Upholstery DIY: Panda Chairs Part 2

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Time for some Upholstery DIY!

Sometimes, it’s the seemingly insignificant things that better our lives…

Having these chairs completed has done just that. The boys are happy, which makes me happy! No more crazy cushions flying around, thanks to some fabric, some foam and a few (or a million) staples!

Hallelujah, Chandelier Time!

So, where was I?

Oh, yeah. I left off here with needing to seal the chairs. When painting furniture, you definitely need to seal. So far, all I have ever used is Minwax Finishing Paste. I sealed the Green Piano in Poly, but it yellowed. Then, after reading several how-to’s online, I realized this is common, so I started using this wax on pieces that, well, aren’t the hosts of dining utensils.

It’s probably best to go buy some nice lint-free cloths, but I’m notiorious for usin’ what’s in hands reach. So, grabbing an old sock, I got to work.

Step 6 (I think)

Wax the wood with a clean cloth.

Make sure before you start that there are no kitty hairs on it, otherwise you’ve got to go find another one…

Step 7

Upholstery DIY:

Gather up your foam, batting, staple-gun, staples, Rock Upholstery supplies, and… your favorite beverage. Probably a good idea to keep it soft when using a staple gun.

(This advice is NOT from experience, I promise!)

Lay your foam on the chair and, with a pencil or sharpie, trace along the edge along the underside so you can cut the foam to fit. Then, using a knife, preferably electric, slice the foam along your drawn line. Make sure to hold the knife at a right angle to the foam for a straight cut.

Then, cut a square of batting with 2″-3″ overhang.

Lay the foam on the chair. If you have it, use a little spray adhesive. Then lay the batting over the foam and staple one time on each side of the chair.

Then, starting from the center, staple, working your way out to the edges. Make sure to pull downward on the batting for nice, even, rounded edges. When you get to the corners, you’ve just got to play with the ease until you get a nice, smooth surface.

On the first chair, I totally forgot that I had these tack strips from another project:

And this is how it turned out:

Puh-retty wonky, eh? On the second chair, I stapled the tack strip along the edge of the chair first, and, then, stapled the batting to the tack strip. This allowed me to butt the fabric right up along the edge of the tack strip for a clean, crisp line. Sorry, I failed to snap a picture of that!

The tools in the picture with the cardboard tack strips are a must if you plan on doing repeated upholstering projects! One will save your fingers many blisters (and your fabric from becoming holey) when pulling the mis-guided staples out. The other has a small groove on the bottom, which fits directly over the staple, so you can tap it in, should the need arise.

I found mine at The Upholstery Studio. Apparantly, you can’t buy directly from them any longer, but this page will tell you where you can buy the products online.Their You Tube Channel has many extremely helpful videos for upholstery DIY. The finished products just tend to be a bit, umm, dated. But the techniques and explanations are superb!Ok. Back to the chair…

I ended up making a colossal mess and had to pull off the trim and re-staple the fabric in several a few places…

This is where the Staple Remover becomes your BFF…

The stapling wasn’t the only mess that day…

Finally, I was able to straighten out the major flaws and end up with a fairly crisp edge.

And, here they are. The boys love ’em. And I love how they serve us. They weren’t meant for cushioned seats, but they were free and I was determined to Make It Work!

The question remains,

Did I?