Thursday, September 12, 2013

Would You Care For A Seat?

Why, yes, I would, thank you.  The chairs I just refinished needed new seats.  The fabric was OK, but it was so dirty.  I wanted to replace the foam cushions, but I found out that was very pricey.  I decided to keep the foam and add a layer of poly to protect it.  I found the poly, and the fabric at Jo-Ann's and I had a 20% off coupon. Score!

 

The smaller chair only had some felting for a cushion, so I bought some foam (50% off!) and cut it to size.  We used to own an electric knife, which is the best way to cut foam.  I had to make do with a very expensive Cutco serrated knife.  I am not sure that is covered under the warrantee.  I also used a pair of scissors to clean things up.  Then I gave up and covered it and decided no one would notice..

The seats were attached with four screws and the covers were attached with staples.  This is a fairly easy project for an amateur.  Hey!  I'M an amateur!  So I qualified.

The seats had 2 layers of fabric.  They both came off.  I used the foam as a template and cut the poly about 3 1/2 inches larger.  I trimmed the corners so there would not be a big lump.

 

The wooden base held it in place.  Then I put the wrapped package on top of the fabric and played around with it for WAAAAY too long.  I didn't have a lot extra and couldn't afford to ruin a piece by cutting too small.  I couldn't cut too big, because I had just enough.  Measure...I don't know...about...5 times, cut once.  That will be my new slogan.

 

 Or how about this one, " I know the fabric is expensive, but buy extra so you won't go crazy."  That might work.

 

The fabric had a direction so I also had to make sure I attached it with the fabric going properly, so the pictures weren't upside down! 

 

On the first two seats, I stapled a couple of staples and then flipped it over to make sure I was doing it right.  The staples are hard to get in, and even harder to get out.

 

I covered one of the screw holes with fabric and when Lee screwed it to the chair, it pulled a thread.  We removed the seat, stretched the fabric to loosen the pulled thread and then cut the fabric at the hole.  The problem was, a few of the holes were very close to the edge of the seat.   So I had to cut holes in the fabric to accommodate the screws.  And now I have to hope they don't unravel.  Maybe I'll put some fingernail polish on the cut bits to prevent that.  Or I might just forget about it because I am DONE with the chairs.

 

Don't they look nice?  This isn't the finished placement.  I'm still in the thinking and planning stages of decorating.

 

I still need more furniture and some tables to put the chairs near, but things are coming along.

 

And may I say, I love my cats.  But they are not helpful when doing a craft project.
 

4 comments:

  1. tada! Now you are making me want to get my doo doo together and recover my dinette chairs. I've done them three times over the past 16 years. They look fine, but don't go with the area rug I bought that is under the table... I generally look for clearance fabric because it's just sooo expensive. It's a must do project this fall... Your chairs came out really nice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know, my cats never help me when I'm crafting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, you are doing great things. And I thought I did well last night to put together a filing cabinet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It looks fabulous!!!! I just finished catching up... The new furniture and the tile... Oh my!! Your guests are going to love it!!!

    ReplyDelete