Lindy Whitton Studio

It’s such a great shape and when I sat in it …so comfortable! I’m short and it fit my body and height beautifully. I wanted to recover it in a hard wearing original eco print but knew it would be a difficult upholstery project because of the construction so just mulled it over for awhile.

The chair back and seat screwed apart from the legs so in theory it should have been easy to recover each piece and then reattach to the legs.

The problem was that the front and back of each curved piece seemed to have been covered seperately and then the two halves permanently attached together.

I thought about machine sewing two cover pieces and inserting a long invisible zipper on one of the curved edge but I was bothered by how difficult it would be to get a really good fit. In the end I came up with the idea of handstitching the two cover pieces together along the original join line so I could pin in place and adjust tension as I sewed.

I choose a hardwearing white denim fabric that I’d picked up a few months earlier in a sale. I was never going to wear white denim but it was a bargain and I can’t resist a bargain! I wanted a semi abstract look so chose both leaves and bark from various eucalyptus trees on our bushblock to eco print the fabric. Sometimes I print the fabric and then cut the pattern pieces but I wanted to have some control over the design on each piece so I removed the old worn cover and used that as a pattern to precut the denim before printing.

I recovered some of the foam to add extra padding and then placed te pieces over the chair sections pinning taut to the foam with dressmaking pins and hand turning under the edges so they sat neatly along the originall seam line…then I spent a LOT of hours handstitching the seams together with a 4 thread upholstery thread and a curved needle, adjusting as I sewed. I can’t count the number of times I pricked my fingers pushing and pulling the needle through the fabric which was quite resistant. I found it surprisingly satisfying for someone who has little patience.

Here’s the reupholstered chair after all that stitching was done and the seat and back reattached. I love the abstract print which I think really compliments it’s classic curves and chrome legs.