The
photo, left, shows the way the piece looked when we were finished with the
inside front. The outside arms were filled with Dacron® batting to stabilize
and round out, creating a voluptuous look and feel. Notice the welt cord
dropping down the arm side to make a smart, defined anchor point for the hand
stitched outside arm?
Gimp was not used in this job.
The
outside arm and outside back had 300 count sheeting muslin stretched over the
filled cavity. This created a soft and round finished form for the silk fabric
to upholster.
The
arm front panels were tailored to fit of two layers of heavy pressboard. They
were padded with cotton batting (not shown), under-covered with muslin and then
upholstered with the silk damask. They were then ready to be secured to the arm
front with internal nail heads.
The
arm front panel was tacked to the base of the arm, above left, and waits to be
secured to the arm front. The outside arm upholstery was blind-tacked on the
underside of the arm roll. Silk Damask upholstery fabric was stretched over
1-inch thick glazed Dacron® batting and attached at the bottom of the frame.
The excess fabric at the welt and panel line was under turned, pinned, and hand
stitched with a locking slip stitch. The arm-front panels were tightly secured.
The
chair was flipped over and the outer back was ready to be upholstered. Notice
the cotton tufting in the button pattern? These pieces of cotton hold the
buttons from working their way through the burlap, and eventually the fabric.
The
outside back was filled with 50/50 cotton batting then covered with muslin to
create a contour. Welt cording was installed along the cameo edge. An
additional layer of cotton batting was installed over the muslin, creating a
voluptuous round outside back.
The
damask outer cover was temporarily pinned to the frame and hand-stitched in a
locking slip-stitch, to finish the outside back contour.
A
fiber strip was stapled to the frame surface at the bottom frame edge to ensure
a durable and consistent anchor point. The rayon bullion fringe was temporarily
pinned into position on the bottom frame edge, and then hand stitched using a
combination locking slip stitch and a back stitch.
We
removed the front legs, which screwed into long, heavy, double-threaded lag
bolts. The seat webbing was covered with a layer of 50/50 cotton batting, and
then topped with the muslin dustcover. The dust cover was secured to the frame
with 3/8-inch staples. A bit of brushing, snipping regulating, steaming and
vacuuming, and the ballerina chair was done and awaited delivery!
Click here to view the building of the
Ottoman!
THE BALLERINA
CHAIR + OTTOMAN
ARE FINISHED!
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