New fabric on 80s chair (winter 2011)

Fabric that seemed good for a novice like me - such a busy pattern I did not need to line it up!

I've never reupholstered anything before. I've seen my Mom do many chairs and sofas over the years, even assisted as a kid (holding fabric in place, passing tacks, etc.). Despite that exposure, I was always intimidated. But when this dated chair's fabric pretty much disintegrated on us, I thought perhaps I could give it new life... 

Chair that ended up in my house (not my choice but super-comfy)

I took off an hour or so early from work one day, so I could squeeze in some time before the kids got home from school. I'd seen a Calico Corners nearby with beautiful fabric in the window.  I walked in feeling very inexperienced and awkward. But the sales associate who helped me was down to earth and pointed me to a sales rack with indoor/outdoor fabric. We 'guesstimated' what it would take -- the details are hazy at this point but I think I bought 4 or 5 yards at about $7/yard.

Before

After

When I got home I got right to work. I treated the fabric like wrapping paper -- because the cushions were easily removed, I laid each on the fabric, did a trial wrap, and then cut it. As usual I didn't follow the old adage, 'measure twice, cut once'. That's for people that read instructions. And possibly those who buy full-price fabric or are covering more exotic furniture? Anyway, I used safety pins to keep the folded fabric in place, then stopped and ran to get the kids.

Indoor-outdoor fabric cleans it up ('Ring Toss' from Calico Corners)

That night, after putting the kids to bed, I started stitching. I learned that a curved needle is essential -- I hadn't sewn a cushion before and hadn't realized that you really can't pinch the fabric enough to get the needle in one side and out the other... the curved needle was a breeze. I remembered from my childhood that you need extra-strong thread for upholstery. The two cushions were completed pretty quickly... then I had to get the arms covered. Those had seen the worse wear. They were a sort of j-shaped insert that slid easily off. I used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the inner edge. If you've ever stretched a canvas for an art class, it's the same process.


Lessons learned: if the new fabric was a bit thinner, I'd probably have needed to either remove the old fabric or cover it with batting so the striped pattern wouldn't show through. Also, I didn't fuss with a zipper -- just figured if this got destroyed I could go pick out some different fabric on the sale rack on another day. And of course a chair that didn't have detachable cushions would have been a much more difficult undertaking.


Total time: part of a day
Cost: approx. $35