Monday 24 September 2007

Victorian Nursing Chair - Stage 6

I always seam to apologise at the beginning of these blogs... so this time I'm not going to!

I have been lazy and busy and am proud of it! so there! you can see what i have been doing
here

Anyway, the chair is nearly finished, and in this blog I will show you what I did to get it to the final stages before the top cover!

The last time I wrote I think I was just finishing the Hessian stages (my god that was a long time ago!) and I had made my trestles… well I don’t have a picture for you! (sorry) but I will get one!

So much has happened since then that I cant even remember… but I have had a look though my photos and I think I can describe what I did?? (can I??)

The stitching I spoke of last time ended up being a complete ‘bitch!’ not only did I have to do the blind stitching round the seat area, I also had to do the front of the arms, and across the top of the back! I understand the reasons for doing it once it was done… the shapes it created were fantastic and you need this stable underneath to create a good overall shape when the entire piece is finished!


I then had to put in bridal stitches again all over the seats arms and back so could state the second stuffing! (oooo errrr missus!) So these loopy stitches hold more hogs hair (ran out of the original horses hair). You tuck it all under these stitches and then place cotton wadding over this! Now… cotton wadding, this stuff is lovely! It comes in a huge roll which frankly I could fall asleep on anytime! It is sooooo nice! This then forms the second stuffing… it all gets held down in place with Calico… the most amazing fabric in the world! (well my world anyway!) I have to say that the Calico covering was a lot harder than I though it would be! I had to make sure I created the perfect shape for the chair and also have all the fabric stretched in the correct directions and held down tightly so no slipping of the stuffing occurred! It took a lot of time and patients but I got there in the end!






The main bits that were difficult were the arms… it was all because you have three curves going all in different directions… it took a lot of time, and lots of snips into the fabric to smooth out the shape… you just have to work in three ways all the time and re-work sections you have already done until its all tight.. then you have to work around the front section… tucking in pleats where necessary, and creating attractive curves!

The funny thing is.. it al feels like practice because I have to do this all again with the top cover… glad I’m making my mistakes now!


1 comment:

Liz said...

Wow the chair looks amazing! I know what you mean about the wadding too - I have some cotton wadding for my quilt and it's soo cosy.