Fruits of My Labor

I have finally completed my reupholstering. It took much longer than I had anticipated, but I had thought it would only take two days. Here's a pic I managed to find on the camera of what the chair looked like when I was tearing the old fabric off.


When I was all done removing the old fabric the chair looked pretty lonely.

I had to rip out some of the old batting because it was in the way. I later learned that I should have kept as much of it as I could in order to recushion it. Oh well. After I was all done with this I began laying out the old pieces to be used as patterns. Because of several tears I had a difficult time determining what was supposed to be cut, but by laying the old piece on the chair I was able to figure it out. While I cut the new pieces I listened to the TV, something I love to do while I'm working on a project. I went through hours of travel shows, cooking shows, a documentary about Muhammad Ali and even some Olympics while I cut fabric.

When I was finally ready to start upholstering, I began with the skirt. The first piece was really easy, but the bottom piece was difficult. I had to staple the bottom to the top, making sure to conceal the staples and keep everything level. It took me close to an hour to do just that.

I went onto the arm next. Although this part of the chair was the most complex looking, it was the easiest to attach. That was probably because the piece was very fitted. I learned how to use a sewing machine in order to sew the tiny pieces for the arm. For some reason I had a fear of sewing machines, but I surmounting those worries. It was pretty easy to keep everything tight too because I could use one hand to staple and the other to hold down the fabric. After the arm I did the bottom side and then finished with the back.

Here's the end result. What do you think? In case you are wondering, I still have to do the cushion. I got tired after doing the chair itself, plus I didn't want to do more sewing yet. This project was surprisingly easy. Everyone I talked to thought it was such a grand undertaking. I've never done anything like this before and it went well. If anyone is thinking of reupholstering something themselves I would give the following tips:

1) Take the old fabric off carefully because you'll be using it as a pattern
2) Pictures help, as well as writing down where everything goes as you take off fabric
3) Measuring the new fabric several times before you cut it, and placing it on the furniture to see where you need to cut before cutting
Don't be afraid! It's not that hard.

I'm going to be putting together more material for my podcast, which I will hopefully post by tomorrow. It's audio from a friend's birthday. Interesting conversation. I have my recordings from Argyle Canyon (where I was over the weekend) so I will add that too later. I have been speaking with a friend a little about combining forces and creating a podcast. It could be amazing.

It's Taking Up Way Too Much Time

My chair, I mean. I have de-upholstered, cut fabric, sewn together a few pieces, and should be able to start attaching everything tomorrow. I can't believe how long this has taken. If the original fabric had been in better condition it would have been faster, but I can't tell a tear from a deliberate cut. I'm really excited for it to take shape.

The whole endeavor has tired me out, and I have no energy to write in here. That and I've been watching the Olympics too much. I'm getting tired of hearing Michael Phelps's name every ten seconds. I am amazed with everyone else at how well he is doing, but there is only so much footage I can see before I get extremely bored. They even mention him during events not slightly related to swimming. I heard someone compare him to a volleyball player during a volleyball game. I mean, really...

Time to Work on My To-Do List

I have been given five days off from work. This happens to every employee every year in order to cash out all of our vacation time and to decide if we should be fired or rehired. I'm pretty confident I have been rehired, as my name was still on the schedule for next week, but I always get a little nervous initially. I actually wish they had given me this entire week off, but what can you do.

What I can do is work on a few projects I've been interested in for some time. The first one is reupholstering my chair. I found this chair across the street from Joey's old place. It was slated to be thrown away but I took it. I like the shape and the design of it because it feels very 60's to me. I like the fabric as well, but it is frayed quite a bit in several places. Today I decided to begin tearing it apart to put new fabric on it. Here's a pic of it before I began.



Pretty cute, huh? It took me about four hours to tear, pry or otherwise cajole the fabric into coming off. Don't worry, I watched two videos of Doctor Who in that time period. I was relieved to find that most of the fabric was stapled on and not sewed. The fabric itself was so worn that it was easier to tear it off at most points than use the hammer. By the end, cream-colored bunches of padding lay bunched on the floor along with plenty of small tacks. I made sure to step on several of them.

I took note of where the fabric fit in and how it was attached to the wood. I thought that taking pictures would help, and I took several, or thought I did...when I tried to look at them on the camera the card was full. I think I can manage without them. Tomorrow I am going to look for fabric. I would like something that looks mid century, but I don't know what I'll find.

I'm still trying to figure out the whole podcast thing, but it seems to be getting more and more complicated. I think I'm going to deal with that tomorrow.