work in progress – Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

November 19, 2014

wiwo wednesday: tearing apart a chair

I’m joining Marie for wiwo wednesday (What I’m Working On). I always love to see what my favorite crafters are up to, and in-progress shots often tell an even better story than the finished product.

Last week, it was actually warm on the balcony. Instead of “warm with a blanket and mocassins”, it was “warm enough to tear apart a chair in shorts and a t-shirt”. It was the last of these warm days, and I had to take advantage of it.

I bought the chair, above, for $20 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I think it’s cute, and it will be really cute once it’s covered in a good fabric, rather than this particular shade of “ugliest fabric known to man”. Plus, it’s very wide, so it will be perfect for sitting sideways and reading. Finally, fingers crossed, it looks like it won’t be very difficult to recover.

I dragged the chair onto my balcony in anticipation of the 30-year-old dust that was about to pour out of this thing. That was an excellent decision. The piping was hot-glued on. I started to take the staples out, one by one, but after seeing the number of staples involved, I resorted to tearing the fabric away from the frame. This loosened the staples, and I can pull them all out later – but I wanted to get all the foam and dust out of the chair while I still had a warm balcony to work from. I made sure to pull the fabric carefully so it would retain the pattern shape… but it wasn’t a very gentle process.

robbing a train… or tearing a chair apart?

The dust was unbelievable. I resorted to tying a sweet bull bandana around my nose and mouth to avoid breathing in 30-year-old foam dust. My mini shop vac was a big help here.

I stripped away the fabric, and then the cotton, and then the burlap (ugh, old burlap!), and then the cardboard. I think this chair was built by an amateur – but I may also be considered an amateur, so it will work out.

Before the sun had gone down on that warm evening, I had the chair to bare bones. I saved the fabric pieces to use as a pattern, and everything else – cotton, foam, that nasty burlap, and even the penny I found inside the cushion – went straight to the trash.

What else have I been working on? Salads from my Pyrex salad bowl, curtains and a sewing lesson for my friend Claire, perfecting pork chops (hint: mojo criollo), and generally adjusting to the current weather that is ANYTHING BUT “warm balcony weather”.

What are you working on this week?

wiwo wednesday: relaxing stitches

This week I’m joining Marie for wiwo wednesday (What I’m Working On). I always love to see what my favorite crafters are up to, and in-progress shots often tell an even better story than the finished product.

I’m savoring my balcony days before it gets too cold and dark. I already need to bundle under my cozy quilt if I’m going to be sitting still out there, but it’s nice to see the sun for a short while every day before it goes down so early!

I’ve been working on this It’s a Small World cross stitch for a little over a year now. Cross stitching is always a tedious process, especially since I’m not leaving any white space between squares with this design. And, of course, the fact that I’m writing the pattern myself as I go doesn’t make it any faster! But it’s always nice to have a project that allows me to sit and work on a few stitches at a time. This cross stitch has also accompanied me on a few trips! Such a nice, portable craft.

My other relaxing stitching project is a set of couch pillows inspired by a hand-detailed pillow at Crate & Barrel. I like how the tiny X’s lend just enough texture. This, too, is coming together much more slowly than I’d anticipated, but it’s still wonderful that I get to sit and stitch in the evenings.

What are you working on this week?