Button-Tufted Bench

DONE!
We got our trim up!!
A huge "THANK YOU!" to J&S for their willingness to help us out.  You are the best.

I am so excited that our house no longer looks like it's under construction.
Sure, we have the closet doors to paint and hang.
Sure, we have to put putty in all the little nail holes.

But the trim. is. up.
And I am a happy girl.

Today's post comes courtesy of a friend I'll refer to as...Lucille.  Because that's a fun name.

Lucille had this little bench that had been a part of her family, and it needed...some love.
Or a whole bucket full o' love.
Here's how she looked when I picked her up (the bench, not Lucille):

Did a little tear fall from your eye?
Well, not to worry.  I told Lucille I'd take good care of her little munchkin and bring her back with her love tank on "full" (book reference, anyone?).
And I have.
Though I haven't actually returned her yet, as she is still sitting in my living room.

 Much better, right?
Lucille picked out a fabric that would match her decor and we decided to go with an off-white for the frame.  Super cute.

And in case you have a sad little bench with an empty love tank that needs filling, here are some upholstery tips and details on button tufting!
If you're looking for a basic upholstery tutorial without tufting, check out the Baby Piano Bench.
A couple other good ones to check out are The Little Chair that was Oft Misunderstood, or An Upholstered Chair Fit for a Princess.

The first step of any reupholstery project is to tear the piece down.  Take off the fabric and remove staples.
And try not to give yourself too many blisters.
Since I was repainting the frame, I also took off the padding.

Joe spray primed and then painted the frame.  Because he's just that awesome and helpful.

...and he wants a healthy baby :)

I usually use spray paint on chairs and such because it goes on SO much smoother than brushing.

And it's faster, so it's a win-win!

I then gave the frame a light distressing around the edges using sandpaper.

 The padding was a sort of synthetic "horse hair" type stuffing, covered with cotton batting.  Unfortunately, over time the fabric had torn along the front and some of the stuffing had fallen out.  I beefed it back up with some Poly-Fill, tucking it under the existing stuffing to keep it smooth.

Then, I used some leftover cotton batting from the Hollywood Regency Chair to patch in where the original cotton batting had been lost.
Now, I don't usually use legit' upholstery materials like cotton batting, because you HAVE to buy it at full retail.  However, in this case it was needed because I needed the new materials to mesh smoothly with the old ones.  Cotton batting is perfect for this, because it pulls apart easily and creates really smooth seams.  Just pull on it to tear and smooth it out with your hands.
Magic.

Once I had the padding all back in order, I covered my buttons.  I just used button kits from Wal-Mart.  It worked fine...except that my fabric was REALLY thick and it just about made my thumb fall off trying to push the pieces together.
But I won out in the end.
And my thumb feels much better now, thank you.

Here is how to install the buttons in your button tufting:
First, cover all your buttons.
Then, lay out your piece of fabric onto your project, giving yourself plenty of extra fabric on all sides.
I used the holes on the old fabric to show me where to put the buttons, and marked the new fabric with little pieces of tape.
Which worked fine.
Until Jip decided to pull them up and chew on them.
    He pretty much thinks that since he played with the tape balls from painting the windows,
    ALL TAPE IS FOR HIM AND HIM ALONE.
    All hail the tape master.
Anyway, once you have your button locations marked, follow this handy little picture chart!
 Sorry about the small print, I'll explain it below in case you can't read it.

Hmmm...well, that doesn't look as nice in blogger as it did in Gimp.  So here are the steps if you can't read them above:
1.  Loop thin string through button backs--(large string in pictures is for illustration only)
        I actually used 12 lb test fishing line and it worked really well.
2.  Thread string onto needle and push through upholstery.
      Push it through from the top into one of your marked places.  I had to use pliers to get my needle to go through.
3.  Tie string under the seat around a piece of cotton.
      Tying it around a chunk of something keeps it from pulling back through.
      You could use a cotton ball or wad of fabric for this, too.
4.  Finish seat as usual.

Once the buttons are all in place (smooth the fabric as you go to make sure you have even "tufts"), the staple gun comes into play.
Have I mentioned lately how much I stinkin' love my staple gun and air compressor?

Unfortunately, I have to let you know that without a staple gun with an upholstery nose on it, I could not have completed this project.  I know that's stinky for people who don't want to go buy an expensive gun just to complete a few projects, but I don't know how I would do it without this gun.  It has a nose that's skinnier to fit into grooves for upholstery.  And no safety catch.
I live on the wild side.
If you have questions about the staple gun, just leave me a comment :)

Next came the fun part.  I basically just stapled the fabric around the edges into the grooves.
However, sometimes you have posts and arms and such that you need to work around.  For that, just follow the pictures above.
1.  Cut a wedge out of your fabric that will fit around your post.
       BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT IT TOO BIG!!  Start with it too small, then cut slits until you can   get it nice and snug.
2.  Tuck it around your post and get a good fit.
3.  Fold under the raw edges
4.  Pull the fabric to exactly where you want it and staple it into the groove.

Hooray!

Now, if your piece has grooves like this, you'll want to trim the excess fabric as tightly to your staples and the groove as you can.  Then, you'll want to sew up some cording to clue into the gap and cover your raw edge.

Once you have your cording sewn, carefully hot glue it into your groove, being careful to cover up all your raw edges.  Go slowly.  This can be trickier than it sounds...trust me :)

Is it weird when a random internet snob tells you to "trust me"?  Yeah, I think that qualifies as creepy.
UNLESS I'm Aladdin and start singing and swooping you around on a magic carpet.  That would qualify me as awesome.

Okay, let's tone it down a bit.
And I'll show you a "Whole New Bench" Hahahaha!  So flippin' clever!
Sorry.
Here's where we came from...

 And here's where we ended up!!

The adorable little buttons that about busted my thumbs.  Worth it, by the way.

 See how the cording cleans the edge up so nicely?

 I can't get enough of these buttons.

Awww, doesn't it look so nice in that little niche?

I suppose I could just not call Lucille for a few days, huh?
Actually, I'm picking up some dust cover for the bottom tonight, so it might be a couple days.
Just covering my bases.
Lucille, are you reading this?

Is grand theft bench a federal offense?
Good luck catching me on my magic carpet.

~The Doodle Bug

I'm usually partyin' at these hangouts:

Friday Feature @ Redoux

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Simply Creations Link Party @ Simple Home. Life

It's a Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life

Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter

Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday @ Kammy's Korner

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.

Wow Us Wednesdays@Savvy Southern Style

Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

Driftwood-Look Table & Chairs

Well, today has been a good day.  I have pieced together & fixed, painted, and upholstered four dining chairs, and then made a cutie little hanger out of some of the scraps!  You'll get to see that soon, but for today I have a big project that took me a good week and a half to complete.  And it was worth every minute.

Here she is.  My first dining table project, with chairs to boot!

Unique Folding Bench + How to Paint Stripes

We have some local friends who have been cleaning out some buildings on their farm.  Whenever they find random old things that they think I might like, they put them aside for me.  

Because. They're. So. Darn. Sweet.  

We'll call them Family H.

Vintage Suitcases

I never used to think that these old, vintage suitcases were anything but ordinary.  I remember every summer packing up my clothes into a hard orange-ish suitcase, excited for another week at summer camp.  It did not occur to me that the suitcase I used could perhaps find a new life sometime in the future.

But these old vintage suitcases have definitely been making a comeback--as anything but suitcases.

Here are a few examples:

(I will apologize in advance if the pictures do not show up.  I have been having some issues with pictures from other websites, even if I give them credit and link the picture.  Anyone know if that's normal?  Either way, I link the picture to the source, so if you want to see them and they're not here, you can click on the picture and see it!)

Coffee Table by Kate--featured on Design*Sponge

Suitcase Bench by See Kate Sew

Suitcase Dresser by Junk in the Country

Pet beds from Tip Junkie

How fun, huh?  

Well, I have had a few old suitcases in my possession for a couple years now.  I found them for only $2 each--$6 later, they were mine!  At the time, we were just moving, (literally, I bought them from the store that was next door to our new apartment the day I was moving in all our stuff), to an apartment that had TONS of charm...but no closets.  Actually, that's a theme in our lives.  We still have no closets...well, we do have a small linen closet, so I guess we're moving up in the world!  But in our last apartment, we did not have a linen closet, but we did have a lot of extra room in our bathroom.

This is the full portion of the bathroom, but there's a bunch of open floor space behind the camera.  I was trying to figure out where to put our towels and such when I remembered my suitcases.

And Voila!  A Towel Suitcase!  They fit right in with the colors of the brick, and though we have since moved, I still love how they looked.  

What ideas do you have for old suitcases?  

Happy Thanksgiving week!  I have been prepping for Christmas posts--so after Thanksgiving get ready to plug in your glue gun and get out your jingle bells!

http://homemade.tipjunkie.com/wp-content/homemade-thumbs/leggage-repurposed-into-a-pet-bed-drab-to-fab.jpg

Painted Fabric for an Antique Pine Box

Oh, I have missed throwing ideas into the blogosphere the last couple of weeks.  As you've probably noticed, Christmas has exploded in retail stores everywhere, and here in Buffalo it is no different.  Strangely, I had no elves to spread Christmas cheer into my booth for me, so I was doing it myself.  Not that I mind, of course!  I played my favorite Christmas CD last week while working at the store.  Christmas with the Rat Pack.  It's not Christmas until I hear some Frank and Bing.  But now that the (Angel) dust has settled, I have a tip to share!

I was given an old pine box that had seen many years, but under all that grime I knew it was beautiful.  I planned to cut out a top and upholster it, making another upholstered bench like the one I made a couple of weeks ago (you can read about that project here), but I was going to stick to straight upholstery, not tufted (for that process, check out this post here).  I had a problem, though.

Dilemma:  I couldn't find any fabric in my stash that I liked.  And I say if I don't have fabric that I like, it's not worth going to the trouble of upholstering it.

Plan A:  Go to store and buy some.

So I went to the store.  Usually I try to find remnants at second hand stores--I can get a yard or two for $1.  I went to the local thrift store, but couldn't find anything that really tripped my trigger.

But there was some sturdy white fabric.  Hmmmm...

Plan B:  Paint something onto the white fabric using fabric paint using those little craft paints that are about $.99 a bottle.

I have been wanting to do a piece that has a European antique flour sack look (with those great blue stripes).  However, those darn things are awfully hard to find in little ol' Minnesota.  So I thought I could make a look-alike.

 I really loved the idea of using blue stripes on a white fabric, so I found a stripe pattern that I liked.  I was originally thinking about stenciling letters or numbers on the fabric as well, but I didn't want to "guild the lily," so I settled on two bold stripes.

First, I cut my fabric to the rough size I would need and taped it down to my tabletop to keep it from shifting.  Then, I taped out my stripes, one small stripe at a time, and painted them in using my craft paint and a large craft brush.  I did not water down the paint, and found that it worked pretty well.

You can see that I didn't worry too much about making a perfectly solid line.  I left some of the texture because I was too lazy to fill in all the cracks didn't want it to look too new.

I was really impressed with how quickly the paint dried.  I pulled up the tape from one stripe, and laid it down right on top of it about 2 minutes later to do the next stripe.  

Once you have all your striping done, your newly striped/stenciled/otherwise embellished fabric is ready for its new life!  I went ahead and upholstered my box with it, and am so happy with the results.

Do you have any sewing or crafting projects that you can't seem to find the perfect fabric for?  What about painting it?!  I am seeing all these possibilities of lettering, damask, polka dots, quotes, etc...etc... on pillows or draperies or, or, or....

If painting doesn't seem like a solution for you, there is a company that will print your custom designed fabric for you.  Go check them out at Spoonflower.com.  Even if you're not in the market for fabric or don't feel comfortable designing your own, you can go check it out and drool over other people's designs that are for sale.

Happy Painting!

Crate Storage Bench + Tufted Upholstery

Yesterday, I learned to drive a skid steer.  We were at some friends' house while they cleaned out the concrete from their basement to pour a new foundation, and Joe was driving the skid steer.  My wonderful, talented husband was convinced that I needed to branch out and learn, so after much coaxing I hesitantly climbed into the intimidating machine.  It was surprisingly more intuitive to drive than I thought...and I had some fun!

See?  Fun.  

(also, you can see my new glasses--hooray, I am no longer blinking incessantly!  A big thank-you to the Woostah's for helping me pick them out) 

This project was inspired by my Aunt Mary.  She sent me a magazine clipping of the cutest little DIY bench in "O" Magazine--'cause she thought of me :)  They called theirs a Rolling Storage Bench, and I just happened to have everything I needed on hand to make a similar one.  

This is the page that my Aunt sent me, with a cute little card in the upper left of the first picture.  Isn't she so sweet?
I was so excited to get started.  Benches are such great little things.  You can put them practically anywhere  for a little extra seating, and they take up so little space.  This one is especially useful because it has storage options.

Lucky for me, I already had a little wooden crate on hand.  It was painted grey, and had a great little stamp on one side that I definitely wanted to enhance (see the "SS" toward the bottom?).  It's the little details like that makes a piece unique, so I took a little red craft paint and touched it up carefully by hand.  Then I got a little carried away and added a little stencil of my own to the sides...I just didn't want them to feel left out!  To finish off the paint, I did a "whitewash" and brushed some watery white paint over all the surfaces--just enough to lighten the color and age the new looking red paint.  Finished it off with some light sanding, and the painting was done.

Baby Piano Bench

Hello my long neglected friends,

I have a project to share with you today, but first let me introduce you to my latest venture.  We have moved to Minnesota, and the town we landed in has shops full of pieces people have creatively transformed.  So I thought "How funny that we ended up here, of all places" and I proceeded to contact a few business owners to see if they were looking for dealers.  Well, long story very short, I am now transforming and selling furniture and home decor items in Now & Again, a store in Downtown Buffalo.  And it has been a ride getting started...hence the long silence.  But now I have many things to share with you all and first up is a little piano bench.

BEFORE

Okay.  The top is removable, with a little storage underneath, and it's slated for upholstery land.  Before we get there, though, I needed to deal with the frame.  The first thing to go was the dusty reddish color of the wood frame.  The wood was in good shape, but it seemed like all of the original finish was gone.  So I simply took a walnut stain that I had left over from staining the legs of this project from last December, and wiped it on.

Antique Seed Sack Bench

I was exploring an antique store in a nearby town with a friend, when I stumbled on this adorable little antique bench frame:

It was just like this, with no seat.  I was still in my upholstery class, so I figured I could get some tips from the instructor on how to make this sit-able again.  So I took it up front, and the lady at the checkout had pity on me because it didn't have a seat and gave me 10% off!  Thank you antique store lady! And I didn't have t do a thing to the frame because the finish was in great shape.