Wendy's Chair

I decided to post an upholstery project. Since all I have been showing is how to dissect a chair; thought you might like to see how one goes back together.  Wendy is a favorite client who has a nack for finding me wherever I work in the greater Madison area. 

A month or so ago, she approached me with this project; a lovely wood trimmed armchair in need of a new cover. So here's a photo of Wendy's naked chair:

Photo by the author

I did not rip down the seat because it was in excellent shape.  Here is a shot of its underside.
 

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The manufacturer installed what is commonly known as zig-zag springs. I am not a big fan of these springs because they put outward pressure on the frame every time the user sits. BUT, this is an extremely well manufactured frame. The wood is over the standard thickness of 5/4" stock; it was made withstand the pressure.

First I laid the chair's back on a blanket on top of my work horses.  It's important to always get the piece you are working on in practical position to work on.

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Next I lined up the center stripe to the center ornament on the chair's top inside back where I stapled it to the frame. 

It's also important to place the fabric with the good side to the outside of the back.  You are looking at the WRONG side of the fabric. The outside is what will show when the job is done.

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Then I measured the bottom of the inside back to find the center and stapled the fabric there too. That's on the left of this photo.

After anchoring top and bottom correctly, I stapled the rest of the back fabric in place.

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              After that the excess is trimmed with a sharp one sided razor blade.

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                                      There we go, nice and neat!


                                     Next apply the reinforcement.

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This white fabric is contemporary burlap. It is stronger and more rigid than traditional burlap. It is placed on top of the finish fabric and stapled down. Remember the good side of the fabric is already positioned to be seen on the outside of the back.

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For the future, I placed a piece of the original fabric and the maker's label in the back where no-one will feel it or see it.  It's a record of the chair's history so far. Here's hoping the next upholsterer gets the hint and does the same.




Now the foam is placed on top of the white burlap and stapled in place.

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                                            And a close up!

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Don't place the staples too close to the edge. And don't use an over abundance either.  When the cover fabric is placed and stapled on top of the foam even more staples will be holding all these layers in place.

In this next photo see the previous upholsterer placed almost all the tacks in a line next to the edge of the work area of the frame and the trim area we see when it is upholstered.  By not placing the new staples in that same place we distribute the wear inflicted on the wood and extend the life of the frame.

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Always make sure the old staples and tacks are completely removed from the frame before working on it!

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Recall the corner of the Rococo Revival chair and how its corner had lost a piece of wood in the same place. See Below.

Photo by SHS

A great deal of tacks and staples were left in this frame by previous technicians.  Now I am paying the price by taking months to painstakingly remove 150 years worth of leftovers!

Now we'll start to upholster the seat which is first because the piece of fabric used is larger than the back. If a mistake is made, it can then be re-cut and used on the back. First measure the area the fabric is to cover at its widest spot.

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Always add 2 inches to your cut so there is something to hold on to when you staple it down.

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Now that I know my seat fabric needs to 44" wide by 36" long, I set out to find the center pattern.

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First find the most distinguishing motif on the fabric.  On this Jacobean print it is the three lighter flowers at the center of this shot. When a pattern is not symmetric a ruler must be used to discern the center.

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The pattern is 10" wide; the ruler is place over the entire motif.  Since it is 10" wide, I find the center at 5" and mark it with chalk.  

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The fabric is placed on the chair seat and centered with a ruler. It's 25" between the two arms so I placed the center of the motif at 12 1/2". 

Next time you will see how it is attached to the seat frame.  Until then, keep you fingers out of the way of the scissors!

Theresa

Yummy Furniture and Design

theresamhs@sbcglobal.net

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