rocking chair.

i've finally got around to reupholstering the rocking chair we bought for margot's room back in may, and i'm pretty excited about the results.

we found the chair at an antique store in the area that used to be a grocery. it had great bones, but its most recent upholstery job left me wanting, both in style and in padding. that thin little seat cushion just wasn't going to cut it with my bottom.

so, after reading just about every tutorial on the internet and carefully removing the original fabric, i was committed. before upholstering it, i gave the chair a light sanding and stained it slightly darker to match margot's dresser. i didn't get a lot of process shots, but it mostly looked like this--me destroying the living room with a lot of fabric and batting scraps and a staple gun.

 

the most stressful part was deciding how to to cover up all of those staples. i like the look of double welt cording but was pretty intimated by the process. i ended up using this tutorial, which made it seem really approachable, as it didn't require any special sewing machine equipment (i may still be afraid of the 'zipper foot'). i was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it went and how sharp the results look. totally worth the stress.

and a before and after. so much better with two inches of foam padding added to the seat. my bottom is thankful.