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Saturday, February 6, 2010

Kathi's New Chair......

Tessie is playing Inspector General again. This afternoon I started making the replacement seat and pillow for Kathi's chair.

Tessie came in and started fidgeting. I asked what was wrong. She hemmed and hawed and then said....."You can't send Kathi this chair."

At first I thought that she was just looking for an excuse to keep the chair for herself. Then she said, "It has streaks." I looked at it and sure enough there were several areas that were more cream colored than white. I took it in and showed it to Walter. We were both mystified.

The only thing I could finally figure out was that I used a new brand of wax for the thread. It only changed the color in a couple of places, but I won't be using that wax again.

I had gotten as far as cutting out all of the pieces for the seat and pillow before I discovered the boo boo. I went ahead and finished the seat cushion in the fabric that Kathi had chosen.

I stopped mid stream. I ripped out all of the weaving on the chair and started over.

Here you see the new weaving. Kathi, you will have your chair soon. It will be white. I will send it out on Monday. Sorry about the wait.

My only problem now is that you and Spike like the same color. Tessie wants your cushion because it matches Spike's favorite collar.

Luckily, I have a bit left over. Spike already had an elegant fourposter doggy bed that I made for him a while ago. I have the feeling that there will be at least a new mattress cover for it in the turquoise fabric. Maybe I can convince him that it is too girl-y for a bull dog. Way too many flowers.

I am going to go sit in a corner, pout, and weave now....

See you all tomorrow.

16 comments:

Jill said...

That chair is amazing! You are so incredibly talented-- and Kathi is one lucky girl! That chair will look perfect in her little beach house-
Hugs,
Jill

dalesdreams said...

The chair is amazing!

Do you have a tutorial on making the wicker?

Good you caught the oops before mailing, but, sorry you had to redo it. :(

Caseymini said...

Sorry. No wicker chair tutorials. I teach those in paying classes so it wouldn't be fair to the people taking those classes if I ran a free one on the blog. Maybe one of these days.....We shall see. It would be very complicated to try to teach it in the blog anyway. Glad that you like the chair.

dalesdreams said...

Oh, that would be a wonderful class to take! :)

I've repaired real life wicker, but in miniature, it seems a bit daunting.

Caseymini said...

Dale, if you can do it in real life, you can do it in mini. I started doing my mini ones by copying real ones from an old book on making real wicker.

a good book on making mini furniture for people just getting started is this one. http://www.amazon.com/Making-Scale-Wicker-Furniture-Dolls/dp/1861082843/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265506309&sr=1-2
If you can get a hold of a copy, you will be doing wicker in no time at all.

Kathi said...

Oh my goodness Casey! My chair is beautiful!!! You really didn't need to rip it up and start over. It would have been just fine. I love the fabric! What a difference that makes! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

dalesdreams said...

Casey! Thank you so much! I fear another obsession, so I'm going to put my blinders on. ;)

But, I will share that book title with a pal that wanted to make wicker furniture.

I just wanted to look at the pictures. Wah! LOL just kidding :)

Kathi said...

PS. I just clicked on over to Amazon and bought the book you recommended.
I would rather attend one of your classes but it's a long drive to Tuscon! I'm sure I'll need help if I try wickering! (is that a word?)

Deni said...

Aw fancy having to pull that all out again!
It certainly is a beautiful chair and the cushion is really great too!
Have you thought about an online workshop Casey?
I did one with Rita Beninde from Germany and we paid via paypal! Rita then allowed us into the yahoo site she made for this purpose, directions were listed and photos were put on the digest so we had access to it for a long while, then we were told to get all the info as she was cancelling the site....she deleted it after we all had the directions needed to complete the project
Maybe you could perhaps offer the kit to folks, like me, who might not be able to buy the goodies needed .......just a thought

Caseymini said...

Deni, I prefer to teach the more complicated classes like wicker in person where I can do show and tell. I might do something in the future on simple wicker, but the chairs are pretty complicated. It takes me 6 hours or more to complete one myself.

dalesdreams said...

Casey, I totally hear what you are saying, but, you have such a vast amount of talent and experience, that I think Deni has a great idea if it would work for you.

I'm just thinking about that decorative work that you did on the outside of the tea house, you know?

If you were able to do online tutorials, it would be so cool and I'm sure so many would be interested in it.

I encourage you to think about it. :)

There are miniaturists that just collect, but, there are many that like to make it for themselves and you have so much that you could teach. :)

I respect what ever you decide, of course! :)

Okay, I just have to tell you that the word I have to type in to post, says, selit. ;)

MiniKat said...

The chair looks great! I wove a tea trolly once upon a time. Of course it's packed now, so I can't show it off.

Maybe if I can ever get back home I can convince FH to take a day trip to Tuscon for a Museum tour and a wicker class. ;-)

Claudia said...

Oh my gosh! How do you do it? How talented you are. And how lucky is Kathi! The chair will look lovely in her beach cottage.

xo
Claudia

Jo Raines said...

Beautiful chair! I love it! I so want to learn to do that. Learned macrame back in the 70's as a teen and then did basket weaving in the 80's as a young bride. Maybe those skills would transfer?!
Oh, to take one of your classes but as with everything else I do, I always have to buy a book and teach myself!

Lucky Kathi!

Jody

Deni said...

I have never made one although my friend has but I bnever really had an interest!
I understand what you are saying!
6 hours my goodness! that is a long time! Minis are so time consuming, hours slip by too fast! I used to do a lot but not so much these days!
lots of other things to do lol real life things mmmmm!

Carey said...

WOW, that is an amazing chair. I would love to be able to make one. You are really talented.
Carey