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.

Upholstery Class - Day 2

We have just returned home from a wonderful evening, dining at The Olive Branch with the lovely Jo of French Allure so I'm a little behind in my blog posts.

This is what went on on Day 2 of my Upholstery Class (Tuesday).

The back of my chair (seen lying down) was tightly covered with hessian to form a base for all other layers.

I was fortunate that I was able to reuse the original layer of coconut fibre

followed by the original stuffing

covered with a new layer of 1.2 cm (1/2 inch) thick foam


stretched firmly over the previous layers, stapled and trimmed. The same process was repeated for the overlaying calico cover.

Laying calico before the final fabric is important. Not using calico is like wearing an expensive dress with no underwear. Something you may get away with if you're Pippa Middleton but the majority of us need good supportive undergarments to achieve that smooth finish.

For those who were interested, this is the correct way to use springs in chairs. Each spring is evening spaced and sewn over the webbing and has to be pushed down and tied. This is somebody else's rocking chair and to answer Carol's question, I will not be changing my zig-zag springs.

I'm tired now so will be sharing more with you tomorrow. It may get more interesting and you will see what fabric I'm using.