The Chair Project, part 1

There are actually two (matching) chairs that I inherited from my maternal grandmother's mother (my great-grandmother Bridget H.) They sat in my grandmother's basement forever, until I grabbed them, and then they sat in my basement. I have been wanting to get them fixed up and in usable shape for some time, but it seemed too daunting a task. I started making some home improvements this year, and needing to move stuff around in the basement, I finally resolved to do something about the chairs taking up space there.

Before:

It was a formidable task, indeed. It took several weekends (and weeknights), and the ordering and purchasing of many various tools and supplies. Some, very specialized items.

I started by stripping the chair. This mainly just involved a tack remover, and pliers for some of the more stubborn tacks. This thing had a bazillion tacks in it.

There is a padded roll in the front of the cushion, to help keep its shape, which I removed and reused.

The filling is Ginger or Coconut Coir, which I saved. 

The springs looked ok, so I saved them.

I suspect that the complete label inside reads, "G. Buehler & Co., manufacturer of Parlor Furniture Frames, Allentown, Pa." I would not be surprised if it came from this Buehler. It makes sense, considering the location and timeframe. 

The pile of old webbing, and all the other materials that I pulled off the chair was extremely dusty, dirty, and disintegrating.  I discarded most of it.

The back was also webbed and padded.

Luckily, the frame was solid. I did not want to strip and refinish the wood. I just cleaned it, and filled the tack holes with wood filler. I wasn't sure what to clean it with, so I tried a couple of things: 1) Denatured alcohol, and 2) Mineral spirits, and I used a fine grade of steel wool. I still can't tell which is better. I probably took some of the finish off, but it brightened up the wood considerably. There are lots of scrapes and scratches, but I don't mind. I will follow up some paste wax to polish and protect the piece.  

Summer sewing: swimsuit construction, and "granny chic"

Sophia Swimsuit

Just finished one of the most challenging projects that I ever tackled: a vintage look two-piece swimsuit with a supportive top for an extra-large bust. I went through a bunch of patterns before settling on this one: Sophia, from Closet Case Patterns.

Sophia swimsuit, View B, Closet Case Patterns

One modification that I had to make to the top was to significantly widen the halter straps. I might also swap out the 3/8" elastic on the bottom band for something heavier. Otherwise, it worked out well. The top has foam cups and underwires. It approximates a 38DD bra size.

I had to purchased poly laminate foam, underwires, underwire channeling, and nylon tricot for the bra lining from Sew Sassy Fabrics. I purchased swimsuit lycra and lining fabric rom my local fabric store.

I did not use the serger at all, but used my regular Singer Heavy Duty for the whole thing, ball point needles, and zig-zag stitches. I also used Coats Eloflex thread.

Before I even started the swimsuit, I made this robe as a swim coverup: pattern is Almada by Seamwork, in a tribal cotton print.

Seamwork Almada relaxed bathrobe

Granny Chic

I picked up this book - Granny Chic: Crafty Recipes and Inspiration for the Handmade Home, and immediately got inspired. One of the recipes was to recycle old towels into fun dish cloths. I can't have too many dish cloths. It was also an opportunity to use odd scraps of bias binding. 

Old towels -> new dish cloths

I also made a couple of Dottie Angel frocks, as featured in the book, and Simplicity Pattern 1080 Misses' Dress or Tunic.

I liked the look of the cotton calico for making a summer dress, so I followed that idea with these sun dresses - made from 100 Acts of Sewing, Dress No. 1:

Who doesn't love a dress with pockets? One modification that I made was to add some ties at the sides to cinch it in a bit at the waist. This simple pattern is great for beginners, and a great jumping off point for more advanced sewers to experiment with.

Bonus Round

I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking here, but I wanted to use this astrological fabric from Mood for something. I ended up using Simplicity Pattern 1108 Misses' Kimonos in Different Styles, and some lace trim that I had on hand.