Before & After: Mid-Century Armchair Gets a Facelift

Anna @Annabode
by Anna @Annabode
$50
1 Week
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My mother is an amazing seamstress. While I was growing up, she was the costume designer for the drama department at the local high school. I can still remember the rhythm of her sewing machine, punctuated now and then when she changed directions or cut a thread. She created every Halloween costume my sisters and I wore, from Marie Antoinette to Scarlett O’Hara (even back then, I had a thing for history!).
I, however, have not used a sewing machine since my 6th grade Home Ec class when we made the requisite patchwork pillows. When I purchased this chair off of Craigslist a few weeks ago, I decided to try my hand at reupholstering it. And although I managed to do the top and bottom by hand, when it came time to do the cushion I broke down and bought my very first sewing machine!
Never having upholstered anything before, I scoured the blogosphere for tutorials beforehand and ended up with Jenny Komenda’s tutorial on Little Green Notebook (I highly recommend it if you’re a first-timer, as she is very thorough). BOY was this a lot more time-consuming than I realized! I don’t even know how many hours I put into this chair–not to mention the definite blood, sweat, and even a few tears.
Now that it’s finished I can bask in all its mid-century glory…
I do feel like I learned a lot about upholstery from this project, and despite how hard it was--I can't wait to do another one!
Anna @Annabode
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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