Sometime we all need to change things up. Whether it's a different brand of cereal or a new haircut or a new car, we all need a something different in our lives once in a while. When I need to shake things up I either move to a foreign country or I take a class. And seeing I'm married now I can't really run away... so, by default, it was time to learn something new.
This may seem odd, but I always wanted to learn how to upholster furniture. While you all know that I love working with my hands, sometimes I just don't want to work in metal (I think that's why I enjoy baking so much) and that's larger than a nickel. So, I signed up for this upholstery class at the Eliot School in Jamaica Plain.
The funny part is the day I signed up for the class I popped over to Goodwill to donate some clothing and I spotted a chair.
Actually, a pair of chairs. Horribly ugly 1950's goldenrod yellow slipper (roll back) chairs. And after having read the restrictions on the piece of furniture to bring to class (no couches or chaise, strongly suggests no arms or wing-backs for your first project, etc) and it has webbing and springs and padding and wood and fabric and so many different parts to fix, I knew this was the perfect match. It was fate! I knew I had to have them. AND they were $15 each! How could I pass that up?!?!
So, today was my first day of class. The first step is to strip the chair of the horrible goldenrod fabric...
... lo and behold it is NOT a 1950's chair! It was re-upholstered in the 1950's but it is actually from the late 1800's or early 1900's. There were many different clues once you started stripping away...
... like multiple layers of fabrics...
... and horse hair stuffing...
... and stitched (not stretched) webbing...
... and layers of straw stuffing...
... and LOTS of tack holes!
I'm at the point of the chair being nearly stripped and so excited to learn what comes next!
The hard part is repeating all the steps on the second chair at home... fingers crossed I don't destroy anything!
2 comments:
Is that class outside, or is the floor just brick? Can't wait to follow the project.
I adored that chair at the start. Hope it works out for you. Cool blog, it's really fun to read! =)
http://laughlongandhard.blogspot.com/
Loads of Love,
Colleen
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