The Project

There are projects, and then there are PROJECTS!  This was one of the latter.  I purchased this piece of furniture over two years ago.  I couldn’t decide how to proceed.  What color of paint?  What fabric?

So….here she is.

Or I should say WAS.

Faded, ugly, it even had a cigarette burn on the back.  But I loved it.  It was love at first sight.  It  was just so….tacky.  But in a good way.

Finally, with the big change that I was making to my living room, it was time to DO something.

I decided on chocolate brown paint.

I mixed it myself.  I got grey.  The funny thing is, it was the best mistake that I could have made!  I had previously started painting it turquoise, so when I sanded, it showed through.  Perfect!

Neutral fabric. 

I am NOT an upholsterer.  I have never upholstered.  But……have glue gun….will upholster.

Tufting.  I was scared to death that I would screw it up.  I decided to leave the old fabric on the chair and glue right over it. 

You have to have the glue gun set on hot so that the two fabrics fuse with each other.  OUCH!  Watch those fingers!  I used the end of an old spoon in each of the tucks while the glue dried.  I made sure that it was totally dry each time so that I could pull the fabric nice and tight.

Believe me, once the glue is dry, you won’t be able to pull the new fabric off even if you want to.  It’s stuck, and good.

So I proceeded all the way down the inside back and at the bottom, glued and tucked the left over fabric in a good four inches.

The same on the sides.  If you decide to tackle a project like this, be sure to use a heavy fabric like this canvas so that the glue doesn’t show.

After each side was glued, I took a razor and cut it as close to the edge as possible.

As you can see, I used buttons along the front to cover the raw edges.  I will use gimp along the sides and back ( haven’t quite finished that yet) since it won’t show nearly as much.

Thank goodness I love collecting vintage buttons.  I used a bunch. 

For my seat cushion, since this chair isn’t one that we sit in often at all, I decided that I wanted it soft and mushy and very shabby chic. 

I drew my pattern from the old cushion and then tossed it in the trash.  Made a muslin insert, stuffed the T’s with batting, then purchased a 27” down pillow  form and stuffed it into my 22”  inch muslin insert for  a nice fluffy cushion!  I was too lazy to sew in a zipper, so it just ties shut along the back.

Not okay for a chair that you sit in a lot.  But the cat sure is gonna love it. :)

Soft and very shabby yummy.

I really love my chair!  It looks perfect in my new and evolving living room. 

Denise