This gorgeous rocker belonged to my husband's grandmother. It was one of the jewels he was given after she passed. It was a bit weathered.
I thought I had taken a picture of it before but I can't find it so I will do my best to describe and maybe you can imagine.
It was painted turquoise but at least 50% of the paint had chipped away. It originally had a wooden weaved seat that was cracked and breaking away, so much so that sitting in it should only be done with caution. When I pulled the seat away I found beds that mice had made.
Although I loved the rustic look, I decided it needed a face lift. I couldn't decide what to replace the seat with so I went to the queen of good ideas...my mother. She had a couple suggestion but I fell in love with the denim idea.
Firstly, I sanded off the chipping paint and then sprayed on a couple coats of bright red outdoor paint. I used the outdoor paint because the chair's new home will be my front porch. The bright red is definitely bold but I love it.
After the paint was fully dry, it was time for the seat. This is the time consuming part. I needed denim strips about an inch wide...a lot of them. Of course you can purchase denim at the fabric store but because I am so thrifty I opted to use old jeans. I live with a house full of hard working young men and therefore they go through lots of jeans. I have been saving them for a while thinking I would make a blanket or perhaps a rug, never considered a chair seat but so shall it be.
I cut 3 inch strips as long as I could get. I needed almost 90 feet of stripping for my chair seat. That is a lot of denim strips but so very worth it.
I sewed each strip together end to end until I had 90 feet of 3" wide denim. I folded the very long strip in half lengthwise. So now the strip is about a 1 1/2 inches wide. Then tucked the outer edges in so the cut edges weren't exposed and sewed the seam down the length of the strip.
Shew! After all that sewing I had to weave it into the seat. I know what you are thinking, easy breezy. Not at all. Actually it wasn't hard just time consuming. I used staples to make sure the denim didn't pull away at the beginning and ending of the weave.
If you are interested in a tutorial for the pillow in this rocking chair you can see that here.
Shared At: Show and Tell
In honor of Veterans Day and the 2016 history making Election Day, I thought I would share my quick and easy Americana pillow tutorial. You will be amazed at just how simple this pillow cover is to put together. I only used items I already had so it cost me nothing. But even if you have to purchase a couple supplies it is still very inexpensive.
Supplies Used:
- Pillow Form (I actually used a small decorative pillow that no longer worked in my decor)
- Fabric to cover the pillow: this needs to be a sturdy fabric, drop cloth material works great.
- Fabric Paint: Red, White & Blue ( I chose barn red, English navy, and bright white)
- Thread that matches your fabric
- Chalk
Tools Used:
- Sewing Machine
- Scissors
- Sponge Paint Brush
- Star shaped sponge
- Measuring Tape
Instructions:
- Measure the size of your pillow form (mine was 12" X 18"). Add 1" to both width and length to allow for a 1/2" seam on all sides. Cut fabric to cover both front and back of pillow. To avoid a seam on one side and because I was using remnant fabric, I cut my fabric to 13" X 37". This allowed me to fold the fabric length wise.
- Sew 3 sides. With the "pretty sides" of your fabric touching sew 3 sides of the fabric with a 1/2" seam. Leave one side open so you can turn the cover inside out and stuff with the pillow form. You should have a pillow case at this point.
- With the cover turned seams inside, insert a piece of cardboard. This will keep the paint from bleeding to the back of the cover.
- I use chalk to roughly sketch the image I wanted on my pillow. Chalk works great because a stiff brush can be used to remove after painting is complete or if you make a mistake with your design. For my image I wanted half the pillow to be blue with stars and the other half to have large red stripes. Get creative. There is no wrong design.
- When you are happy with the chalked image, start applying the paint. I was looking for an aged look so I didn't do full coverage with the paint. I used a sponge paint brush and limited the amount of paint I put on. I started by painting the blue half. Then painted the red stripes. When I was finished with the red stripes the blue was dry so I could add the stars.
- Stamping the stars. You can purchase a foam star stamp at any craft store, which makes adding the stars very easy. Unfortunately for me I didn't have one so I improvised and cut a template from plastic and sponged the stars. I think my results
were similar to what I would have gotten with a stamp.
- Let the cover dry completely before stuffing with the pillow form and completing the remaining seam.
The last step is to find the perfect home for it. AND I DID! On my front porch in my gorgeous red rocking chair. If you are interested in seeing how I restored this old rocker, check it out here.
