The big reveal

I finally got the recliner back together. We were hampered by sickness, or this project would have been completed much sooner.

First of all, the couch before (remember my $50 DI find?):

Thanks to Kerry Lynn for all the help with recovering the lovely couch:

I still need to stain the frame, but it looks pretty great. I also need to get a family picture print to hang above the couch. I love the finished product though. The pillows were a gift from Kerry Lynn for Mother’s Day.

 

Next is the baby rocking chair. I got it at DI for $10. The springs were out of place, but I just took it apart, put the springs back, and it’s good as new. This is how it was before:

And after:

Now the $17 Craig’s List 1975 recliner (the manufacturing slip was still inside it. It left Detroit in March 1975). Here it is in it’s glory:

And the 12 hour redo thanks especially to Bethany for her 12 hours of stapling and to Keli for the use of her compressor and stapler which saved us many a blister.

Isn’t it great? Here are a few more pictures:

 

A little bit of the process: and

 

The worst part was taking it apart. I guess in 1975 things were made to last, because it took me and Gene across the street about 3 hours to take it apart. (Have I talked about Gene? He’s a retired guy across the street who works in his garage on wood projects about all day. He’s also an electrician. He’s very useful and he likes me a lot, so he helps us out a lot.)

I removed very little of the upholstery. I just covered the existing stuff right up. We folded most of the edges under to  make it stronger and avoid fraying.

 

To get into the back to do tufting I literally sliced the back of the chair open with a razor blade:

The tufting was interesting. I learned that you really do need upholstery needles, waxed thread, and most important to put a button on the back too, or the thread will just pull right through the cushion.

 

And here’s how I did the little rocking chair. I  put the pad in the fabric. I pulled the sides tight and pinned it all around except the bottom. Then I pinched it together on the outsides and traced where I thought the seam should be. Then I took the cushion out and sewed on the line. It worked perfectly. I shoved the cushion in and hand stitched the bottom. Easy as can be.