Simple and Cosy Vintage Chair Makeover

This month we were lucky enough to receive a beautiful mahogany Victorian carver dining chair from a close family member who was downsizing recently.

This special seat was part of a set that had been handed down through the generations. It has been enjoyed by all who sat in it during numerous splendid gatherings in a spacious dining room in the country county of Kent.

This carved wooden armchair is wonderful memento of many jolly times around the table and still a very useful furniture piece.

Our 'garden room' in the cottage in West Sussex is normally used as a work room and provides an office and studio space with excellent natural light for writing, reading, computing, drawing, painting and sewing. This charming room needs one good comfortable cosy and attractive chair that can be used for all of these various activities.

The garden room also doubles as a guest bedroom for when friends from afar come to stay with us. A variety of fabrics are folded and draped on the cream metal bed as textile projects progress.

A soft and warm solution was required for this furniture newcomer to enable the seating to feel homely as well as being strong and practical.

First we added a large plain blue coloured cushion from John Lewis. We found an unwanted second hand cotton and polyester mix striped set of cream curtains in perfect condition. We cut off the curtain tapes so we were left with just the flat fabric to work with.

We measured all the sides of the chair individually starting with the front face and made a simple diagram on a piece of paper to record these basic dimensions.

Next we took an extra duvet cover in new condition and cut out the basic flat shapes that make up the front, back and inner sides of this vintage furniture piece. We ensured that the pieces would combine when sewn together to cover the whole item with around 10 centimetres of the feet of the chair left visible at the base.

This allows the floor to be seen underneath the loose cover which helps to visually open up the room and help keep it from feeling cluttered.

When all the parts were cut out of duvet wadding we attached them to the matching stripey fabric shapes for each part of the chair. We made sure that the wadding was tacked in place to the 'wrong side' of the fabric so it wouldn't be seen once in use. We used one piece of fabric to create a central 'draped seat' section that covers the blue cushion and minimise the amount of detailed sewing required.

By 'offering up' the fabric and using the chair as a template, a loose cover can be created quickly without the need for more than basic dimensions.

Hand sewing pieces together making sure the raw edges are left on the inside when the cover is finished can sometimes be quicker when making small projects. A degree of 'crafting' as you go along is involved.

The sewing machine can be used if it is easier or alternatively just for binding the longer seam joins if this is more comfortable.

This technique is reminiscent of wrapping a large present which is a slightly less than conventional shape!

Then once we were happy with the cover shape we stitched on two half a meter lengths of 10 centimetre wide cream ribbon. This was attached to the lower back face of the chair which then allows for easy removal whilst also gathering the loose cover into a more fitted shape.

A cute bow is tied to enhance the simple design.

We then took off the cover put to one side while we cut generous cream cotton lining fabric pieces to fit inside our stripey fabric and padded faces structure. Using the sewing machine combined with hand sewing we turned our cover inside out and attached all the lining faces. We took care to make sure the raw edges were on the outside this time so when the cover was turned the right way round again, all the sewn edges are all tucked neatly out of sight.

Finally using small stitches and cream thread we added a vintage Laura Ashley tulip design stencil border in soft pink and green on cream cotton all the way around the bottom edge of our freshly made loose covering.

An embroidered cream cotton scatter cushion with light pink flowers and crochet lace edging adds extra back support and coordinates perfectly with the other ivory soft furnishings in this peaceful and sunny room.
 

To see more hand crafted and original textiles by Create Display visit us at Bosham Walk or check out our online etsy shop….look out for more new pieces in the pipeline this Spring!