Friday, February 22, 2013

FINALLY Figured Out Egg Chair Upholstery

Wearing a new coat FINALLY
Remember me?
I am sure that everyone is wondering, how's that Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair coming along?  The one that was teased back almost three months ago?  The one that is number three the Undersized Urbanite To-Do List on the right margin?  Anyone?  Well, whether or not you've been wondering, I'm going to tell you what happened.  It has been driving me nuts!  I have struggled trying to upholster it.  The super stylish chair is curved, hence its appeal, and fabric just won't curve.  I have new-found respect for these designers as they had to overcome issues I would never have foreseen.  How they cover these rounded chairs without having to pintuck the fabric thirty thirteen bajillion times is beyond me.  I tried a piece of felt, because felt stretches more than regular fabric; nuh-uh.  I didn't even have to worry about seams because the fabric would stretch over the flatter surfaces and bunch together in the more rounded parts.  It didn't look good and this project was going nowhere.  Until, one day in A.C. Moore, I found a small package of wool roving.  I had taken a felting class at Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, Queens, around two years ago, and all sorts of cool projects were envisioned, but not (yet) realized.  I also took a class in raising chickens at the same park, fell in love with Bantam chickens, and even researched chicken diapers, which is another (yet) unrealized dream, but that is another story.  So, back to the roving, it occured to me that the this would be the best solution, creating a seamless covering, and in stylish wool to boot!
My second choice was
the darker blue
Light blue didn't work
 out - too stringy?

The roving came packaged in two-color packs and they were all so lovely I had a hard time choosing, but in the end I went with Pastel Blue/Blueberry.  I tried the lighter blue first, and it all came apart when I placed it into the boiling water.  I think the wool was too "stringy" because I didn't pull it apart enough before covering the chair.  So, the darker wool was up next, and this time I broke up smaller pieces and I ladled the water onto the piece so that the roving wouldn't fall off in the pot.  Then, I relived the Socrates Park sensual fun stroking the warm, wet wool in the soapy water, and voilà.  I may have finally done it.  It's too thick in some places, overly thin in others, but compared with my fourteen other attempts at upholstering this bad boy, it is by far the best looking.  Now, on to the next challenge: the base, and I can turn another to-do into a ta-da.  Little by little, I'm figuring things out.


1 comments:

  1. What a nice chair! And a great idea to cover it with wool. Hannah

    ReplyDelete

 

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