Old Rocking Chair Revival

Rocking Chair After

Rocking Chair Before

Some projects go very smoothly. This rocking chair was not one of them since it was in dire straits. The arms were shredded and there was a large hole on the right top of the seat. The rocking chair was over 45 years old and had seen a lot of use, possibly damaged from a dog as well. Indeed, it was time for an upholstery revival on this old rocking chair.

The seat cushion was badly worn and the foam was so flat it wasn't able to support you properly. Originally a 3" cushion, the old cushion had been reduced to about 1-1/2 to 2". I had a brand new T-cushion made then designed a brand new cushion cover with the new material. It turned out perfectly. T-cushions can be tricky especially with top and bottom welt cording, which I used for this cushion. The curve-around zipper makes it easy to slip over the foam. Once that was complete, I tackled the back portion.

Unlike other chairs I've done, this one had a separate cushion on the front half but it was stitched to the inner back panel with the back section wrapped around the top and sides of the chair and attached to the interior of the back and sides. This made the removal process extremely difficult and as I soon found out as I progressed with the removal of the old material, it was apparent that this factory style method of construction would be impossible to duplicate. 

This turned out to be a typical catch 22 situation; during fabric stripping, I had to remove each section to learn how it was assembled, but when the time came to stitch it back together, I couldn't replicate the exact method as it was put together, since it had been taken apart to use for templates. Even with detailed markings, numbering and many photos, I found it simply wasn't possible to recreate the original construction, so I chose to build this rocking chair by building loose cushions for both the seat as well as the back. My preferred method had a couple of great advantages. It made the project's assembly much more efficient, because with loose cushions as opposed to attached, they can be easily dry-cleaned, plus the cushions can be reversed for even wear. Finally, the overstuffed cushions were really comfortable. Bonus!

I padded the backing and covered it with fabric front and back after replacing the original, insufficient webbing.  They had only three strips and I replaced those with four. Much stronger and more support. The under spring assembly was also covered with thin foam and finished off with the floral material. Edge rolls were used for comfortable seating. Once the structure was all done and the cushions in place, it fit together perfectly.

The customer selected a lovely floral pattern which was a far cry from the original outdated and worn material which had seen better days. The bones of the chair were very good, strong and stable, so with the newly upholstered material, this chair should last for many years to come.

Button Fluted Chair Makeover

 

Chair After

Chair Before

This is another classic style chair with fluted channels and buttons to accent the back. It had definitely seen better days since it had a damaged, torn seat from an active dog. The chair itself was very durable and structurally sound, needing no tightening or other repair work. But like many chairs of this style, it had many, many staples to remove which was a very time-consuming process. My customer chose the fabric which was a lovely large floral print on a dark teal background.

And to make matters even more time-consuming, the staples were quite rusty, which made them a bit tougher to remove. This chair may have been in a damp environment, hence the rusty staples, but the fabric had no mold or odors, so despite the dampness, it was dry and odorless.

Removing the fabric is the opposite of putting it on. I removed the welting on the back first before removing the entire back itself. I kept the pieces in tact as I was planning on using them as templates. This is much easier than making the patterns without the original pieces, which I’ve also done. For this particular style of chair having those template pieces was invaluable. I had to carefully transfer the markings for the fluted back and button positions from the old fabric to the new fabric. 

Using a heat removable marker, I transferred the lines to the new fabric. The back consisted of four layers; the outer fabric, the batting, the 1/4” foam and the liner which is the very back fabric (I used muslin), not seen when the chair is put together. The challenging part of this process was stitching all those layers together while keeping them from moving too much. This took the better part of the afternoon to accomplish. The chair also had fabric covered buttons which had to made individually as I don’t own an automatic button maker. (....some day...). 

After I had the seat all done, I began the slow process of attaching the thickly padded back. Starting at the top and temporarily attaching it to the center back, I worked the layers through the bottom wood structure of the chair and attaching it to the lower portion of the wood. All this is not seen once the chair is done. Once I was sure the backing was lined up, I finished attaching it securely. After the front of the back was installed, I attached the very back which covers up the interior of the chair. I covered the back with Dacron batting then used tack strip, which attaches to the wood of the chair all the way down to the arms, then the fabric is tucked between the tacks and folded then hammered with a rubber mallet, attaching it firmly to the back. At the juncture of the arms, I attached the rest of the fabric with staples as that part would be covered with welting.

I then attached the welting below where the tack strip ended, curving around the arms and again on the top curve of the front legs. This is decorative and effective way to finish the chair while covering any raw edges of the fabric. Many chairs have tacks that are used for this purpose, but I prefer welting (also called piping or cording) because once you remove the original tacks, it is hard to apply new ones without defaulting to the old holes, which don’t always line up. Many times the tacks break or bend and can’t be used, especially on very hard wood such as maple or oak. Welting is a great alternative and a cleaner look.

I loved the lines an shape of this chair and boy, was it comfortable to sit on when it was finished!