Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The perfect formula

If you're a Sarah Richardson fan like me you've probably seen Sarah's House.  Remember the episode where she creates two cute bedrooms-- one for a boy and one for a girl?  Remember this chair from the girls room?


I've always thought it was adorable.  Inspiration.

Then my friend (who has a cute little girl) found this fabric.


Then she found a chair.

So let's add it up.

Inspiration + cute little girl+ Fabric + Chair (+ me!!.. and at times Doug) = this...


Cute, eh?  This chair did not reupholster itself over night.  It took me months and weeks to finish since I am the slowest. upholsterer. ever.  And once again, I had some had some help from Doug-- arm strength is needed when it comes to dismantling the chair and flipping it around.  But when it came time to put it back together my mom and expert aunt were not around to offer sewing assistance and a few pointers... I was on my own.  While I had a few nervous moments... it all came together in the end.  But let me tell you... I was sweating a few times during seat cushion construction time-- badly fraying fabric + seamstress-in-training + sewing over my finger (like I said... I'm still learning) = the urge to say a few bad words.


Finally, it's done and it looks great.  And in the end I managed to scrap together enough material to cover the ottoman too.  I'm no expert... but it looks considerably better than it did before.


From what I hear, the little lady loves her new chair :)  I can't wait to see it in her new"big girl" room!!

10 comments:

kathleen marie said...

yay! It looks SO good, Elissa. I bet those two girls are thrilled :)

kelly ens said...

WOWEE! it looks amazing, Elissa! Gorgeous :)

KDees said...

You are a ninja! It looks SUPER fun and girly! Great job! And, I'd say you've just moved up from "seamstress-in-training" to the "hello-look-at-me-I'm-an-awesome-seamstress" category!

Leanne said...

Oh MY, I think I might just faint in delight! That is astonishing and amazing! I'm in love.

Bonnie said...

Oh, but you ARE an expert! Trust me. I worked in the interior design business long enough to know what goes into upholstery. HARD WORK. And this chair is absolutely INCREDIBLE. Your friend is lucky to have you!

And I'll admit... I like to pretend that Sarah Richardson is my BFF. If only... ;)

Erica said...

incredible Elissa! Ra-ra is one lucky little girl! Time to obsess over fabric for my next chair project!

Anonymous said...

she loves it so much she MUST sit in it, or at lest lean her head on it every time she is entering or leaving her room. she sit there stroking the fabric saying nice....pretty, pointing out and counting all the colours, flowers, and apparently the 'apples' that are on the fabric. she often pats the cushion, looks up at me and say "reig...ies...reig...ies" :)

thank you sooo much :)

Anonymous said...

Love it!! You are my hero!! Amazing work my friend :)

Andrianne

Melissa said...

Beautiful work! Love it! Your skills are impressive :)

Carol@TheDesignPages said...

Wowza. That is amazing. Okay, come on girl. Share the tutorial for those of us who have never dreamed of upholstering.