Tip: Do what I didn't, invest in a nice hot glue gun. It'll save you lots of aggravation. I promise. Really.
Anyway, here we go!
Supplies:
Fabric of your choice (I used two yards to cover 4 chairs. I did not need that much.)
Foam
Hot glue gun or staple gun
Screwdriver
Scissors (Invest in good scissors too. You'll thank me someday.)
Serrated knife to cut foam
1. Flip your chair over and unscrew the seat from the frame.
2. Since my seat was rush (I know, I think I committed the ultimate crime by covering them, but they weren't in great shape), it had no cushion. It also had no wood on the underside. If I were re-covering a typical chair, I would have stapled the fabric into the wood on the back of the seat. Since I didn't have that, I decided to use extra strength hot glue.
3. Lay your seat on the foam. Cut around it with either a serrated knife or scissors. Mr. Un-Handy thought scissors would do the job, but I was really happy with my knife. Use whatever you're happy with!
4. Lay the fabric with the wrong side up. If you're using a pattern, be sure that its straight. Put the foam on top of the fabric, and the chair seat on top of that so that the bottom of the seat is facing you.
5. Start on the straight side and glue (or staple) your fabric. On the opposite side, pull the fabric as tight as you can, and glue that down.
6. Our seats had some tricky corners that I didn't take into consideration. By the 3rd chair we finally got it down! We ended up folding the fabric like wrapping paper and making some relief cuts.
7. Trim the excess fabric from the back of the seat.
8. Now it's time to re-assemble your chairs. Line up everything and screw your seats back on. Make sure the seat is as tight to the frame as it should be. If some of your fabric gets bunched up, use your knife to get it straight again.
Now you're all done! I hope they look great! Here's my finished chair. I love them!
What an ignominious end for a once-beautiful chair! There are instructions on the internet for re-rushing chair seats and I'm sorry you didn't seek them out and follow them. They would have given a beautiful new life to your lovely old chair.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with 'Unknown' in his/her condemnation of the 'vandalism' of a 'once-beautiful' chair. The fabric used to 'upholster' the chair is totally unsuitable and will not last five minutes if the chair is ever to be sat upon. Instead of upholstering the chair seat, may I recommend watching Ed Hammond's excellent free video on YouTube - How to Weave a Seat in a Rush Chair. I was able to buy the necessary materials online very easily and am using hanks of seagrass instead of real rush, as seagrass is so much easier for the amateur to use. Please give it a try!
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm sorry people aren't more supportive! It may not be to their taste but if you love your project and the results that's great! I commend you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! Don’t listen to the grumpy gills. I watched the video on rerushing and who has the time or patience for that?!! I’m normally hardcore about maintaining the originality of a piece, but that was too much for me! I’m getting a bunch of chairs with completely destroyed rush and I plan to upholster. Otherwise they were going to get tossed. I don’t feel the least bit guilty about it ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am not a fan of chairs with rushing. They are not comfortable & my cat thinks it is her own personal scratching post. Of which she has two, so step back haters. I have been looking for exactly this sort of tutorial. Keep doing what you are doing & to the "Unknown" haters who don't even have the balls to use their own name. Please, If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything, didn't your Mama teach you that.
ReplyDelete