Project Restyle #2: Ugly Orange Chair Becomes Vanilla Oasis

Yeah!  I am finished with my Ugly Orange Chair redo.   Now, instead of the ugly orange chair, I am calling her The Vanilla Oasis.  Isn't she beautiful?  So simple and elegant.  

 Remember what she used to look like?

This is her new look.  Very light and very neutral.  I don't usually go with such a neutral color scheme, but since this project was so time intensive for me, I wanted a neutral chair that I could move from room to room  easily without having to take her apart and repaint every time.  So, when I move her around, I plan on just changing out the pillows. 

So, how did I refinish her?  

A. First I unscrewed the seat. 

B. Then I ripped off the black backing. 

 Once I was down to the wood, I lightly sanded the surface and then spraypainted it with Rust-oleum Heirloom White.  This is a very warm white.  I didn't want pure white because I thought that it would make it too stark. 

Next, I started on the upholstery.  I had two pieces to recover, the seat and the cushion that goes on top.  I started with the seat. 

 I had to pull out all the staples holding the old orange velvet. I used needle-nosed pliers along with a flathead screwdriver. 

Once I had the old fabric unfastened, 

 I took the velvet over to my camel-colored fabric and used it as a pattern.  I cut out the square I would need. 

Then, I began stapling it to the seat frame. Pull the fabric till it is taut.  Then put in a couple staples to the north, then the south, then the west, then the east, gradually working your way around the edge.  This way, the fabric will be pulled evenly and straightly on your seat.   Trim away the excess fabric once you are finished. 

 Next, I needed to make the piping to go around the edge.  

 I cut a thin strip of the camel fabric. 

 I inserted the cord into the middle of the strip and sewed it shut using my zipper foot. 

I now had a long piece that looked like this. 

 Now using my staple gun, I stapled it to the edge of the seat, going all the way around. 

 Flipped the seat right-side up and set in onto the chair.  Screwed it into place. 

Now I was finished with the seat and it was time to tackle the cushion!

 The first thing I did was undo the zipper and take out the cushion. 

Then I turned the cover inside out to study the construction.  From here on out, I just tried to made the cushion cover look exactly like the orange cover.  I took it apart and used the orange pieces as my pattern.   I knew the first thing I would have to make was the side piece with the piping, and the zipper.

 I sewed my zipper onto a strip 

 After the zipper was on a strip, I sewed another strip (A) to the zipper piece (B).  After that, I sewed the cord onto the sides (C).

Here is a view from the right side. 

After this, I cut out the top and bottom of the cushion cover, using the old pieces as the pattern.  I sewed them on to the side panel I just made.  

(I got a little frustrated at this stage and stopped taking pics in my frustration.  Sorry.  I didn't measure the length of the side panel correctly and I ended up having to pick things apart and add fabric to the panel and then re-sew it).  Finally I was finished.

Now, I will enjoy the look of my new chair.