So after the walls and work station, I needed something for me and my assistant to sit upon. Luckily, I had an old café chair found at a charity rummage sale a few years back. Although, at the time, I didn’t care for its hue of poo, I did like its curvy bits. I hauled it up from the basement and went to work.
First I popped off the padded seat. I then sanded it down and applied multiple coats of latex semi-gloss paint, sanding with 220 grit sand paper between coats. While my final coat was drying, I switched gears to upholstery. After stapling a round of fabric over the old seat, I started on the piping. (Here’s where the ‘how-to’ comes in.)
Many upholstery projects can benefit from piping; chair seats like this are one of those jobs. And luckily, making piping it is easy. All you need is a section of cording, found at any fabric store or upholstery shop, cut to fit your desired application. Mine was the perimeter of the seat. Next, cut a strip of fabric–about 3 or four inches–to the length of the cord PLUS a few inches. Center your cord down the middle of the strip of fabric and then fold the fabric over.
Using a zipper foot on your sewing machine, sew a seam next to the cord.
With that finished, staple the piping to the underside of your seat, as shown. (Remember, if you’re use a striped fabric like I did, match your stripes at the most visual point of your project. In this case it’s the front of the seat.) You’ll want to start stapling about an inch from one end at the least visible point of your project. (Mine was the rear of the seat.) When you get to where the end of your cord meats the beginning, fold your excess fabric under and then slip it under that one inch left loose at the beginning.
This will cover the meeting points of your piping, creating a finished look. You’ll want to staple the fold down to keep it in place, of course.
The café chair is for me, but what about my assistant? I had a cute little stool that had seen better days. I found a funky fuzzy leaf green fabric to cover it with that I thought she would appreciate.
Although the stool turned out great, my assistant seems to prefer a nearby drawer.
Tomorrow’s post: the simplest window treatment ever.
