Upholstering Dining Chairs Part 4 – When Shit Hits the Fan

I did not do my best work this weekend. I bit the bullet and decided that the foam for the seats really did need to be trimmed down to 1 ½”. Using the electric knife, I hacked away at the foam until....the knife died. I think the motor just gave out from running too long or overheating. Only 5 were done at this point. Oh well.

 From there I decided to work on upholstering the backs on a few more chairs. So I did the layer of foam, the layer of batting and started stapling the fabric. With the bottom in place, I pulled the fabric tight and got about half way done with stapling the top....when I realized that I had not allowed for enough fabric to pull around on the right side and cover the top corner of the frame. So I took out the staples which of course, with this fabric, created a ton of little tears. When I started to re-stretch the fabric, all the little tears turned into one big rip. Needless to say, that piece of fabric is ruined and the worst part is now I do not have enough fabric to complete all the chairs. 

After quite a bit of swearing, I found the fabric available online and ordered another 10 yards. Of course it was not available to ship to Canada so it is heading to the in-laws in Florida. Now I just have to cross my fingers and hope it arrives before they leave to come home. The only good thing is with the extra fabric I can have the back be one solid piece instead of having seams. The bad; having to wait for the fabric, the additional $75 and the frustration with myself.

I put down the staple gun for the rest of the weekend and focused again on the seat cushions. For those sewn; 5 are now trimmed with pinking shear, turned right way out and stuffed with the foam. Another needs to have a seam fixed and the remaining 2 still need to be sewn. 

And now we know: can’t say it enough, buy more fabric than needed. Next time I upholster something, I am going to double the yardage. 

New Upstairs Blinds

Now that we have a new window in the master bedroom, I could finally get new blinds. The old ones were vinyl and they ripped long ago, so they were thrown out with the old window. 

For the first time we ordered custom blinds to fit the new windows. They are cellular shades and fit the window nicely. Visually it’s a big improvement on the vinyl one.

They sit perfectly within the window casing.

While we were ordering, we got a matching shade for the 2^nd bedroom. Because of the moulding around the window, this one doesn’t sit as nice and flush to the glass, it sticks out past the trim. One day when everything of ‘higher priority’ is done, I will work on fixing this...

And now we know: the new blinds are great, but I’m not sure they actually darken the room that much. The white seems to just diffuse the sunlight. During the day this is actually really nice because the room can be bright but still have privacy.

Upholstering Dining Chairs Part 3 - Sewing the Cushion Covers

As part of the design of these chairs, I wanted a detached cushion. I can’t remember why, but ultimately I think it’s a nice look. To start them, I cut a template of the seat shape and traced it onto my fabric.

Then it is simply a matter of pining and sewing into the shape of the cushion. Probably would be easier without Ella’s help.

 I’ve also been working on cutting the foam to the shape of the seat. The electric knife is a lot easier and faster but it is still tricky to cut the foam. These are currently 2” thick but they feel a little too dense and a little too high for me.

 And now we know: I’m not sure what to do about the cushions here. I have 4 cushion covers completely sewed and 4 half done, all at 1 ¾” thick for the 2” foam. If I try to cut the foam down it will be imperfect (which I think I could mitigate with a few layers of batting) and time consuming. But it I leave it as is it will always bother me...so I will do some test fits and probably adjust the thickness of the foam...

Upholstering Dining Chairs Part 2 – Covering the Seats

While our windows were being replaced yesterday, I worked on upholstering the chairs in my shop. I started with the seat on a chair. On top of the webbing went 2 layers of batting and then the fabric cover I sewed. Once everything was lined up, I stapled it in place. 

The hardest part was the corners, where I had to fold the fabric in place and use hot glue to hold it. It took some time to get the seam to line up with the corner while lining up the fold with the underside of the seat frame and having it all be flat and without folds.

After I completed the first seat, I moved on to the back. Good thing I didn’t continue just doing the seats, cause I realized the fabric at the back was stapled to the wrong piece of the frame. This meant I couldn’t pull the fabric for the back through the gap and I had to re-do it. Better one than 8 though!

For the back I was planning on using 1” foam, but found this too hard when you sat, so am now using ½” foam with 1 layer of batting then the fabric. Stapled at the top and sides and pulled tight, this step is pretty basis upholstering.

Next I started working on the curved pieces for the sides of the seat. I covered them on 1 side with fabric and batting then glued and nailed them in place before completing the upholstering. I made some mistakes with the 1^st one, on the right side and am not happy with the end result. For the second side I improved my technique; I added some foam underneath so there is not gap and got the fabric pulled tighter with less bumps. 

At the end of the day I had completed 5 seats and just the 1 back. The first always takes the longest as you figure out your techniques, so from here on out it should go faster.

And now we know: cutting sheets of 1” foam down to ½” foam with an exacto blade is damn near impossible. It was really uneven and bumpy. I’m going to try with an electric knife next and hope that it is easier! 

Backroom Window Replacement

We got our 3 back windows replaced today. Although they looked nice, being wood Pella’s from the 90’s, it was ridiculously cold in that room. You could feel the cold air coming through. We now have nice new white vinyl ones

At the same time, we got the one in our bedroom replaced. It was also cold in that room, it looked bad as it was just an infill, it was not symmetrical and the casement parts had broken clips so could just fall out. Good thing we did replace it, Tom had to convince me on this one, but it turned out to be rotten underneath due to the poor installation of the previous one.

And know we know: I can’t believe how bright both rooms seam, the upstairs cause there are no dividers in the glass and the back rooms with the switch from wood frames to white. There is a lot of trim painting in my future...

Upholstering Dining Chairs Part 1 – Cutting the Fabric

When I was down in the US last weekend, I finally found fabric to finish the dining chairs. It is a cotton with a subtle almost linen look in a navy blue.

With the cat’s help, I started cutting it.

I estimated I needed 13 yards with standard upholstery width, but the fabric was only 42” wide, so I had to recalculate on the spot. I ended up buying 17 yards and there was just enough fabric. I had to make a design change to the back though as I couldn't cut the entire section out of 1 piece of fabric. There will be a seam at each side. Hopefully I don’t make any mistakes cause there is hardly any extra fabric.

I didn't have enough fabric for the entire seat so I used a grey I already had. This will not be seen as a cushion will sit on top. With the grey as a square in the centre, I sewed a strip of navy to frame it out on 3 sides. Each piece is tapered at the corner and this will be stapled to the seat of the chair.

And now we know: buy way more fabric than you need. I really thought I had more than enough, but turns out I could have used another couple of yards as a safety net.

Legs for the Dresser

After buying the wood for a new dresser last weekend, I didn’t even touch it this weekend. I started construction with the legs but used leftover oak for this part. The actual legs are 1 ½” thick by 6” high cut with angles on both sides.

Between the legs the frame is made of pieces ¾” by 1 ¾” and they are attached with pocket screws. In between is some bracing, the plan is eventually to screw through these pieces into the base of the box portion. 

And now we know: cutting small pieces with so many angles was a challenge. I had to use much larger pieces and do the cuts strategically, so that there was wood to hold onto that was far enough away from the saw blade.

Re-finishing the Upstairs Landing Floors

Tom was away this weekend, so I took advantage and did something he didn’t want me to: re-finishing the hardwood in the upstairs hall. After we took up the carpet 3 or 4 years ago there was glue residue in various spots on the floor. It was pretty ugly.

I sealed all 4 doors in the hallway and put up a drop cloth at the bottom of the stairs, then started sanding. Because it was such a small area, I just used my belt sander and then the palm sander in the corners. It took a few hours and was pretty messy.

After the sanding was complete, I vacuumed the floors, vacuumed the walls, wiped down all the surfaces and then washed everything down again. Then I did my usual for finishing: a light sand with very fine paper, a wipe down with a tack cloth, a coat of clear, wait an hour and repeat twice.

And now we know: I was a little worried for Tom’s reaction to this surprise; he inspected for dust then said it looked good. Better reaction than expected.