Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Eight Weeks vs. Eight Hours?....

You know I've been taking an upholstery class now for eight weeks. Last Saturday was supposed to be the last class, but it got rescheduled (I guess to this Sat).

I've been really frustrated that the process to learn how to upholster a chair is taking so long. In fact, I was thinking of not even going to the last class since it's clear that I won't finish the chair.


After eight weeks this is where I am with the chair.



However, it turns out that I've learned enough to wing-it on a old french wingback chair. In eight hours I went from this




to this.


I still have to make the cushion (right now I just wrapped the fabric around the down cushion it came with. I also have to put the trim on which I've learned is just hot glued on.


So after much deliberation I've decided it wasn't a complete waste taking this class. I've got enough know-how now and the tools to wing it on any other chairs going forward. They won't last for 300 years which is always the goal of our instructor. But they'll be good enough for us.


2 comments:

the gardener's cottage said...

Hi Julie,

I just saw the comment you left at Faux Fuchsia and realized that you follow me. I hate the way Blogger has the follower set-up. I wish you could easily connect with new followers. I'm really loving what I see here. I would not paint that chair white. I think it's gorgeous. And you did a fantastic job upholstering it. I LOVE all those windows too. So I'm going to follow you and read a few more posts. Nice to meet you.

~janet

My Interior Life said...

Julie,

I came across your blog after seeing your comment on Blue Hydrangea's blog (don't you just love her?!). It's fortuitous that I read your post about upholstery because I've been contemplating taking a class myself. I'm still not sure if I'm up for it after reading your experience. But I think it's a great skill to have. Your green chair looks great and I agree with the gardeners cottage - I wouldn't paint the chair either. Maybe if you had a lighter fabric, but I think it looks great with the green!