All the steps and all the layers! These seemingly simple chairs went through several steps to go from shabby to beautiful!
When I purchased these the caning was broken, all the joints wobbled and I didn’t dare sit in it and the foam was showing through rips in the fabric. Still I couldn’t get over the shape and knew they needed to be saved!
First the seats were removed and the old stain stripped off. Thankfully my father is a wood craftsman and was able to reinforce all the joints and sand blast the old stain off! From there the frames got a fresh coat of stain and seal!
Once the frames came back to me it was onto upholstery! These chairs have drop in seats which means I am able to upholster the seats separately from the chairs.
First I tied the springs so the move together which is what makes a chair comfortable! Then over the springs goes burlap, this is to protect the foam from being damaged by the springs.
Then it’s onto the foam! I trace a outline of the seat and then cut slightly bigger, this allows for nice soft edges!
Then over the foam goes the fluffy white stuff that helps give shape!
Now they are ready for fabric and the details!
To finish off these seats we use a dust cover to complete!
Then it’s over to the frames, as you saw in the before pics the caning was very damaged. Repairing cane is an art form all on it’s own and I don’t have the knowledge to recreate this! So I choose to upholster the backs of these chairs! Because they had an open back I wanted to make sure to put the fabric facing out.
Then more padding! A thin layer of foam and some white fluff give the back the comfort!
Then more fabric!
But what to do with all those raw edges?! Trim! I made this trim to match the chairs out of the same fabric. This is what gives them a clean finish!
Now we have completed chairs!
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