From "Blah" to "Ta-Da!": Dining Chair Nummer Eins

Remember this chair?

Blah

Ta-Da!

This project was a bit intimidating (the tufting), but it ended up moving along (fairly) smoothly.

There was only one screw left holding the seat on, so no complications there.

Without the seat. It looks really dirty and gross, doesn't  it? It really wasn't. But it was ivory with a browny glaze over it that just screamed '90's!

The fabric was held on with about a hundred nails. 

It took me about 40 minutes to pry them all loose. 

The tufting doesn't go all the way through the base. There was (and still is) a piece of cardboard sandwiched inside to hold the tufting.

If the velvet hadn't been superduper faded, I would have loved to have kept the hot pink!

There was/ is horsehair under all those layers! Apparently this chair is much older than I initially thought it was.

I took the chair outside and gave it a can of Cover Stain and a can of Rustoleum Gloss White. 

Then back inside (and away from the mosquitos!) to make my buttons! I bought the button tufting kit from Hobby Lobby, which comes with everything you need (except the fabric, duh!). 

I used some scraps left over from the DR tie-ups, since this chair will eventually be a dining chair.

The packaging even comes with a pattern for your fabric!

All cut out and ready to become buttons.

Mister actually said "You made those?!" That's high praise from him. I was fairly impressed myself. Although it was slightly more effort than the directions made it seem. 

This is where I got discouraged and quit the first night. I followed the pattern layed out on the cardboard, but the tufts weren't even and I was cranky about it. Plus, I had spend a good 30 min. sawing my 2 inch foam into 1.5 inch foam, because it was too thick. However, Gidget decided it was perfect for lounging as is. 

Dozer thought so too, apparently.

I used Sew Perfect "Make It Green" 2 inch cushion foam, 100% wool batting, and a blue/aqua material I found in the remnant bin. It was Labor Day weekend at Hancock Fabric so everything was at least 40% off. Score.

For some reason, I neglected to take any photos of the rest of the process, but there are about a zillion tutorials out there on tufting and reupholstering. Here's a good one.

I finally (obviously) got it all together. One piece of advice though? Don't buy the two inch foam if you already have another layer on your chair. Okay, just one more tip: Tuft through the base, don't try to tuft to a middle layer and then piece it all together; frustrating project, slightly crooked results. Boo.

I'm linking up to Pure and Lovely's Weekly Revampalooza, Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday,  The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday, It's a Blog Party's Show Me How, Fingerprint's on the Fridge's Creative Chick Parade, The Girl Creative's Just Something I Whipped Up, Chic on a Shoestring's Flaunt It Friday, and Making the World Cuter Monday. Whew.