Monday, September 13, 2010

THE Bench.

I found this little beauty on Craigslist about 2 months ago, paid $20 bucks for it. After driving around with it in the back of my VW Golf, I finally brought it inside. Then, I proceeded to stare at it for about a month. I think I was possibly a little overwhelemed with the idea of it... but finally i tackled. Before I go any further, I will state that I have never done anything like this before. I armed myself with an electric staple gun, many staples, a couple different size screwdrivers, needlenose pliers.. and that about it. no fancy upholstery tools.

Flipped the sucker over, and got to work.



I started taking out staples... then I took out some more staples...



This next part is contains one of the few components I reused. It is the metal piece that attaches the sides or backs of chairs and sofas without showing seams.  it has prongs and gets hammered in. Oh well, i will figure out what that is called some other time.


So, here is my advice for this whole process. after taking the whole thing apart, dont wait 3 weeks to put it back together. You will forget the order things need to go back on. I'm just sayin.
First things first, I painted the legs with Rust-oleum Lacquer paint in Black.. I was pretty happy with the finish, except it dripped easily. But I think that just means I have to work on my technique. :)


The fabric I chose to re-cover the bench with was much thicker than the original, so a little compensation had to happen when cutting the pieces. (which were of course cut from the fabric removed as a pattern) I cut the new pieces just a bit bigger than the previous ones.

Starting with the arms, i placed one of the old pieces on to better understand how the folds went. It worked really well!!!


The Buttons for the arms presented a challenge. The fabric was too thick to fit inside the button, so I got creative and sewed and hot glued the fabric on.


The piping on the front and back also created a challenge... I dont currently have a sewing machine, and I was not about to hand sew the piping which i created with some hot glue and a little love, to the attaching piece of fabric. my next idea comes in: Hem tape. This worked well until I had to staple that piece of fabric to the bottom and it started pulling... hence exhibit A:

(I will fix this later.. more to come)

And now, presenting.... my first completed project!!!


Linking to:
giveaways

13 comments:

  1. Holy cow! This looks fantastic!! I've always wanted to reupholster some piece of furniture... I really don't think I'd have any idea where to start.

    Have you ever visited craftster.org ? It's a neat forum for posting your crafts, and they have a section for... well, everything really. You could see what other people have reconstructed and get ideas, or even post this to share with them. If you wanted :-) It's just a cool site is all.

    Here's the reconstructed stuff-for-your-home section: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=5.0

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow,, that looks great! I never would've known it was your first time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice! Looks great and I love the zebra print. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very good job! I do upholstery & recently for the 1st time I did the same with the buttons, the fabric was just too thick.
    Great transformation!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fantastic redo! Looks wonderful! Stopping by from HOH.

    www.laforcebewithyou.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. WOW i can't believe this was your FIRST project! i love a bit of zebra print... greetings from ireland! x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, first time?! So impressive!! It turns out great...I so want to take on some reupholstering too. It's on my list!

    Great job!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great job!! You've definitely got some talent. Can't wait to see what other projects you've got up your sleeve! :)

    xo- M

    ReplyDelete
  9. so cute! i hate upholstery. i don't do it and avoid pieces that make me do it. but this pieces makes me want to better myself. at least for the moment! ;) thanks so much for joining my party!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I cannot believe you achieved that amazing result with no sewing machine!
    I do a lot of upholstery and can't even imagine attempting that. The bench is gorgeous.You are right about forgetting the order. I learnt early on that I just couldn't remember the sequence as well as I thought I could.
    Your blog is great :o)
    Angex

    ReplyDelete
  11. Uhm, you've never done this before?! Amazing! I've always avoided upholstery like the plague, I think because fabric is expensive & once you've messed it up, it's over! You did an awesome job on this!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Just saw your piece on betterafter-love the fun, funky zebra stripes!

    ReplyDelete
  13. So awesome! I'm now on the look out for a cheap bench sofa thingy to snag and re-do.I love it!

    ReplyDelete

 
Web Statistics