chair clothes

I knocked a to-do project off the archive list this weekend. (Yessss!) It’s part of my efforts to catch up with the things I’ve been meaning to do—things I’m doing for others, in some way. Although the chair will be enjoyed by everyone, I did it now for Elie because he works so hard on this house of ours. He makes it looks new and crisp while still being old and stately, using methods that are completely beyond my talents. I can sew though.

This chair is one in a set that used to belong to Elie’s mom, and she very kindly gave them to us a couple of years ago. They’re covered in a peach velvet that has seen much love from grandchildren, dogs, parties, you name it. They’ve been needing some work, but nothing structural, just prettying up the dirt. I’ve always liked chairs in Country Living that look like they’ve put on understated dresses—fitted and tied linen numbers. I’ve had this in mind for these chairs for so long—I don’t even know when I bought the fabric. The chair has such a simple shape that it wasn’t hard to fashion covers with some basic pleating. I more or less spread the fabric on the chair and pinned and cut away where it shouldn’t be. Then I did the edges in piping to sharpen them up. Now, the dirty peach is still under there, and I was reminded of what the instructor of the upholstery class I took a few years ago said: Upholstery can hold ages of dirt. If you cover an old chair, your cover is as likely to get dirty from the inside out as the outside in. Gross. To combat this, I made an under-layer of blackout curtain lining. It’s kind of rubbery-plastic-y, so I don’t think the dirt will come through very easily.

Here’s the before: