Selvedge chair part 4

 This is the final part of the chair upholstery blog series. Time to put the chair back together!

Once the patchwork is big enough it will most likely need some extra sewing to get a neater fit. If the chair is symmetrical the easiest way is to put the cover on backwards, lining up the centre and pin to hold in place. Form a dart at the top corners and pin in place. I hand basted then turned the cover over to check it was looking like a good fit. It will be a bit too bulky now so should be an extra snug fit, if it’s looking loose it will definitely be once sewn so take it in abit. Now is the time to make adjustments to the shaping if needed. Then sew just to the inside of your basting stitches. And trim away excess. Trim one side of the seam allowance shorter than the other for a neater finish. Double check the fit. On the paper pattern it needed dart/pleat at the bottom edge but I didn’t need to do this once it was quilted, you may need to if your chair is a different shape though. At the bottom edge, at the side where it goes over the wooden frame, I did some extra stitching. You could fold under and tuck in the raw edge, perhaps add top stitching so it doesn’t drop down. However I didn’t want to risk it dropping or have top stitching so I did a different trick creating a facing. I used a piece of white cotton right side together with the quilted panel and pinned where it would need to be. I drew on the white fabric the line I wanted the edge to be and the shape around the inside of the chair. I then stitched directly on this line to join the white to the quilted panel. I cut away all the excess and turned the white under to the back of the quilted panel. Gave it a really good press. Again you can try and check the shape before removing excess, but keep in mind it will not be as good til it is trimmed.

Once happy with the shape, it’s time to staple. You need to stretch the fabric a little so it is tight but not so tight it is pulling any stitching or distorting any patchwork and add a couple staples to the top centre. Like with the calico layer, pull down and tuck under the bottom and add staples. Then go around the sides working til you have completely gone around the back of the chair. 

To cover all the inside of the chair and give a professional finish to the back of the chair I used flexible metal tack strip. It generally comes in lengths that you cut to size, with three teeth to each section that grip the fabric. I added piping to further disguise the edge of the fabric fold. 

Cut the fabric strip, joining if needed to cover the length of piping needed. Fold the fabric strip in half with the piping cord in the middle, you can use tape along the cord or along the edge of the fabric, however I would recommend just adding a line of stitching to hold the fabric together. 

Working with the chair flat, if possible, lay the piping along the back edge of the chair with the metal strip quite close to the piping cord. If it is too close you won’t be able to fold in the fabric but too far away and it will be baggy. The tacking strip has a hole in the centre of each section for a staple to go either side securely holding the metal strip, piping and front cover to the chair back. It takes a bit of time to do each hole, carefully lining up each staple but is worth taking the time to do it. Keep checking you are happy with the line of piping you are attaching and fix any wobbles as you go as it will be very time consuming to go back after. 

Now it’s time to measure and make the back panel. I used a single piece of fire retardant calico and repeated the quilt as you go method to create my patchwork panel, just without the batting layer.  I think it might have been better to have a batting layer with the fabrics too but I didn’t as I was worried about the bulk with all the seams. Staple the back panel at the bottom of the chair frame, tuck the edge in to the bottom tacking strips. Fixing this panel to the chair is a little scary since you have to cut it quite short. You need enough to tuck in and grip to the teeth but not too much or it will stick out and won’t close neatly. Work your way up the chair til you have closed all the tacks. Use a hammer to tap them securely, I added a piece of batting and fabric between the hammer and fabric to protect it from marks. I would highly recommend watching a you tube video for using the flexible metal tacking strips, as it will be much easier to understand than my explanation.

Now your chair should be all upholstered ready to use.

Mx