State Legislater Chairs {Part 4}

They’re finished!

This was a large project, and the end result was really satisfying for me. Attempting to refinish these chairs was far beyond my comfort zone, and they are definitely not perfect, but I am happy with them!

Now for the last tutorial on these chairs.

ATTENTION:

I totally mis-measured the original yardage for the double welt cording. I’ve updated the earlier posts, but in case you’re upholstering these Utah State Legislature chairs, you will need 6 yards of the double welt cording!

So at this point we have this chair that looks great, but as you get closer, you can see all these staples on the edges. So we’re the final (and easiest) step to reupholster!

To finish the exposed staples, there are different methods.

Hammering upholstery tacks was the original method on the leather.

Tacks are obviously used rather than all the stapling, so not really an option for these chairs at this point.

DECISION 1:

Decorative Edging

Ribbing

You can purchase finished ribbing that is finished and ready to go. This is great to add contrasting edging and more elaborate finishes, and a great option if you’re not into sewing

I didn’t choose this option due to the expense, it can get pricey, sometimes $3.00 per yard

Welt Cording

Purchase double welt cording by the yard, (between $0.25 - $0.80 per yard) and sew fabric over it as shown HERE.

Great to coordinate the fabric on the furniture with the trim. Making the welt yourself obviously takes more effort, but depending on your fabric, can be less expensive, which is why I chose this route.

DECISION 2:

Attaching to the Furniture

*The staples hold all the structure/ strength of the upholstery, so the edge finishes are completely decorative, and have no purpose other than making it look better by covering the staples. So you can just glue them on the chair.

FABRIC GLUE VS HOT GLUE

I went with hot glue for a few reasons:

-it sets fast, almost instant application

-cheap

-already had the supplies

Reasons I’d consider using fabric glue:

Thinner and Less Mess: Sometimes with the hot glue if you squeeze out too much, it will leave a raised area of your welting, or ooze out the sides…both of which happened on my chairs

I haven’t used the fabric glue, but the idea of having to hold it on there until it stuck made it seem too much of a pain so I went the hot glue. If anyone has used the fabric glue, let me know what you think.

So here we’ll go through using double welt.

Basically sewing fabric around the cording and glue it to the chairs.

You cut your strips on the bias, or a 45 degree angle from the selvage edge. The tutorial suggests cutting your strips 2.5” wide. Having more fabric makes it easier to sew, but I didn’t want to waste so much fabric, so I cut them 1.5” wide and it worked just fine for me—a little more effort to make the fabric snug against the cord though.

Finishing Double Welt

1. Measure the length on your chair that needs cording, and cut your raw cord the length needed for the specific area

2. Sew your fabric on the cord using this tutorial. **Make sure you leave about ¼” extra fabric beyond the ends of the cord

3. Hot glue the ¼” end of extra fabric under

4. Using a thin line of hot glue, glue welting right over the staples, lining it up with the edge

5. When you get to the end of your specific strip, glue the extra fabric under again and glue it down

So to make the chair, I would:

1. Measure and cut a few pieces of cord

2. Sew the fabric around cording

3. Glue on chair

4. Move onto the next areas

**The cording will unravel from each other, so I would cut a piece, then try to sew it right away. If you take your cord and just cut a bunch of lengths you’ll need, by the end it will be a challenge to keep the 2 cords tight as you sew—I learned from experience

Specific Process for the Utah State Legislature Chairs:

1. ARMS

Beginning on the back of the chair, glue welt down the outside of the arm, up over the front, and back along the inside of the arm. To finish on the inside of the arm rest, just glue the welting in the fold between the arm and back of the chair

2. ARM REST BASE

Along the front of the chair, you need these little corner welt pieces. Just fold the fabric under each end to have a nice finish

3. BACK

Glue welt along the rear back piece of fabric, covering the ends of the outside arms

4. BOTTOM

Beginning on the back, glue around the bottom base of the seat, coming across the front, and going back the other side and wrapping the last 2” on the back

So after is was all done, it ended up taking some time, but for me it was worth it to have the fabric I wanted and to save a lot of money.