My grandparents gave me a petite arm chair when I was in my teens, covered in royal blue faux velvet. As upholstery hobbyists, the two of them had put together this little beauty themselves. The seat was deep and low to the ground, and the arms, delicately curved, were set in, making it quite narrow. It was never built to house a large man, and low and behold, it was broken by a certain caped gentleman.
Several times he has threatened to put it out on the sidewalk with a "FREE" sign on it, but I keep hiding it in different places, out of his reach. This chair has gone with me to every apartment and house I've ever lived in, and since grandpa has been gone for several years, and now grandma, it has huge sentimental value.
So last week I set to work taking it apart, and seeing if I could fix the seat. This is by no means a tutorial, but I am following several on pinterest :)
I took several pictures as it came apart, so I could go backwards when I put it back together. I found a beautiful gold striped remnant just big enough to cover the chair, making the cost of fixing this girl at just over $40.00.
I paid Little Miss $2 to pull out hundreds of staples. I pulled out several hundreds more, and together we cut out the pattern on our new material.
There were a few surprises as we tore the chair apart: the webbing had come out the bottom because it had not been long enough, and there were, in fact, no springs in the chair seat at all. I knew I couldn't handle installing springs, so I figure once this is all put together, Mr. Man will still not be allowed to sit in it (...or kids ...or cats, for that matter).
And, ew...we found horse hair. Bleck.
The chair was made of solid wood, but wasn't very secure, so Mr. drilled some added support into the legs (the first screws that had ever been put into this chair) in between thousands of staple holes and a few ancient nails.
The cat made herself a fast home in among the seat padding for a few days while I was in the cake shop.
So yesterday my son and I fixed the seat. The Fabricland staff were great at pointing out what I needed, and off I went with the webbing, extra seat padding and gold striped material. Monster sat at one end of the seat and I at the other, pulling, measuring, weaving and stapling until my back ached.
We were so proud of ourselves!
Whether or not this chair lasts in our busy home, I feel empowered taking on this project, and a bit sentimental. As Monster and I were examining the chair and determining how to put in the seat, I found my grandfather's markings underneath, measuring where to place the strips, and allowing us to follow his silent instructions. It was surreal to say the least.
Next week perhaps I will get back at it. March break is filling up with play dates, and Veggie Tale concerts. And my lower back has staple gun aches. I'll go back to my KitchenAid mixers and convection oven for awhile.
What are you working on this month?
Erin
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