"For Me???"

Oh! I couldn't." That was Tessie this afternoon after I presented her with the chair that I put together. What she really meant was "Do another one and make it better!" I am not totally happy with the way that it turned out. There are a lot of flaws You probably can't see them, but I can. And besides, if I do it again, maybe I can come up with a pattern.

I was watching "The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency " and working on the chair at the same time and it was distracting. I love that series. I was also trying to hurry because it was my turn to get back in and sit on Mookie. Only a couple more days and he will be able to roam around again. I think that all of us will be relieved.

I did take a few photos of the first part of the process before I went off on a tangent watching TV.

These are the basic pieces. I did this one with balsa for Rosanna. I do use balsa for chairs and sofas. I don't for beds because it's not wide enough and would be more expensive than the ceiling tile.

I have an inner back and an outer back cut from poster board. The center part of the back sandwich is 1/4" foam core. I pad the inner back to the seat line that you see drawn on the bottom edge. That part I leave flat for gluing. I cover the edge of the center piece with a piece of muslin and then with the upholstery fabric. In this case, the upholstery fabric was some antique silk kimono fabric that I got at the gem show a couple of years ago. I do wish that man would come back. He had wonderful silks for very reasonable prices.

Back to work. I cover the front edge of the cushion piece, wrapping the fabric around to the top and bottom.

The base piece on the right gets beads glued on for feet. Then I used the skirting method that I used when I did the chase. The poster board was cut to the height of the piece from the floor to the top of the base. I cut it into four equal pieces and covered them with silk and then made the under pleat pieces. I glued those all on.

Then I glued the cushion piece onto the front edge of the base piece. That leaves room for the three back pieces to sit on the base.

Here's where I forgot to take photos. Oops!

When I do a second one, I will be sure to take more photos of the back part. I padded and covered the inner back and stuck it tight against the seat.(pinned to hold until the glue dried) Next the foam core piece, with it's edges covered was glued behind that. The outer back was covered and wrapped with fabric and glued on last. If you look at the photo of Tessie, you will see that I covered all of the gaps between the pieces with braid. And believe me there were a few of them.

When I get the chair perfected, I will do a proper tutorial. I don't think that it will happen until Mookie is free again. It is hard to work in here. He insists on sitting in the middle of wherever I am working. I am typing over his inert body at present.

As usual, Tessie's feet don't touch the floor. I am very aware of that. Sometimes mine don't either. I guess that I should go see if I have enough kimono silk left for a footstool.

See you tomorrow.