Do it yourself - House of 34

Do it yourself

Reupholstering A Chair

group 10I’m not a reupholstering expert AT ALL.  When I picked up this $20.00 rocker at an antique show, I thought I would just add more fluff to the chair then recover it with new fabric.  You know… reupholstering a chair the “I’ll wing it” way.  ;)  Thank goodness I didn’t do that!  The fabric was so old, it was almost crunchy.  As I took the fabric and the layer of cotton off the chair, I discovered it was stuffed with hay.  Yes, HAY.  Can we say fire hazard??

The chair needed to be stripped down to the bones.  That meant I was going to have to build it back up.  While I’m sure this chair is not put together the “expert” way, it worked, looks pretty good, and it’s very comfy to sit in.  What more can you ask of a chair?

upholstery chair

Here is what it looked like before. The fabric shredded as I pulled it off.

reupholster chair

Hay! I had to put on a face mask during the deconstruction of this chair. The dust and goodness knows what else that came from the chair gave me an instant wicked headache. I would recommend wearing a mask anytime to take something apart!  You just never know where it’s been.

reupholster chair

After the chair was fabric and hay free, I gave it a couple of coats of white spray paint.

reupholster chair

Wide webbing was nowhere to be found, so narrow webbing was used to wrap the chair. Only the back needed webbing, as the seat still had really good springs. The next step was adding batting to the entire chair.
Now fabric… After centering the medallion in the fabric on the chair, I used a staple gun to attach it to the back. The extra fabric was trimmed off.

group 5

I used a piece of 1 inch foam for the back of the seat before I started to recover. The original chair had a piece of wood on the back, but after adding the webbing, wood was not necessary. Three inch foam was used to cover the seat.

reupholster chair

I added a separate piece of fabric, with the edges turned under, to the leg where to seat and the chair back meets. It was easier than trying to cut the fabric just right to cover that area. And the original covering was put together like that.

Using another piece of fabric on the back side, I turned under the edges here too, then stapled it, following the outline of the shape of the chair. To cover up the staples, I’m going to glue coordinated cording to it.

group 7

I used a piece of cotton material that I had to cover the bottom of the chair. Again, I turned under the edges and stapled as I went.

group 8

Here is the finished chair. I actually liked reupholstering! If I can do it, you can do it too. :D

 

Linking to:

I Should be Mopping the Floor
DIY ShowOff
Finding Fabulous - Frugalicious Friday
Not Just A Housewife – Show me what ya got
House on the Way – Twirl and Take a Bow
DIY by Design

 

Unique Handmade Gifts

Handmade gifts make the best presents (in my opinion).  When you receive one, you can see all the time, thought and love that was poured in to it. They are gifts from the heart.

Today I’m showing you some of the handmade gifts I have received.  All these gifts came from my talented, best friend, Kerry. (Aren’t I a lucky girl?!)  Perhaps these wonderful, beautiful ideas will inspire you to think “handmade” when you want to do something special for someone. :D

handmade gift idea

Kerry found this mirror that matches the colors in my sewing/craft room. She bought letters and numbers for “house of 34″ and added it to the bottom.

handmade gift idea

What a clever, customized idea! (Yes I cried when I saw it.)

handmade gift idea

I have had this picture collage for years now. I think it was the first handmade gift she gave me. It tells the story of our friendship.

handmade gift idea

And yes, I cried with this one too! ;)

handmade gift idea

Kerry gave me this picture, with the cut up jeans, after we finished the doll house we made together. Getting to spend time with her several times a week for months was oodles fun!  We went through withdrawal when it was finished though.

handmade gift idea

She cut up her paint splattered, glue covered jeans as a representation of the labor of love that went into making our girls a doll house. She framed a lovely letter she wrote and added a picture of our first of many Lowes and HomeDepot shopping trips.  And yes, I cried again.

handmade gift idea

All these pictures will be added to my sewing/craft room when I get it finished and pretty. I hope these pictures will move you to make and give a handmade gift. :D

Do you have a favorite handmade gift?

Stencil Giveaway!

Stenciled ceiling

I recently shared with you the ceiling I stenciled in my powder bath, using the Chez Ali stencil.  It’s probably one of my favoritest projects to date!  It was an easy project to do, but the impact it made was huge and gorgeous!  Now it’s your turn to stencil. :D

Today begins the Royal Design Studio stencil giveaway!  You have the opportunity to win a stencil of your choice, up to a $50.00 value!  Wait ’til you see all their designs!  It may take you some time to decide on your favorite.  Decisions, decisions!

Here’s what to do to win your own stencil…

  1. To go Royal Design Studio and browse around.
  2. Then return to House of 34 and leave me a comment letting me know which stencil you love and where you would use it.
  3. Enter to win in the Rafflecopter form below.  That’s it!  Good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

%d bloggers like this: