Dining Room Chairs Upgrade

Dining Chair
After

Dining Chair
Before

This is one of four dining room chairs which needed an upgrade with new upholstery. The old fabric was still in remarkably good condition, however my customer had wanted to match curtains with the chairs so she chose a silvery-gray fabric which gave the chairs a classy and elegant look.

Unlike most of the other chairs I have worked on, these had a unique approach in how the fabric was attached to the cushion. After inspecting the bottom, I realized there were no screws holding in the seats. Everything was done from bottom up. Beneath the fabric was the Dacron; beneath the Dacron was the foam and underneath everything was the webbing. 

The material had been attached by staples at the base of the seat's top, covered up with double welt cording. In most dining room chairs the seat is removed by unscrewing it from the base, so each seat can be worked on independently of the chair. The advantage is that you have access to the entire seat and can work on a tabletop. For this particular chair, that was not the case. Everything had to be removed and reassembled right on the chair. This leaves little to no room for error (not that that ever happens...lol). Once I established how these seats were put together, I proceeded to yank off the old welt cording, then removed staples, lots and lots of staples at the base of the seat, surrounding the entire chair.

Because these chairs needed new cushions, I removed the old Dacron and cushions and replaced them with new high density foam. I also reinforced the old webbing by adding some new webbing strips to give the bottom extra firmness and support. The old webbing was likely original, narrow and a little sloppy. I used three inch jute webbing, which provides a stronger, more stable seat. For the cushions, I used the old cushions for size and shape, then cut the new ones and aligned them on the webbing, then secured them with staples on the bottom edge. 

New Dacron covered the foam and then the chairs were ready for new new fabric. Slow is pro, so I took my time and made sure the material covered the chair enough to allow for the staples without covering the lip of the seat. The final step was gluing the double welt cording to the bottom edge which covers the staples while providing an elegant finishing touch to the seats. Two of the chairs required a replacement of the chambray dust cover, so once those were done, my project was complete.

Dining Chair
Before/After

 

Twin Rocking Chairs Makeover

Rocking Chair After

Rocking Chair Before

This was a dual set of identical rocking chairs which ended up being painted instead of being refinished and stained. They came to us without cushions, just an old seat covering and broken springs. Jim worked his magic by first sanding and priming the chairs before painting them. Then it was my turn.

To modify and update these twin chairs, I used jute webbing instead of springs for the center opening on the seat area. This worked very well and will do the job of sustaining comfort and support. This is a commonly used method for this application. The customer chose a lovely dark blue/gray color and matching plaid fabric which looked great. 

I designed and sewed two sets of cushions for these chairs, one for the seat and one for the backrest. The seat cushion had a 2" foam for support and comfort while the back was filled with soft fiberfill used for chair stuffing. I liked this choice because it made for a very comfortable backrest with adequate support. 

For an added elegant touch, I chose satin buttons to decorate the back cushions, evenly spaced for an aesthetic appeal. For the skirting I used my ruffle foot on my sewing machine which created evenly space ruffles all the way around the 60" perimeter of the seat. This was the perfect finishing touch for the chairs.

Couch and Chair Cushion Renewal

Chair Before

Chair After

This is one of a two-piece set of wicker furniture that received updated cushions with a plush, blue material selected by the customer who also supplied the photos.* She had wanted an updated, modernized appearance for these well worn and loved cushions and chose a lovely color to suit the new appearance. 

The chair matched the wicker couch (photo below). For each cushion I used the original pattern and created the new cushion covers. Since the foam was in usable condition, we decided to keep it instead of replacing it.

There were a total of eight cushions, four smaller for the backrest and four larger from the seats. These cushions were the same 23" width, just the depth was longer for the seats, which were 37-1/2" deep compared to the 20" depth (or height) for the backrests. 

For this job the cushions were a different variety from previous cushions I have made, because they had a "fold-over" style, instead of traditional "boxing." Simply put, this means that the top and bottom are made from one continuous piece of fabric, "folded over," instead of there being two separate top and bottom sections and stitching them to the boxing.

Couch Before

Actually, this style of cushion is much easier to insert the foam into, due to the longer, "overlapping edges" zipper, which creates a larger opening so the foam can be easily slipped into it. Sometimes it is necessary to wrap the foam in a very soft plastic material known as "silk film," which is used in the furniture industry for exactly this purpose. It reduces the friction between the foam and the slipcover that goes over it. 

This process involves wrapping the foam completely with the film and then using a vacuum to shrink the foam by sucking the air from the exterior which then reduces the size of the foam so it easier to insert it into the narrow zippered opening of the outer covering. By making the foam smaller, you have an easier time fitting it into these smaller openings. Although this can certainly be done without using the silk film ( I've done it!), it's easier to use it than not.

In some ways these cushions were easier to construct, once I figured out exactly how the construction was done. I lined up my large outer [top and bottom] material by nothing the centers, then matching up those centers with the zipper panel (a separate piece). After that was accomplished, I knew my corners would line up.

Couch After

 

Once the zipper panel was stitched into place, I attached the side panel boxing, also aligning it with a notched top that matched the outer cover. This system worked well as all the edges were then lined up as they should be. A little ingenuity, patience and time gets the job done.

(Photos were supplied by customer).