It is done

The chair is done.

I'm sitting across from it right now.

I know, I should be sitting on it...

but at the moment I'd rather look at it.

I actually felt less frustration while doing this chair

even though it was more difficult than the last one.

And

just like the last one,

it isn't perfect...not by a long shot.

But I don't think any of my errors will scream out for people to notice them.

So I'm good.

The whole experience made me want to take another upholstery class though.

So I can learn how to have more finesse with the whole process

and feel a bit more like I know what I'm doing.

I also gained even more appreciation for my sewing machine.

That puppy sewed through four layers of heavy duty fabric without any problems.

Before:

During:

I took a lot of pictures as I took it all apart, in the hopes that it would help me remember how to put it back together.

And I actually referred to those pictures a number of times, so I was glad I did it.

I chose not to use the metal fasteners that were originally used to close up the sides of the back panel and the outside edges of the two sides of the chair.

First of all, they are so freaking dangerous.

I'm just clumsy enough that I can imagine impaling myself on these things while I tried to install them.

Second of all, I really wanted to use the skills taught to me by my teacher in Boston.

And she felt pretty strongly about all the newfangled short cuts used in upholstery today.

So I sewed all those places by hand.

It took quite awhile and my fingers definitely weren't used to it

but I did it!

My fingers were so sore but I figured they'd be sore the next day too so I might as well keep going until I finished.

This last picture was taken after midnight last night when I finally finished sewing.

The only thing left to do is the dust cover underneath.

I was afraid my staple gun was a bit loud to use after midnight.

I'm so thoughtful!

But now that my living room is all vacuumed

I am thinking the dust cover can wait a little longer.