Hints for Recovering a Wingback Chair

Hints for Recovering a Wingback Chair by Lindsay
 
When Cassity asked me to write a post for Remodelaholic, I had to pinch myself. I have been blogging for less than a year and my posts are scattered at that. Diffendwelling is my way of paying back all the other amazing bloggers out there who share their project how-tos and a little bit of their life along the way. So without further ado, here’s a glimpse into one of my (semi) recent projects:
 
I’ve always had a thing for wing chairs. There’s something so stately and timeless about them. So when I got the urge to put a new chair in my living room, I knew exactly what I wanted- a wing chair.
 
Being married to a medical school student, I knew that I was going to have to make this happen on the cheap. My initial thought: slip covering …then I realized that I don’t really sew well and most slip covers I have seen don’t make my heart skip a beat. So I (without the slightest idea of where to begin) decided that I was going to teach myself to reupholster. I learned completely via blogs and YouTube. You can find all the links I used on my site.
 
Because I usually scroll down to see the “after” photo, I’ll spare you the agony. Here’s the finished product:
hints for recovering a wingback chair (1)
 
 
 
It all started with this $20 find from a local resale store:
 
 
hints for recovering a wingback chair (2)
 
From there, I completely stripped the chair down to the bare bones.
You can read about it here:
 
 
 
 hints for recovering a wingback chair (3)  hints for recovering a wingback chair (4)
It was just like peeling an onion, each piece layered behind another. I made sure to number all of my pieces in the order that I took them off (which was amazingly helpful for the reupholstering part). I also did everything I could to keep what I removed in tact.
 
Once everything was removed, I began with the last piece that I removed, laid it on top of my new fabric to use as a template, traced it(as in the picture below), and stapled it into place onto the chair.  I continued to do that, working backward, using my number system.
 

hints for recovering a wingback chair (5) 
 
hints for recovering a wingback chair (6) 
Oh, and I made some piping, using a zipper foot (and broke about 10 sewing machine needles in the process).
hints for recovering a wingback chair (7)
 
 
Do you recognize that fabric from somewhere? It’s Pottery Barn’s Simone print. But I found it’s actual name (Lutron Vintage) and got it for $10 less a yard than PB was selling it for.  (You can get the full how-to on this here.)    And after more tracing and cutting and a whole bunch of staples later (and soliciting my grandma to make the cushion cover for me), I had the finished product.
 
For your viewing pleasure, my wing chair:
hints for recovering a wingback chair (8)
 
 Wally tested, Wally approved.
hints for recovering a wingback chair (9)
 
 
Thanks for stopping by to see my transformation! Be sure to let me know if you have any questions, as I will be more than happy (with the limited knowledge that I have) to answer them!   And come follow me over at Diffendwelling. I’d love to stay in touch.

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