OMG!!!! That's BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Wow, you did a great job! I hope you took how-to pictures along the way.

Wow, now I have no excuses left because I'm inexperienced.

When do we get to see the rest?

And for your first time, wow!!! I don't think I would have been so brave. I have a wing back that could use your talents.

Balego,

Maybe we should start a new thread called "Before & After", and have everyone show their transformation skills.....

Here's my latest project, finished. It was a CL "pleather" chair that was a horrible bright blue that was stained and torn. I was ready to put it back out on the curb, until I realized that I needed a chair for my office. I ordered some upholstery chenille that I liked and went to work! This was also my first full chair transformation. Now I feel ready to tackle the four wing back chairs I have that don't match anything we own.

You ladies are amazing! My husband bought a beautiful chair similar to these (with claw feet) for $5 at an auction YEARS ago. Beautiful except the torn up leather uphostery. I may just tear that thing apart and give it new clothes. Thanks for posting these photos!

Definitely amazing! I wouldn't have the cajones to tackle a project like that, but I greatly admire both of you for doing so! And the results are spectacular! Well done, ladies!

You deserve a well done pat on the back. I also think how-to pictures would be great. I have to ask what did your husband say?

Wow!!! I have been looking for fabric to redo 2 chairs so you've given me the push that I have needed.

balego, can you provide us with any of the resources that you used? I have a chair similiar to nanny2a and I think I've figured out how to do it except for where the back meets the seat.

nanny2a, I love your chair!

Have you two ever done any more than just a chair seat before? You are both awesome!

Wow, both the chairs turned out awesome, WTG ladies! Please keep the inspirational pictures coming, I'm trying to psyche myself into tackling sofa soon.

OMG !! You are amazingly talented...nope...donot deny it you have a GIFT !! Wow I am going to get crackin' as soon as I get this big ol porch done...and the glider...and and...but I have renewed enthusiasm after seeing the wonderful job that you and then nanny posted. I stand in awe ! c

I am SOOOOOOO impressed with both your skills and the reno'd chairs! Question: what directions did you follow when redoing them? From an internet site? A book? I have two old chairs I also need to redo, but I need SIMPLE directions to follow. Again, thanks for letting us see your wonderful renos!
Lynn

Wow, thanks for all your comments! And Nanny2a, your chair is gorgeous! It is so satisfying to do something like this, isn't it? And not nearly as difficult as we imagined it would be, did you find that?

As for directions, I just poked around online and found little bits of information that would help me figure things out. Everything I used is in the sites below.

The article I found that pushed me to even try this was this one,
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1974-11-01/Reupholster-Furniture.aspx

Then, another site I found was actually an upholstery supply place, but has a few youtube video demos. That site is here http://www.diyupholsterysupply.com/introduction.html?Screen=USL&Code=how-to-upholster

At one point when stripping down the chair, I thought I would have to remove the whole side/arms to get at the fabric on the inside of the arms. But I discovered a photo that showed how the fabric from the inside arms, inside back and the seat base goes down inside the chair and is pulled out through the sides/back, and tacked to the framing in there. Thankfully I found this before I took the sides off!
Photos here helped me a lot
http://www.mormonchic.com/crafty/wingback.asp

And again, taking the chair apart helped me to see how it should go back together. I tried my best to keep the material I removed intact, so I could use it as my pattern. This can be troublesome as some material does not want to come off without being ripped off. I started with the bottom, then it wasn't too hard to see which pieces to remove in what order. The most difficult part was pulling 10,000 staples out of hardwood! With the improper tools. I listened to talk radio and just went to it. It did take the better part of three afternoons to remove everything down to the skeleton. Label the fabric parts so you know what is what. In some cases the stuffing might be in such good shape that you can reuse it, but it can be replaced with newer materials, such as foam to replace the straw, dacron to replace the cotton type stuff that tends to come out in huge tufts. That seam you think is sewn on your chair? Take it apart and you would be surprised to see that it isnt sewn at all, but tacked using cardboard and staples or metal tack strip. Other than the seat cushion, this chair had no sewed seams. It is all tucked and stapled, even where it looks sewn along the bottom of the armrests and the side fabric. Truly neat how this is really done, and easy to duplicate! Air stapler.. I cannot imagine trying to use anything else to attach the fabric! (I have another very old chair that I took apart the other day and was horrified to see hundreds of tiny tacks! Getting them out was bad enough, but I cannot begin to imagine the poor person who had to put them all in there!)

We had to pick up some of the tack strip so went to an upholstery shop that also carries some supplies. He had a chair similar to mine that he was working on sitting on a workbench, so I asked him about how much it would cost to reupholster. He said $500 plus the cost of fabric. That is Canadian dollars.

DH is quite amazed that I was able to do this. Matter of fact, when he left for work on Tuesday there was just a bare skeleton of a chair. When he got home that evening, everything you see was done except the seat cushion, but I did have all the piping made by then. It is quite quick work to rebuild with the help of the air stapler.
As for the box cushion, I had to think it through, just doing what made sense. I had no pattern or instructions. I even inserted a length of snap tape in the back so the cover can be removed. I think I was just lucky with that whole thing because I had no clue what I was doing before I did it. Gosh, I even noticed while looking at the photo how the fabric on the seat cushion lines up with the fabric on the front underneath it. That was not planned at all because it never occured to me to check how the fabric would line up!

I have ordered a book that had a good review, but haven't received it yet. It is called Upholstery Techniques Illustrated by W. Lloyd Gheen

Wow! It looks great. I'm almost inspired to try reupholstering my mom's pair of wingbacks!

Balego, that is just beautiful. I am sooo impressed. This is your first time project? Wow!

Thanks again. Absolutely think about trying this! If it is too risky to try it on a good piece of furniture that you are attached to, try it on something that wont matter if you mess up. We already have a compressor so getting the air stapler wasn't a big expense ($100) But if anyone is serious about trying this, the compressor will pay for itself in no time. I would love to have one of the staple removers showed on that supply site above as it would probably be more effective than my old flat screwdriver.

Lynn, you have experience with button tufting that you did on your headboard, so you would be able to do chairs with that detail.

Dilly dally, the only other things I have recovered were dining chairs. And I had only a regular staple gun so had to hammer in all the staples on that project as they wouldn't go in all the way.

I'll have to post my dining set redo as I used mostly Restore-a-finish to bring it back to life.

After reading your post I dove in and responded to a free CL posting. You guessed it....I need to reupholster both chairs(one is missing the seat cushion, so to make them match...). I've only done one in my entire life....! Here's a picture of it "before". Maybe you'll remember me when I have an after picture....:0) Wish me luck...

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oh that chair is fabulous, Nicole! I am willing to bet it is pristine inside, and only will need new fabric! I will watch for your remake for sure. Go to youtube and do a search for upholstering wing chairs, and scroll through the videos. They will surely help you along. And check out that site I posted above, the one with the supplies. He shows how to use curve ease (metal tack strip), and how to upholster a chair back, which will help you out tremendously with this chair. He also carries staple guns, which are a good price. When you watch how fast he works with one, you will see why they are so recommended!

Good luck! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: upholstery demos

STOP IT!! NO WAY! I REFUSE TO DO IT MYSELF!! NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! OR SHAME ME INTO IT!

lol!
hard to believe that was your first attempt at it... I don't think I'd know where to begin and I used to sew - everything. made all my dds clothes and most all of my own. I even made the kids jammies with the feet in 'em when they were toddlers.

I'm too old...

balego....your right! I upzipped the chair cushion and the foam is still wrapped in plastic from the manufacturer....which is Taylor King(I googled them, still in business). I then looked at 250 fabric samples and couldn't find a match.....:0) The chair is at least 20 years old. It was out of an office building...no smoke or pets....so the stuffing is reusable. My DH's boss has a compressor with a staple gun attachment I can borrow.....no excuses NOT to do this.......but I am going to wait until winter. :0) I've bookmarked this page and will read up on upholstery "and" I bought a book at an auction about 20 years ago on upholstery I've never read....sooooooooooooooooo. Thanks for your encouragement and faith....:0)

Fantastic results, ladies. I hope I can do as well with my chairs. Here are the befores.....and I think it will probably be quite a while till the afters..

Thanks so much for posting those links, Balego!

balego,

I also used the first link that you showed from Motherearth, I think if was originally posted here by cliffandjoan? and I'd saved and printed it, because I have 4 wing chairs that need reupholstering. I was ready to put this old chair out on the curb, when I realized I could use it as my first project. Mine was put together much the same as yours, nothing had been sewn on it, just millions and millions of staples held it together! I used an ice pick or flat screwdriver to get all the staples out, and that surely, was the hardest part of the whole project.

I took pictures of each step of removal so I'd have something to refer to when I put it back together. I ordered the nail strips, metal tack bars that are used in the back, and the cording I needed from the site posted below. The only thing I didn't have was the air compressed staple gun......and how I wish I had, because I had to go back over each staple with a hammer to get the staples fully into the wood. We have an air compressor, so I'll invest in a staple gun attachment for that before I tackle the wing backs.

I, too, used the original fabric as a pattern to cut out the new chenille. It was not as hard as I thought it would be, and could be done without any sewing. I did sew the piping for mine, but it could have just as easily been glued if a person doesn't sew. I used RAF to clean up and restore the wood parts, which were originally scratched and dingy looking.

Here is a link that might be useful: upholstery supply

OMG fabulous results balego and nanny! I didnt even know it was possible to reupholster your own chairs. I also have two chairs that desperately need a makeover since my cat is always using them for sharpening her claws and over the last few years the "fabric" has slowly turned into "tassles". I'm almost convinced I could do this from seeing your results!

Thanks for your kind comments, trancegemini.

here is the finished chair. I would prefer to have a firmer cushion on it, but considering that they are asking $55 here for a square this size, I'll have to put up with the softer cushion. What IS it with foam prices in Canada!
The fabric wouldn't have been my first choice, but for the very low cost it was better to use this in case I really messed up. When I needed to pick up some gimp trim, the upholstery shop fellow asked me if I would consider using double welting instead. Had I known about this before I got the outside arms done, I would certainly have sewed up some double welting! It would have looked so much more tailored! Next time...

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I have another chair all taken apart and ready to start rebuilding. It is going to need the springs retied, new webbing and burlap, and all new padding. This is what it looked like before we stripped it down. I am going to use an off-white damask tablecloth to recover this, as I have a very large one that my DH bought a couple of years ago and it was too big to use. The material is as thick as the salmon coloured stuff I used so it should be fine.

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And.. yesterday I found a listing for 2 old chairs, for $20 each. Too good to pass them up! I do want to learn to do channel quilting, so they will be a good learning tool.
Here is the photo of one of them (not my photo, it is from the ad)

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My goodness! Both of you did fantastic jobs! Such talent!!!

I'm gonna confess....I went shopping for upholstery fabric and didn't fall in love with anything for under $22-$32 a yard! I'd need 4 yds a chair to match a pattern. Yikes! So I took the one reversible cushion I had,tore it apart and matched the pattern up to make "2". I'm gonna live with them like this until I "need" to reupholter them. lol I'm gonna make little chair arm covers for them.....never done this before, I'm tickled.
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Balego I cant wait to see what you do with these! I'd love to see some in progress pics too because the whole thing is still a great mystery to me, I keep eyeing up my chairs and still cant figure out how it's all held together LOL.

ps. what does the double welting do?

Nicole, good for you for finding a way to make the chairs work for now, they are great chairs in such good shape. Are you sure, though, that you only need 4 yards of fabric each? I ask because I used 7 yards on my little chair. However, a fair piece of that was used to make the welting (although I made way more than I needed!). Here is the link to a yardage chart on a professional upholsterers site I found
http://www.carrscorner.com/yardagechart.php

I know what you mean about fabric price! I used CL fabric on my chair, but when I was looking for the dining chair fabric I was floored at the prices. That is why I'm using a table cloth to cover the one I'm presently working on! ;)

Trancegemini, I am now kicking myself for not taking photos of the reconstruction of the chairs! Yesterday I started to rebuild the wooden chair shown above, and I started from scratch with it! I added all new webbing, replaced the springs and hand tied them, new burlap and now all new padding. I have tear-down photos of both chairs, but got so involved with putting things back together that I didn't think to record that process! Next time for sure.

Double welting is the decorative trim used to cover raw ends, and I see from the link I just found that I can still use this on my pink chair looking at the way it is made, but I would have to purchase a special foot for my machine. The link to explain it is below. Scroll down to see all of the article and photos.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to make/use double welt cord

belego....thanks for the info, I book marked that page. lol The blue tweed upholstery fabric I used(from a mill ends store) was $5 a yard. We have 2 fabric stores in town that have GREAT mark down tables on upholstery fabric.....I'll have to watch for them. I saw upholstery fabric in loud flower patterns for $2.50 a yd.......wish I liked that sort of thing! lol Your chair turned out GREAT!!!!! WOW!!!!!