It's All About Covering Things...

This is a theme post. More specifically, this is the first theme post. It's about covering something (a hint you may have gotten from the title) and there will be a few more posts in the not-too distant future about covering other things. That's what makes it a theme.

Today it's a chair. Now, I've never "reupholstered" or covered a chair before. I didn't really know how to do it. But when has that ever stopped me?

Never.

 So I just jumped first

                                                            & looked later.

So even though this is a cover story (no pun intended), it also involves a Before & After. So, here's the before: 

It used to be quite cute: I got it last summer at a garage sale in Romeo. I think I paid $5 for it. It lasted me a year, and then the fabric got worn and started tearing. But why throw it out when you can just make things up as you go along? So I took it all apart. That blue on the bottom was covering an ugly blue silky fabric... and that was covering....

this:

Can I get a collective "ick"?

So my plan of action was to remove the old stuff, put on the new stuff... sounds simple, right? . I pulled out a gazillion staples. That awesome (ugly) table-cloth like cover was regrettably nailed on, so I just left it. The back of the top cushion was nailed on, too, so I left that. 

I used the old fabric pieces as stencils to cut out a bottom layer of plain white. 

Luckily, I didn't have to worry about being neat, since it all gets hidden later

So then I used the white liner pieces to cut out the top pieces (which come from some fabric I had left over from making a bed for Hugo [cat] awhile ago), and stapled the crap out of it. I stretch canvas for my paintings, so I used the same theory...staples go about a thumb's width apart. (Also, if you're thinking of doing it, I stapled at opposite sides of the circle, top to bottom, right to left, top-right to bottom-left, etc. etc.)

It seemed to work... 

The black marks are to mark where the screws fit.... an important step I'm impressed I remembered the first time.

Covering up the 70's inspired mistake.

And, 

after reattaching the new cushions to the frame... 

here's the after!

And, for a bonus... as we all know how I'm unable to resist lovely details...

Yup. I monogrammed my chair. 

SO. "new" desk chair.... $5 last year.

Oh, yeah.

In addition to more  covering posts, I'm also moving

into a new apartment, TOMORROW!

You'll get to see me try to fit   a house-worth of stuff 

into a bedroom-sized apartment. 

Hilarity ensues.