Project revealed

Since becoming pregnant I have started a mental list (I should really write it down) of projects that I have been neglecting. Some of them are big (freezer, storage room, boys room, play room...) And some are small. This was a smaller project but one I had been wanting to do for a long time. Not only because it was long overdue, but also because I thought it might be fun. Fun in a way that de-cluttering the storage room just isn't.

I introduce to you, The Rocking Chair:

This rocking chair was handed down to D about 4 years ago. A lovely cousin of mine had passed it on to us along with a bike and bags of clothing that were no longer used by her then 12 year old. It has lived in our garage since its arrival. It was dirty and old I had the idea of recovering it the minute I saw it. M was an infant and I never did get around to it. M actually liked the chair more than D did and as soon as he was walking he would sit in it and rock away. Many many times in the last 4 years I have had to lug it out of the garage, onto the driveway, for him to sit on. Kev has asked me a number of times if we could just put it at the road on garbage day. I couldn't let him do it. I kept insisting that one day I would recover it and it would find a place INSIDE our home. Two weekends ago, that time had come.
It actually took me a lot longer than I thought to get all the old fabric off. Removing each and every staple is painstaking work and now I know why it is so expensive to have a couch reupholstered. I kept track and it took me 5 hours to get it all off. Of course you have to remember that I am preggy and that it was my first time doing this. I don't have any professional upholstery tools so I was removing the staples with a screw driver and needle nose pliers. And I was supervising the children playing outside at the same time. There were a number of breaks that involved me yelling at the kids to stop climbing on the car, get away from the road and get out of the tree!

When D was a baby I had taken an upholstery course at a local interior designers home. We covered a foot stool. It was a simple project but it introduced me to a few of the concepts and obviously gave me a false sense of security that I could tackle this project. I was convinced that the actually covering of the naked chair would be much quicker than the removal of the material had been. I was wrong. I have already worked on it for over 4 hours and I am not quite done. Even though I am not done I still wanted to do the reveal. The next two weekends are very busy and I am not sure if I will get around to finishing it right away. Regardless I did enough to make it comfortable and it has taken up residency in our family room.

Introducing: The Improved Rocking Chair
I still have the sides and the back to cover (as evidenced by the bits of stray fabric that are visible) but it is complete enough for M to sit on it and enjoy it. I am very happy with the results. It is my first attempt at re-upholstery and I did make a few mistakes but nothing tragic and overall I think it looks great. M chose the fabric himself and loves it. It wasn't exactly what I had been looking for, but since it is his chair I figured I could let him chose. The fabric came out of the bargain bin and was very inexpensive. Other than my time, the most expensive part was the high density foam. I was shocked at how much that stuff costs, thankfully I only needed one meter.

So there you have it. My secret project. Of course now that I am done this, I am feeling like I could tackle the couch. Although the hours of work involved (and the sewing, I am a novice sewer) scare me. This project has me thinking about taking a more advanced class in upholstery and seeing if maybe it is a doable project. Who knows. Maybe I have a future in this...