Making the Studio Look Nice Part 2

I finished upholstering the two chairs. Thank goodness because actually I had done four other chairs during the last few weeks (2 for our spare bedroom in an aqua fabric and 2 for our family room in a brown paisley fabric) and I don't like doing things more than once. Anyway, here are the remaining steps and photos.  Next blog post is back to art. 
1.)  I stapled the quilted and the sewn strip to the seat.

raw edge folded over and stapled to wood at seat bottom

2.) Here is the pattern on brown paper of the seat back with marks for the seam line, where the arms of the chair are, and where the ties will be. Note that my seam line isn't too even from the edge. That isn't important. It's just important that the sewing line is nice and evenly round so that the seat cover sits nicely on the chair back and doesn't have any sharp points on it.

pattern for seat back

3.) I placed the quilted pieces of the chair backs right sides together and stitched them together starting at the point of one of the arms of the chair and ending at the other arm. Clipped the curves, Turned right side out, pressed with the iron. Then I pressed the remaining sides along the seam lines and sewed them down and sewed the hems. Lastly, I sewed 12 inch pieces of bias tape for ties.

Here is a photo that shows the finished seat cover opened so you can the inside. Pardon the lack of precision sewing. I'm not too careful when it comes to functional items.

The seat-back unfolded

4.) Here's a photo of the finished seat-back. The patch in the center is from a sweater that belonged to my mother so it has a special meaning to me.

The finished seat-back

5.) To make the chair comfortable, I put a piece of foam and a pillow form that I bought at Joann's against the back before I slipped the cover over the back.

with foam a pillow

6.) And it's finished. I hope I didn't bore you with all these steps, but I thought someone might want to know how to fix up a chair. It's not difficult and it doesn't really take a lot of time. Just one step at a time.

It coordinates with Grandma's quilt!

At its desk

Making the Studio Look Nice Part 1

     When I was a teenager, my grandmother, who was a very talented sewist, made me a blanket by sewing together squares of flannel. They were leftovers from nightgowns she had made for my mother, my sister, and myself. My grandmother wasn't a quilter so what she did was she zig zag-stitched the squares together on top of a sheet to make the blanket. I used it on top of my bed in college and then it got put away into various closets over the years.

     When I moved furniture into my sewing studio a few months ago, I put the blanket on top of the futon and realized how much I liked the colors on it and thought that maybe it could be quilted. So I gave it to a local long-arm quilter, Julie Yaciw, in DeLeon Springs along with batting and backing fabric and she quilted it for me.

Grandma's quilt on the futon

       I have two chairs in the studio that used to be dining room chairs and aren't too comfortable. One is for working at my craft table and one is for working at my desk/computer area. I want to make them more comfortable and make them coordinate with the quilt.

original chair with vinyl seat

I dug out fabrics I already have and here are the steps I've followed. I'm sure there are other ways to upholster, but it seemed simple enough this way.
1.) Unscrew the seat and make a pattern from brown wrapping paper. I didn't have one piece of paper large enough so I taped together several pieces.

making a pattern for the seat

2.) Make a pattern for the back of the chair with brown wrapping paper.

making a pattern for the back (with help)

3.) Using scissors, cut the top of the vinyl seat off. I left the sides of the vinyl there for support. I cut the threads along the seams on the sides and the top easily came off.

removing the seat top

4.) I left the original stuffing in place. Then I cut some foam I already had and put it on top for extra cushioning. ( I love being able to use up stuff I already have... my closets are getting all cleaned out!)

there he is again

with foam on top

5.) Then I pieced together fabrics that coordinated with the quilt (one of them was from a pair of my mom's old pajamas that said "I love you") and quilted them in the ditch. Then I'll sew this onto a fabric strip that will go around the side and staple it to the bottom of the seat.

pieced and quilted patchwork cut to fit

Later I'll show you the back of the seat and how it looks all together.