Friday 8 July 2011

Upholstery Class - Day 4

Are you enjoying my upholstery posts? The whole process is definitely more complicated than I expected and I'm glad that I have an expert guiding me through each step. Here is what I did yesterday.

Sewed piping for the border, chair back and top of skirt. You will be pleased to know that it is not necessary to cut piping fabric on the bias.

My old studio neighbour, also an upholsterer, made cushions for us and never cut his fabric on the bias either. Such a great fabric saver! Trust the experts, it works perfectly.

The cording used is a type of fine plastic tubing. I guess this will forever hold its form.

The border was then sewn onto the piping and attached to the frame. Careful measuring with a metal ruler ensures that the border is even.

All pieces have their centres notched and lined up with the middle of the chair.

Strips of cardboard are laid over these staples to even out any bumps.

Learning to use the materials of professionals.

A layer of foam is then attached over the cardboard.

The fabric border is stretched over this and fastened underneath the chair

Looking good. I guess if you had nice legs, you wouldn't need to worry about a skirt. However as neither my chair nor I do, it's skirts for us.

More webbing on the back for support and in readiness for finishing.

Today is the last day of my class and I hope to finish my chair. There's always more work than you expect but we aren't taking any short cuts and I can already see the difference from the original.

8 comments:

circle retreat quilter said...

Thea it is looking so good, you must be thrilled. cant wait for the final reveal.....

Raine and Sage said...

I love the blue and white fabric Thea. Your chair is almost done. It's fantastic!

Naturally Carol said...

Hi Thea..I have just caught up on all your days of upholstery..thanks for answering my question. Thank you also for telling me that I can do piping with fabric NOT on the bias..I have resisted doing piping on cushions 'cos it takes up oodles of fabric which I thought I could put to better use! I love your results so far..great work.

Kylie said...

This looks great - well done - would you mind sharing where you did the course - I would be interested. DH has an old set of chairs that he would love to have recovered and was planning on doing it himself but has never gotten around to it. I got a quote yesterday and it will be $550 each without fabric - ghhhh. I think that for that I would rather learn how to do it myself and have a new skill up my sleeve.

Jenny said...

Thea, it is looking fantastic! Love your posts on this and can't wait to see it finished. You must be so pleased with it. ;-)

flourish and blume said...

Beautiful job Thea, very professional.

petals and vintage said...

Thea, Your chair is looking really great. You must be pleased.

Just wondering what's next?

Pam x

one denim bird said...

OMG!!! Thea, it looks so gorgeous!! Well done to you, I can't wait to sign up to an upholstery class.

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