My Weekend Project : Thrift Store Chair Makeover

This weekend I decided to start on a project I've had sitting in my basement waiting for me all year long. The former ugly green plaid ripped cushion had taunted me every time I walked past it with thoughts of "remember when you bought me for $3? Remember when you thought I was cool? Remember when you were going to reupholster me right away and then left me here for months?"

As you can see I was ready to get going with this. But mostly because I LOVE this chair. The shape of it is so great and its also super comfy. I have been trying to hone in on my personal interior design style lately, and have settled on a love child between bohemian and modern-Scandinavian. AKA this chair's new makeover. 

Throughout two afternoons of watching Fixer Upper reruns and having the occasional glass of wine, I removed the cushion from the chair and pulled out about 600 staples (not exaggerating) from the under side. I pried them up with a screwdriver and then pulled them out with pliers. My hands were a teensy bit sore to say the least.

I wrapped the cushion in new batting and stapled it down smoothly. Next I cut the old chair fabric into a pattern I traced onto my new fabric choice (adding seam allowance where necessary). It was basically two pieces - 1. the square-ish shape on top and 2. a long rectangle I sewed around it. The hardest part was trying to make the curves as smooth as possible. I then added seam binding for stability to the backside of the cover, attaching it with two rows of top stitching around the seam edge. I stapled the new cushion cover on, making it as smooth as possible. I added piping around the bottom by cutting a long strip of fabric, folding it in half over a long rope lace, and stapling it along the bottom edges. I then reattached the cushion to the chair. 

The last step is to figure out what to do with the back. I bought it with a small cushion someone had attached during the last reupholster, but I prefer it without, so I've got to find a way to either smooth out the rough edges or add a border. If anyone has any ideas let me know! 

All in all it was a fun weekend project. If you are looking for a fun craft this weekend, I definitely recommend hitting the local thrift shop for unusual pieces you can rescue and make your own. Some links I found useful are this, this and this!