DIY: Chair Make-Over

Remember this little chair I picked up a few weeks ago at Goodwill?



I thought about recovering the seat with some yellow chevron fabric... but my local Joann's didn't have any. Instead I decided to take the yellow as inspiration and found this pretty little number:



The yellow isn't quite that golden in person and the gray stems are lighter, too. The red in the flowers pick up the red pillows in my living room--almost intentional!

The next step: removing the seat and taking off the old fabric. Apparently the current covering isn't the original--and it was secured with regular office supply staples! It worked out fine for me--the staples were easier to remove!



Louie couldn't resist lending a helping paw or two...



While removing the seat I discovered this old, original tag...



I'm surprised it lasted!



It's pretty cool to think that this chair is probably from the late 20's or early 30's! I couldn't find much information about the Home Chair Company... except that it no longer exists. Sad.

Once I got the first layer of fabric off I was surprised to find another layer--what I assume is the actual original fabric and padding (gross).



I considered leaving it on because it's a neat little piece of history... but the fabric was falling apart and the pad was just in a sad state. It all had to go. Thankfully the board was still in good shape!



I got a new 2" foam pad from Joann's...



And trimmed off the excess by tracing around the seat board with a serrated knife... and only cut myself once. It isn't pretty nor perfect, but it's functional.



Then, finally, the fun part. I wrapped the fabric around the seat + new pad and secured it with heavy duty staples. I tried to keep the fabric taut and smooth as much as I could. The corners were tricky, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. (And it's much more comfy than the old padding!)



I also picked up a small pillow form at Joann's to add a bit more cushion to the back of the chair. I had plenty of fabric left over to make a little pillow case (my first sewing project with my new/old machine!) with cute little pearlescent snap closures.



The snaps gave me the most issues. Words were exchanged. And then I finally figured out how they worked... and all was well. The snaps are actually a bit see-through-- you can see a bit of the fabric through the bottom snap:



I decided not to secure the pillow to the back of the chair so it can be placed vertically or horizontally, whichever is more comfortable-- or removed altogether.



For now my little chair sits next to my sewing table, waiting for me to tackle my next sewing project!



Everything I purchased at Joann's was on sale or purchased with a coupon:

• 1 yard of fabric (40% off, reg. 9.99/yd): $6.51


• foam chair pad (50% off, reg. 7.99): $4.34


• pillow form (50% off, reg. 7.99): $4.34


• pearlescent snaps (50% off, reg. 5.49 for 10... or 14?): $2.98

The chair was $7.59 from Goodwill.

That's a grand total of $25.76 (including tax)... but really, not even that much. I still have enough fabric to make another small pillow (or something else?) and extra snaps.

Now all I want to do is go out and find other chairs to make-over and to sew up a storm!

What have you been working on lately? Any great thrift-find make-overs?