Easily the most comfortable item ever to come out of my husband's shed, this chair is a prototype for the chair he dreams of making one day. The wood he used is cheap and cheerful, formerly odds and ends that were cluttering up the shed. He had foam cushions made to measure, and my job was to cover them.
Not to be outdone in the economy stakes, I rummaged around the cupboards and decided to use some leftover curtain material to make the cushion covers. In theory it was an easy job, but in practice it wasn't exactly fun-packed. Firstly, I tend to avoid zips, but there was no escape here. Then I had to work out how to go around the corners, so I just fudged my way through. Perhaps I should have looked at a book, but trial and error is more my style, so one particular corner of the larger cushion has to face the back. Finally, the material was a nightmare, fraying if you no more than breathed on it, so every seam is encased in broad bias binding so that the fabric doesn't unravel itself the first time it is thrown in the washing machine.
All the effort was worth it. My husband loves relaxing with a book in this chair, and doesn't seem to be in any rush to make the posh version yet.
Linking up with Connie's blog Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.
What a gorgeous chair - it looks so comfortable! Angles on chair backs are so important, and that looks just perfect! Your covers for the cushions are beautiful, but sound like they were difficult to make...you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrea! Yes, he made sure he got the angle of the back right. He got the basic design just right, so the next one will be much the same, but in better wood.
DeleteLove this chair and your cushions. I have a mission style rocking chair purchased when the first grandchild was coming along and this reminds me of it :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Deb! My husband spends a long time looking at pictures of antique and classic furniture, so he knows what he is aiming for.
DeleteBeautiful. And using stuff on hand? Even better!
ReplyDeletegreat job , both of you
ReplyDeleteI love the chair. Nice fabric and I noticed the lovely bit of pattern matching over seat and squab. Maybe on the next one you might show us the inner workings?
ReplyDeleteHugs
G
I wish you could come help me recover a vintage sewing machine chair I need to work on. No zippers (thank goodness) but, I've never recovered anything before, other than a foot stool (no one looks underneath it, thank goodness).
ReplyDeleteWhat an achievement - for both of you. The chair is very like a pair that I have in Wales - they were made for my grandparents and the arms of his are higher so he could rest on them whilst reading his paper and my grandmother's chair has lower arms - so she could knit! The cover looks SOoooo professional and not at all fudged!
ReplyDeleteGreat design and joint effort!
ReplyDeleteMy husband has just learned woodworking in the past year. He loves it as much as I love quilting. I'm going to show him the chair - it turned out beautiful. I laughed about your fabric issue. I repaired an old rocker chair seat today and had the same fraying problem! It was worth your effort - it's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you! My husband definitely did the lion's share of the work. I hope you and your husband have fun combining your skills too.
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