A progression
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That's insanely great work, brenda. Seriously.
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Awww .. thank you for your kind words. I'm still a n00b on this stuff. As you can see, that hasn't stopped me from trying. I learn something from every project that helps me with the next project.
The cube stool helped me with the Mary Poppins bag. The leather work on the bag helped me with the leather chair seat. The footstools helped with the chair back. And on it went. I selected the sequence of projects to hopefully help me learn and get ready for the next one.
I'm very fortunate to have a hubby who wants this to happen. He gave me a starter set of upholstery tools for Christmas. Just recently, he suggested I should go ahead and get an upholstery pneumatic stapler to use, instead of his air stapler. The new one uses staples with a wider crown, which is less prone to tearing fabric and leather. I love it!
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A funny thing -
That ugly little rocker has been with us in that unfinished state for almost 35 years. I bought it at an auction a couple blocks from our first house in Michigan.
After trying to remove the firmly adhered paint, I set the project aside, planning to get back to it some day.
It went with us when we moved from Michigan to Ohio, then Ohio to Minnesooooooota, and has been nagging me for decades. For some reason, I just wouldn't let it go, or it wouldn't let me go.It's the oddest thing now to have it done. Had I done it 35 years ago, there's no way it would look like this. It would just be the ugly little spud in a new frock, but still homely as heck.
I'm glad I kept it, and glad I waited.
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The idea of lengthening the back was fascinating. I liked how it was done. It did look like a "ugly little spud," but with the taller back, the proportions are so much better.
@george-k said in A progression:
The idea of lengthening the back was fascinating. I liked how it was done. It did look like a "ugly little spud," but with the taller back, the proportions are so much better.
BTW, I designed the extension construction to lengthen the back. Hubby was impressed with the engineering and simplicity of it all.
When I can impress hubby, that's a mighty fine day.
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Beautiful work! I just got rid of a rocker I've had for about 30 years. I bought it at an auction and paid $165. I managed to sell it for $35 a few weeks ago. It needed new springs and upholstery, but we have 2 other rockers - so this wasn't a priority.
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Beautiful work! I just got rid of a rocker I've had for about 30 years. I bought it at an auction and paid $165. I managed to sell it for $35 a few weeks ago. It needed new springs and upholstery, but we have 2 other rockers - so this wasn't a priority.
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@friday Oh, I see oodles of imperfections and things that could have been done better, but it's a learning process. For a first chair, I'm happy with it. It's comfortable and looks alright. The important thing is that it taught me some more new things to use in the next projects.
Oh yes, there are moar to come.
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@horace It's quite enjoyable work, more than I expected, not that I want to make a second job of this. Parts of it can be hard on the hands.
It's good to enjoy it, because I have 12 dining room chairs that are going to get leather seats, an antique platform rocker that needs to be redone, and a vintage chaise lounge that has needed to be reupholstered for about 35 years. It was left in the first house we bought, as was the victrola.
Furniture sometimes finds an owner, instead of the other way around.
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Nice work!
Possible side business?
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@jolly Thanks! I doubt my hands could handle this as even a very small business, and I'm not that good at it. Lots of mistakes that I can see.
Plus, I already have a job. I don't have time for another part-time gig.
@brenda said in A progression:
@jolly Thanks! I doubt my hands could handle this as even a very small business, and I'm not that good at it. Lots of mistakes that I can see.
Plus, I already have a job. I don't have time for another part-time gig.
Gotta retire sometime....
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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@jolly Thanks! I doubt my hands could handle this as even a very small business, and I'm not that good at it. Lots of mistakes that I can see.
Plus, I already have a job. I don't have time for another part-time gig.
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@brenda said in A progression:
@jolly Thanks! I doubt my hands could handle this as even a very small business, and I'm not that good at it. Lots of mistakes that I can see.
Plus, I already have a job. I don't have time for another part-time gig.
Gotta retire sometime....
@jolly said in A progression:
@brenda said in A progression:
@jolly Thanks! I doubt my hands could handle this as even a very small business, and I'm not that good at it. Lots of mistakes that I can see.
Plus, I already have a job. I don't have time for another part-time gig.
Gotta retire sometime....
Well, if I do, I will tell everyone here to buy stock in Pfizer.
They make Advil. LOL -
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@mark said in A progression:
Excellent work, Brenda! Love the before and after of the rocker.
Thanks, Mark! I find the before and after so amusing. The chair started out so darn ugly, like a face only a mother could love, or an ugly duckling. It really begged the question of why I had hung on to this ugly thing for almost 35 years, dragging it all around the country with every move we made. It was just ridiculous that I had done that, so I guess I felt I had to justify all that nonsense.
It was meant to just be a learning experience, because I have a LOT to learn, but then I got bold. I decided to really try to make it look decent. Lo and behold ... now I really like it! Hubby was shocked as well. LOLOL
It was a good thing he liked it, because I spent too much on this thing. For example, I used horsehair stuffing! That stuff is not cheap, and people pay extra to have that used in a furniture restoration project, but it's supposed to be really good quality, and it's historically appropriate for the age of the chair. Although it takes a bit of extra work, it's absolutely true that it makes a comfy seat, as hubby attests.
I even got leather for the final seat cover. What was I thinking?! That was a total risk for a n00b to do! But I had this image in my head of how it should look based on a photo from t3h interwebs. It even showed the funky nailhead trim design with the two-nail upward return at each corner of the seat base. I fell in love with that, and I knew I had to try. Thank goodness for YouTube. I found a video of how to do the leather seat, and watched it about 8 times. Voila! Done!
It looks like a darn miracle to me, not perfect at all, but still a miracle that it turned out at all. I'm just so surprised by the whole thing. It makes me smile every day. I put it across the room from where I work, so I can look at those adorable trim nails that are completely responsible for this whole ridiculous thing. The bottom edge of the seat frame is curved upward on each side, so those nails look like they're smiling right back at me.
