Two weeks ago I decided I wanted to fancy up the chair in my walk in robe. I had something very specific in mind – a chair with a fabric back and seat, that was upholstered in patchwork fabric.

One trip to the Green Shed and I found the perfect chair to re-upholster!

before
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The before pictures

I got started straight away, pulling out staples to remove the fabric.

pulling out staples
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pulling out staples!

I had already had some fabric, in the forms of a skirt, a dress and a pair of pants, and I had already started turning it into hexagons. I had initially thought of making a quilt with the fabric, but when this project came up, the fabric was perfect!

skirt
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A skirt…
a dress
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a dress… and the pants I have no before picture of. The pants started life as beige velvet and went through the dyeing process to become a lovely splotch of green and purple.
a stack of fabric hexagons
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A stack of hexies ready to sew

I madly sewed sections of hexagons, each big enough to cover the areas of fabric which I had removed from the chair. I then “quilted” each section of fabric to a piece of old bedsheet. Because I used the english paper piecing technique to sew the hexagons together, I was a bit worried my hand sewn seams would not hold up to the wear and tear a chair experiences without some kind of reinforcement. I am confident sewing it to a backing will reinforce the patchwork well.

hexagons
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I madly sewed sections of hexagons
quilted hexagon fabric
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I “quilted” the hexagon fabric to a piece of old bed sheet to support the patchwork

I employed Guys amazing skills for the actually upholstering. He has more experience with this and was super excited to help with this project. He has been wandering around the house for days now exclaiming “this is one of the best up-cycled pieces we have done!”

Guy re-upholstering chair
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Guy did most of the actual re-upholstering. He did a splendid job <3

Once all the fabric was stapled down, we gave it a bit of a trim and glued gold cord over the edges.

hotglueing trim
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Hot gluing the final feature – a gold braided trim to all the edges.

And tada! a beautiful chair for my cupboard! It almost feels a shame to keep it in the cupboard!

patchwork chair in cupboard
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The chair in its final position. It’s going to be so much fun putting my shoes and socks on now!
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after..

Breakdown –

Chair – The Green Shed – $10
Fabric – Vinnies – $20 (three items)
Trim – Spotlight – $15 (5m)

Having an amazing piece of furniture – priceless!

Have a creative week!
<3 Cate