The Chair

Back in March I found a chair and ottoman at Nearly New for $25. I walked away as it looked like a huge project for someone else. The arm was worn slap out and the wood was exposed and it would need reupholstering. I even looked at it and thought, "that would be quite a project." The next day I thought about how much I had been wanting a comfortable space within the living room, a place to curl up with a book, a cup of coffee and an extra seating space for when/if there is someone else there besides me. I hate my sofa. I think I am allergic to it. It is down blend and it makes me sneeze.  It is essentially the sofa below, but it a deep burgundy chenille. Because the pillows are down, they look pitiful once you sit down on it and I used to spend more time that I care to admit, fluffing the pillows on this stupid sofa. I finally took the back pillows off altogether and just put decorative throw pillows along the back.

I have not really bought substantial furniture in ages. I am focused on saving and moving and you can't take sofas to Africa, so furniture remains at the bottom of my priority list. But I am here. And I want a comfortable living space and it's $25! So I dreamed about the chair and called the next day and it was still there. I borrowed a co-workers truck. He said I could borrow it but he only had enough gas to get home, so I would have to put gas in it. I went, in my suit, to Nearly New. Parked in the back with the tailgate up to the loading dock. Clip clopped in my heels through the back of the warehouse and went inside and paid for the chair. I spotted all sorts of neat things in the warehouse, but tried not to look. Then, a blonde Junior Leaguer and I loaded her up as she said, "this is going to be quite a project." I fake smiled and slammed the tail gate as I brushed my hands together. At that time I was working about 75 hours a week and didn't have time to shave my legs, much less shop, so I drove right down the street to Forsyth Fabrics and picked out the first bolt of something that remotely worked. I bought 13 yards. 10 for the chair and 3 for the ottoman. (They have pictures of all styles of upholstered furniture. You pick your style and they give you estimates. They also have designers to help you talk it out. Or maybe they are supposed to do the talking but I pretty much just made the girl listen as I talked out loud about what I wanted.) I picked a brown twill. It was $8 a yard. My investment grew a little. I was not crazy about the color, but I wanted something a little faded shabby chic and something that would allow the chair to be neutral and versatile. Looking back I wish I had picked a thicker, more wrinkle free fabric, but that would have been more difficult to sew. But hopefully the mud brown fabric will go in all sorts of spaces. It will work for now in my olive green living room and could also work in a white washed walled, sea grass rug coastal cottage when I get one of those.

I knew I would need to repair the arm. I drove down to East Point to a hole in the wall scary sketch been there for years upholstery place. This place has not changed since 1965. It is gross. They have Christian tracks by the ancient cash register and a rack of car magazines that have photos of women with big bosoms lounging on them. An old clock with a Budweiser logo hangs on the wood paneled wall. A man and his wife run the place. Her hair is really big. He is bald. He tried to totally gouge me on the price and pulled out an old fat catalogue with prices based on dimensions and measure the pieces that I would need. He quoted me over $70. I said, "No." I pointed to the workshop area where men were working on pleather bench seat of an old car. There were various cuts of all sorts of foam stacked up high behind them. I said, "Sell me a piece of that." He did. For $15.  I still think I kinda got robbed and it was basically junk and debris but it worked and was what I needed. I got mad at him for trying to give me the run around and he didn't deserve my $15, but my lunch hour was ticking away and I had to go and he had foam and I needed it.

It actually looks decent here. But trust me, it was not.

I called Mama Deane to arrange to have my upholstery sent to Mrs. Stavros, the sweet little Greek lady who I intended to hire to do this for me because I had no intention of tackling this project myself. Mrs. Stavros made lovely slipcovers for Deane for a song and I intended to get in on the action. Cheap slipcovers were just what I needed. I boxed up my overpriced twill and sent it to Deane, and later mailed photographs and sketch of the chair with dimensions of every possible width, length, height and depth. I waited expectantly. A month later Deane sent me an email. Mrs. Stavros had locked up her house and gone to Africa. She is like 80 years old and sews little shirts and shorts all year long and then once a year or so, loads them up and takes little uniforms to school children in Africa. Oh, the irony. So this ugly, ugly chair sat in my living room starring back at me, gaping wounded in her left arm. My $25 investment had grown to over $100 and I had nothing to show for it.

I kept thinking, "How in the world am I going to fix this stupid chair?" Poor sweet Deane searches frantically to find someone else to fix it. The fabric gets taken to some place in the Newport News area and some lady attempts to tackle this chair to no avail. I call her numerous times and never get an answer. Two months later, she tells me that she simply cannot do it. She tried. It was too much. Deane has the fabric.

On the 4th of July I meet Angelique up at Tate with the box of fabric. It has come back to me, just at it was sent, in the same box. Only this time, a few pieces have been cut and the beginnings of an ottoman cover are recognizable. I opened the box in my living room and looked at the crumpled fabric and decided that my savings and $25 Find had just cost me almost $200. Fabric, shipping costs, filling Craig's stupid truck up with gas for letting me borrow it, foam for the arms, shipping pictures to Deane, ice cream to soothe the anxiety. I debated just trying to sell the fabric on ebay and throw the chair off the front porch. I decided I had too much invested and I was determined to do this. I had looked at similar sets like this at Ballard's and a chair and ottoman covered in the fabric of your choice retail for $800.

I found a lady at work who sews and asked for her help. She showed me how to cover the pillows. She took the ottoman cover home with her and sewed a skirt on the bottom. I hand sewed cushions. We were making progress. But even these milestones took weeks, as we were doing this on our lunch hour, maybe once a week. One day she came home with me at lunch to take a look at what all needed to me done. The next day she sent me a sweet Dear John letter and she bailed, said something about having a lot of other things to do. I don't blame her, but it took the wind out of my little sails and I had to go out for ice cream. Then I did what only a girl can do in a moment like this, I called my mama.

A week later she came over with a pineapple, a sack of sweet potatoes and a sewing machine under her arm. She began by helping me fix the cushion pillow. We added piping and changed the shape of the pillow and it looked great! I took off the existing skirt and began to use the original fabric as a model and never had to even pull out my measure tape. We used pillow stuffing from Target's $2.49 bed pillows. We cut four models for arms. I ironed. She sewed. I stapled. I nailed ($2.47 upholstery nails from Joanne's fabrics). I put on music. We ate sweet potatoes and cantaloupe and worked the entire time. She stayed until she started sewing crooked and neither of us could function. She came back a week later and we added piping, attached the skirt and finished that dumb chair.  I could not be more proud. Thanks Mom, Craig, Mary from Work, Deane, Angelique, Stranger lady who tried to help but sewed with WHITE thread on brown fabric that I will forever be taking out, Christine (for the sewing machine), and even Mrs. Starvros for helping those sweet children in Africa and thus forcing me to do this. I am not quitting my day job, but I want to reupholster my sofa now and I can help you with your project too. It was so easy. Piece of cake...with ice cream.