Updating French Chairs. I almost titled this post “focus on the joy”, because it’s much more fun to share a positive experience rather than a negative one. Last weekend, I went to my favorite fabric store needing serious help finding the right fabric for updating French chairs. Lucky me, I met Angelina. After a few minutes of conversing, I could see she was genuinely just as excited as I was about my project.
Updating French Chairs
Angelina carefully listened to my ideas, then sprang into action making fabric suggestions and found exactly what I had envisioned. Before I knew it, her infectious enthusiasm had me planning more projects than the French chairs. It’s so refreshing meeting someone who has turned a job into a passion, and I thought my little story was worth sharing with you.
With expert help, I selected two linen blend fabrics. A classic solid color for the chair front and a stripe for the back. I ordered the fabrics and received them in less than a week, just in time for a weekend project.
Supplies for this project
- staple remover
- pliers
- staple gun
- 1/4″ staples
- glue gun
- scissors
- fabric
- trim
I purchased a staple remover, (much better than a screwdriver), and a new staple gun at Home Depot. The staple remover worked great prying up the old staples. However many of the staples broke off due to the dense rosewood, and had to be removed with pliers.
With the old fabric pieces removed, I used them as a pattern, laying them on top of the linen fabric. I cut the linen a 1/2″ larger all the way around, so I would have enough fabric to grip and pull taut as I stapled it in place. When recovering a seat with four sides, it’s best to pull the fabric from front to back and side to side, stapling as you go. This will create a tight and smooth upholstery finish.
In a way, this project was like a mini archaeological adventure. Under the layer of brown fabric on the back section, I found the original cotton batting and horsehair padding. On the seat section protected by a layer of poly batting, I found the original gold-colored silk fabric looking very fragile.
In some places it was still held in place with old tacks. I left the gold silk in place, covering it back up with the poly batting. It will be fun to rediscover it someday.
After the back panel was stapled into place, the cotton batting and horsehair was reused on the chair back.
Once the new linen fabric was stapled into place, the excess fabric was carefully trimmed away with scissors.
The last step was applying the trim. The wide woven trim was hot glued in place covering all the staples and the raw edges of the fabric.
Since the chairs are made of rosewood, I can’t quite bring myself to painting them. Instead, I gave the wood a light dusting of liming wax to soften the contrast between the light creamy fabric and the dark wood.
The chair back may be my favorite feature. The fabric was cut with the stripes going horizontal instead of vertical. The horizontal stripes are unexpected and draws your eye to the curves of the chair back.
I only finished one chair on Saturday. The other is sitting naked in the studio, which leaves me something to look forward to next weekend. I’m thinking about reversing the fabrics, using the solid on the back and stripes on the front. There’s no rule saying they have to match, is there? Ideas, suggestions or comments are welcome. 🙂
Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me share my project with you. Hope you have a great week ahead!
Cheers!
© 2017 Updating French Chairs was first published on Thistle Key Lane.
Angelina says
LOVE the horizontal stripe on the back of the chair! Excellent job and I thank you for the mention. 😊
Michelle Meyer says
Thank you Angelina! I can’t wait to finish the other chair and share it as well. 🙂
ruth staley says
Michelle, I would like to ask a question about the trim, you said it was a wide woven, how did you make the trim ? Was it purchased or did you make it ? Did you use a double welt foot, or fold it ? I like the look of your trim, Thankyou Ruth,
Michelle Meyer says
Hi Ruth, good question about the trim. I purchased the trim because it was the right color and a plain woven texture, but it was folded. Now exactly ideal, but in order to make it work for the chairs, I ran a bead of hot glue on the inside of the fold to hold the two sides together. The thickness of the trim hid the staples pretty well. So I was happy about that. Hope this will help you in finding the right trim for your needs.
ruth staley says
thank you so much for getting back with me , that is the a great solution, now to find a matching color, Ruth, I really enjoy your website,
Michelle Meyer says
Thank you Ruth! 🙂