edging. The tape was used to cover the raw edging on the leather seat covering. I then placed painter tape on all four side of the leather cover and marked out how far and how many tacks were going to be used to hold the leather tape in place. Now I could staple the leather cover down in between the tack placement.

The center of each leather strip was place on each center edge and then tacked into place. I worked each side from the center out placing the tacks ¾” apart. Where the strips meet in the corners, the strips were mitered cut and a tack was place in the center of the cut to hold it in place. Here is the finished chair. I much prefer this to the original.

The total cost to redo this piece was less than $5 since the leather was left over from this other project.

New Arts & Crafts Chair

The chair was another Craig's List find.  I plan to recover the seat with the left over recycled leather I used for the last oak Arts & Crafts chair I did.  The chair has a board covering the missing webbing and foam cushioning so this project should be very similar to the last one.

Morris-like Chairs

Here are two more chairs I reupholster last summer. The wood needs to be refinished but I can at least sit on them now. The chairs now sit on my three-season porch. Both chairs' cushions were covered with swayed leather.

Reupholstering the Antique Winged Chair:Finishing the chair.

After posting all those articles on my chair, I am reaching the end of the project. The seat cushion is the only thing left to do before I loaded it up in the car and brought it home. The original cushion was gone except for the cover when I picked it up from past owner. The cover did have some feathers clinging to the inside cover. Alaine and I discussed that we should stuff the new cushion with down feathers. She was thinking that one feather pillow would fill the cushion. So off I went looking for a feather pillow and I found that stores like Target, Kmart, and Shopko had pillows with a foam cord and feathers surrounding it. The pillows were more expensive than a down feather comforter which was discounted after Christmas last year. I brought I queen size comforter to fill the cushion.

A ticking cover was the first thing that I made to stuff the comforter in. The comforter filled out the cover nicely giving the cushion a firm and cosy feeling.

The one side of the cushion used the Orono Redwood fabric with a Jacobean leafy print on it and the garnet colored velour fabric was used to finish it off. The top and bottom seams had the gold and garnet colored cording sew into it. This is the same cording I used on the arms. I left a opening large enough to squeeze the cushion into it and then finished hand sewed it together.

The pictures below show what the chair looked like before
and after all the work was done.

Reupholstering the Antique Winged Chair: Working on the Outside Arms & Back

The inside arms and back now look great and it is time to move on to the outside arms, wings and back. The outside arms are the next area to work on. Like the inside wings and arms, the wings and arms section need to be sewn together. I made some cording in the same fabric as the wings and arms for a little decoration. The cording as sewed in between the wing and arm pieces. Just like the inside arm, the fabric is first line up horizontally along the arm caps edge with pins.

The picture to the left shows I attach a thin piece of cardboard along the edge. I temporary tack it in place and check that there are no gaps and I have a nice sharp edge before stapling it in place. I did the same thing on the inside arm. The fabric is pulled down and tacked to the bottom and back of the chair. The fabric toward the front arm was pinned and blind stitched into place. The picture below shows the arms with T-pins and tacks holding it in place before permanently fastening it. After permanently attaching it to the frame, the excess fabric was cut off with a sharp scissor along the finished wood edge.

I did the same for the right outside arm and wing side. The outside back is next; here I attached some thin layer of polyester filling over the back to cover the staples and fabric layer. I staples this in place by putting back half the polyester layer then stapling it and covering it over with the section I pulled back. Finally the outside back fabric is centered, tacked and pulled into place at the top and bottom before stapling it. The sides were tucked under, pinned and blind stitched before the extra fabric at the top was trimmed along the finished wood edge.

To finish the chair frame the bottom is was cover with a matching color denim for the dust cover and blind stitched in place. Most people prefer to staple the dust cover but I like how it looks when I hand stitch it. I know no one but I will turn the chair over to look at it but it still manners to me. The last thing last was to glue the gimp over the cut edges along the finished wood.

The chair not finish yet the seat cushion needs to be made and that is for another post.

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.

Reupholstering the Antique Winged Chair: Inside arms

In between working on the seat and back. I found time to wrap webbing around the inside arms. This adds stability and strengthens the arms for the new layers that will be added to it.


A foam layer was added next, I cut two-piece for each side. One piece was for the arm (armrest height to the seat) and the wing section (area above armrest. This was stapled into place and trimmed to size. Cotton was use to fill in the gaps/dents where the two pieces meet. The cotton batting was the last layer to cover the arms and wings. The cotton batting was also wrapped beyond the blue foam and covered the wooden arm post in front.

As show for the seat and back muslin is used to hold all the layers together and makes a smooth surface to put the upholstery fabric over. After all this work, preparing the surface I finally can start putting on the good stuff. I am saving that for the next time.

Reupholstering the Antique Winged Chair: Tying Back and Seat Springs

In the blog named the “Anatomy of a Chair” I showed how I took apart my winged chair. It took just a month to tear it apart in the three hour classes held once a week at the technical college. Then I took the chair home over the holidays to clean it up so it would be ready for the next classes. Due to problems at the technique college; the upholstery classes were being discontinued for the winter semester but I am now taking private classes with my teacher, Elaine Barr. I spent approximately 8 working hours every Saturday from January to early April working on the chair. After the last April class I spent another month and half still finishing it off on a Tuesday night for 3 hours.

The first thing I did in was to stretch and tack a single piece of webbing on the on the back of the chair. Then I removed the back springs attached to the old webbing but left the strings still in place. The springs were centered in place on the new backing. Now, I traced where each spring would be place on the webbing with a marker. Once this was finished the old twine could be removed from the springs. The springs were attached to the new webbing with what I would refer to as a giant stapler. The stapler must be centered over springs to ensure the staples wrap around them and needs to be stapled in each quarter section. I tried this on the back but I had some of the ends sticking straight out and needed to bend them over. Springs may also be sewed on instead. I did sew on the seat springs and liked the finished product much better. Now that the springs are attached it time to start tying the springs together and attaching them to the chair frame. I tied the springs horizontally and vertically to the back chair’s frame. To finish it off, the springs are covered with burlap.

The seat springs are very similar but instead of using a single piece of webbing, webbing strips are used and they are weaved together to add strength. The springs that came with the chair were sewed into a cloth covering and they were in bad shape. So after a discussion with Elaine, we decide the better route would be to order 16 new springs and hand tie them into the seat frame. While waiting for the springs order to be delivered, I went back to working on the inside back of the chair. I placed some faux horsehair over the burlap and springs and then cover it with cotton batting. After the cotton batting is smooth out, it is covered with muslin. The muslin is first temporary tacked in place so if there is a need to straighten or pull the fabric tighter it can be easily done before it is permanently stapled. It is a lot easier to remove tacks then it is staples.

The seat springs came in the next week and it took me nearly the eight hours to sewing the springs in place and to tie them to the seat’s frame. Before the day ended, I did get the springs covered with burlap. Tying springs are hard on the hands but if you take the time to make sure they are tight, your seat will slay firm for a long time.

Next time the inside arms, back and seat are prepared for putting on the upholstery fabric.

My Arts & Crafts Chair is finished

I found this chair for free on Craig's List and finished reupholstering it yesterday. See post "A Free Craig's List Find" for the before picture. I removed the velvet sit covering, old padding and webbing from the chair. New webbing was weaved and tacked into place. New foam padding was put on next; I staple the foam along the bottom to keep it in place. The foam was then covered with a thin layer of polyester filling.


I made leather cording to wrap around the leather seat covering and the next step was the staple down the cording around the seat cushion. After doing all of the above I could finally start putting the leather over the cushion. To ensure I evenly spaced the tacks I put down paint's tape and marked one inch spaces around the chair. The leather was stretch and temporarily tacked in place.

The project was finished off with decorative tacks and here it is.

A Free Craig's List Find

This June I found the chair above on Craig's List for free, I cannot believe I was the first to ask for it. The chair needed to be cleaned with 1,2,3 solution and bottom rungs were reglued. I removed the velvet sit covering and will replace it with recycled leather in the color burgundy. I will start upholstering it after I finish making my suede cushions for my two Morris-like chairs. The Morris chairs are located on the three season porch. I also finish the antique wing chair which is show torn apart in a previous blog but have just been too busy in the garden to write about it yet. I have no idea where I am going to put chair showed above since the house is starting to fill up. If I find anymore chairs I like, I will have to sell or give away one of the newer aged chair I reupholster so there will be room for it. My mother's comment to that was remember me.

Anatomy of a Chair

I have been taking an upholstery class at the local technical college since 2006. I collect old pieces of furniture and redoing them. This blog is about a beautiful wing chair I found on Craig’s List last spring. A wonderful lady decided to post it for free since the chair needed to be completely redone. I believe she inherited from her family, and thought she find the time to reupholster it but never did. When I saw it on Craig’s List, I knew this was a really find. The chair is from around the turn of the century 1890’s to 1900’s. It was upholstered in black mohair with a floral pattern mohair on the inside back and one side on the seat cushion. There was a braided cord running along upper edge of the arms and the seat cushion. The seat cushion was stuffed with down. The cushion was missing but the seat cover was kept with the chair, the past owner knew you need to keep it to use as a pattern for the new cushion. The old seat cover had a feather attach to the inside. Here a picture of the chair when I picked it up. The chair may look in bad shape but if you ever upholstered a chair, you know the bones are good.

The tools you need to remove the old fabric are leather mallet, tack lifter, staple puller, and pliers. The place to start removing the old fabric is the last piece attached to the chair when it was new. This is the dust cover on the bottom of the chair. I also took a lot of pictures at different stages in the deconstruction. They came in handy when I was trying to remember how the chair should go back together.

The center picture is how it looked when I first brought it home and the first two pictures in the upper left are close up of the carvings. As I stated to take a chair apart you remove the dust cover first. Be sure to mark all your pieces as you remove them and save all the horse hair and cotton padding pieces too. All the old pieces will be used as a pattern when putting the chair back together. Once the dust cover been removed, move on to outside back followed by the left and right outside arms pieces.

Now I started removing the right and left inside arms pieces. Both the inside and outside arms were made from two pieces sew together. The upper arm or wing section is one piece and the lower arm is the other. The arm on this wing chair had another piece I will call the cap. The cap is the arm rest part on the lower chair's arm. There were hints of a braided cord wrapping around the cap. After I finished removing all the padding on the inside arms and back, the springs in the back were removed from the frame. Do not remove the springs from their backing wait until it is time to remount the springs on the new backing. The picture in the lower left hand corner shows the back springs.

Finally it is time to put off the seat and nosing off the chair. The nosing is the fabric covering the front bottom of the seat area. The seat also has springs in it. These seat springs were wrapped and sewed in cotton fabric as a single unit and attached to the broken webbing.

I made sure all the tacks were pulled out of the chair's frame and then filled the many holes with wood filler. Later I sanded down some of the high area created by the wood filler. The chair's finish was cleaned with a 3 in 1 solution. Now it is ready to put back together.

A Craigslist Find

Look what I found.



I found this by accident. I responded to an advertisement for a drafting chair. I have been wanting a drafting chair for my cutting table for ages. While looking at the chair the lady who was selling it stated that the other items in the garage were going to be for sale in the city garage sale. I saw this desk and ask what she wanted. We closed the deal on Tuesday, made arrangements to pick it up Thursday. It needs some work but I am ecstatic to have it.





By the way I also brought the drafting chair.