An Upholstering Tutorial and We have Peaches!

Thanks (again) for all the comments and compliments about my chair re-do that you've left on this blog and emailed to me privately. In response, I've decided to put together a step-by-step beginner's tutorial showing you the deconstruction and reconstruction of this second chair, a twin to the first. (Pretty, isn't it?! ;( ) It will take awhile to do it, but I'll post it on one of my photosites (probably Webshots) and will be sure to give you the URL. Meanwhile, for those of you who are anxious to get started on your own project, the steps below will get you going:

1.) Select an area with good ventilation, away from your main living area and AWAY from pets and toddlers. I prefer to take this type of project outdoors. Trust me, you'll end up with a lot of dust, lint, threads, staples, nails and fabric pieces.

If the chair came from a thrift shop, is a curbside find, etc., you may end up with crawly things - some with antennae, some with fur. I'm not trying to gross you out, just trying to prepare those of you who have never attempted to reupholster an item. 2.) Basic tools you will need: Camera, sturdy flathead screwdriver, scissors and a boxcutter, hammer, needlenosed pliers. These are needed for the DEconstruction. You may also choose to wear a dust mask and work gloves. Other items will be needed when you are ready to start re-dressing your chair. 3.) Here's where your camera is needed: Take several photographs of your project BEFORE you start removing the old upholstery. Be sure to photograph all sides, including underneath. 4.) You'll find that there are various pieces of fabric fastened together, usually with staples or upholstery tacks. Remove these pieces one at a time, photographing as you go. The reason? You may think you can remember how each piece of fabric was fastened and where batting (the beige-colored material) was added. 5.) Be sure to remove all the nails and staples. This is one job for the needlenosed pliers. If you absolutely can't remove the entire piece, use your hammer to tap any protruding pieces deep enough into the wood that you can't feel it with your forefinger. Remember, the tiniest piece of metal can be dangerous to a child's delicate skin.

The next installment of this tutorial: Preparing the frame.

Remember the now-red metal lawn chair? I did decide to dress that middle back panel up a little. I painted some vines and roses:

...which brings me to a new dilemna. I don't know whether I like this look. Not a big problem - there is still plenty of red paint left.

Take a look at our peach tree.

This is the first year we will get any fruit from it; frost destroyed last year's crop. We knew that trimming back branches last fall would encourage a good yield for this year. But we didn't anticipate this. My hubby and stepson tried to relieve the weight by propping boards under branches. Looking at the heavy branches takes me back to my days of being pregnant with my children. I feel sooo sorry for this tree.

DON'T FORGET - a comment will qualify you for my June Giftaway!

Giftaway Reminder and Some Finished Projects

Don't forget, each time you leave a comment on any of the June posts here, your name will be included for this month's drawing!!! Meanwhile, I thought I'd catch you up on some of my recent projects. Remember my chair recover? The pillow has been re-stuffed, resewn and basically, reworked. I added a ribbon of beads for a little extra "glitz" and now THIS has been transformed to THIS: The green vintage metal lawn chair now looks like this: I'm thinking of painting a couple roses in the square area on the back. What do you think??? (Confession: It was so rust-damaged and chipped that I finally gave up and decided to try to glop extra paint in the really bad areas, hoping to build up the paint enough that it will look smooth. Don't be too hard on me for it - I know you've done the same thing! ;) LOL) Finally, this rusty wheelbarrow (looks like an old coal wheelbarrow to me!) was rusted completely through. It is in such bad shape that it really had no functional value and probably even less financial value. Before, it was truly a rust-red. Now, it is a vibrant red. Cost of small can of acrylic indoor-outdoor paint, enough to complete at least three projects: $6.99. Having something completely worthless in your garden just because you enjoy it: Priceless.

More on the Chair Redo

Man alive, is it ever HOT here!!! I haven't seen much of the national weather reports lately but believe the entire southern part of the US is about ready to melt. It's 94° here and the humidity is almost as high. What's happening weather-wise where you are? Okay, I know you remember this ugly chair I showed you yesterday. I took this picture without the pillow seat: Right now, as I type, this is what it looks like:

Please tell me that you know it's not finished. I'd hate it if you thought my finish work was this awful. The cushion has to be entirely reworked (somehow) and I need to make a cording for the trim that will wrap around the bottom, where the green and yellow-ish fabric meets the wood. That aside, what do you think of these color and pattern combos?

I'm asking for a reason - not just to get your opinions (because you know I do value them) - I'll have some rather large pieces of this fabric left over and am thinking about offering them here. Keep in mind that this is upholstery fabric and very heavy. You certainly wouldn't want to make a summer top from it! However, it would probably make a cute pincushion or footstool cover, etc. It definitely would make a darling pillow or two. And for you nature lovers, my friend Baby Swallow decided to poke his head waaay out of his doorway this morning to check out what I was doing (which wasn't much, not in this heat). He allowed me to get really close with the camera, since Mama and Papa Swallow weren't around to yell at him. I'm still not sure how many babies are in the nest. I'm thinking either two or three. ...and now, I'm off to work on this pillow seat and to fix some sun tea. Keep cool!

Fixit Day Gone Awry

Today was supposed to be my Fixit Day. I had all these great intentions of recovering at least one of the two like chairs I've been storing in the attic for about three years now. Okay, maybe four. My biggest garden was definitely going to get my attention. My many photos that my CCG (cute computer guy) was able to recover when my computer crashed were going to be downloaded onto a disk. A metal railing that I painted a few weeks ago was finally going to have its home in the garden next to the house. It was a day to get it in gear, get my rear end moving, do the Fixit Cha-cha.

So, today for me started at 8:00 AM, about an hour past when I had intended to get up. Last night's low was about 70°; I knew that, in order for me to get anything accomplished in the garden without being flushed downhill in a current of my own perspiration, I would have to be out there 'way before 9:00. Well, at 8:00 AM, it was already above 80°.

Maybe the weeding would be best postponed until this evening. Wait! What was that? Oh, how sweet! The tree swallows who decided to move into one of our wren houses were feeding their babies! How clever of me to happen to have my camera strapped to my wrist.

These beautiful animals will let me photograph them from about 5'. This morning, however, Mama Swallow turned and looked at me as if to say, "Puh-leeze! Can't you see we're busy here?"

She flew away from her house, circling over me with Papa Swallow until I stepped back a couple feet.

Gee, what was happening to my Fixit Day? I had spent about a half hour watching the Swallow family. My focus obviously wasn't on that to-do list I worked on last night. Well, by noon I still hadn't accomplished much except meandering around the yard, getting really hot in the now 94° temperature and serving as dinner to about a dozen mosquitoes. Mosquitoes, by the way, have a preference for roasted Filipino meat and a finely tuned facility for picking - oh, let's say - me out of a county gathering.

Before I drone on too much longer, let me show you what I did get accomplished: This table was almost the beginning of a verbal tug-of-war between my Hubby and myself. "That needs to be painted," I announced. "Why?" he asked. "It's cedar. It will last forever. It just needs to be stained." "It needs to be painted white," I tell him. "If you paint it, it will need to be painted every year. It just needs to be stained." Obviously, the fact that the wood is rotting badly enough underneath that the nails can be pulled out with two fingers and that the end of a couple of the boards had already broken off did not affect his definition of "lasting forever". Plus, I thought he was beginning to understand my tendency to lean toward painted furniture. "I stain it every year," I countered. "What's the difference between painting it and staining it?" He shrugged away, answerless. Besides, I already had the paint can and brush in my hands.

And, as usual, I forgot to take a "before" pic, but I did take a photo of these little shelves (okay, so I almost had one finished painted, but at least I remembered before I did both of them) and they were laying on the ugly-table-in-question. Here's one of the chairs I've been wanting to recover. Trust me, this is a great picture of it. It's much uglier in person. I remember wanting me to pay $7 each for them, after first quoting me $7 for the pair. The manager overheard our conversation and let me have the two for $7. I probably still overpaid for them. Yeah, they look that bad. This chair has since been stripped and is ready for its new dressing. The wood is now fossil green and I'm hoping to finish recovering it tonight. Until tomorrow...