What Am I Working On….

What Am I Working On….

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I seem to suffer from chronic sewaphrenia. I start one project, then am completely dazzled by something else then take a break and work on another hobby. I wish I could organize myself better. I still have a ton of fabric purchases left over for the Summer 2011 wardrobe. Oh well, I will have to find room in the closet for the now Summer 2012 fabric. Thank goodness I don’t buy too much trendy fabric!
Below is a list of projects I’m currently working on:

1. Riding Breeches
I made a pair of full seat breeches last year using Suitability pattern #2038. It doesn’t seem to be available on their website anymore, but it looks like they repackaged it as #2300. These breeches have lasted me longer and are the most comfortable than any that I have bought! Here is me riding in them with my horse Jasper (that’s me on the left). Isn’t Jasper handsome?

I made them out of black doubleknit and synthetic suede for the full seat. I never showcased them on my blog because I did a terrible job on the welt pockets! Riding in a good quality doubleknit is heaven. It is like wearing heavy control top panty hose, which means no jiggle when trotting or cantering! That being said, I am making another pair out of navy blue doubleknit and a gorgeous blue ultrasuede and I did a much better job this time with the front welt pocket, made out of the ultrasuede!

I would LOVE to find some better zippers like the ones used on activewear, with interesting zipper pulls, so if anyone is actually reading this blog and can recommend somewhere please let me know!

Although pricey, I do love the quality of Sawyer Brook fabrics compared to my local crappy Joanns, which is becoming more and more like a craft store. However, I have to say I’m a little disappointed in the inconsistency. I bought black, navy blue and red, all listed under the same doubleknit fabric – yet the navy blue is slightly less meaty than the black and the red is stiffer than the black and navy blue. All are nice and 4 way stretchy – but I specifically went back to the site to buy the navy blue and red because I was so happy with the black I received.

2. A Reupholstery Project

Since we bought the house in Napa, I’ve been pouring over architectural sites, furniture sites and design blogs for how best to design the interior of this mid century home. I was instantly drawn to Danish modern furniture. A lot is made from teak and come from the 50’s era, when the house was built. Alas, a particular dining room chair I had been eyeing came up for sale at an antiques store in San Francisco. 6 to be exact, with a teak table.  We probably paid to much, but I just had to have those chairs! The dining area will be the main focal point when someone walks into the front door so I wanted something funky and interesting – but comfortable.

These are called either compass chairs or flap back chairs, depending on what site you go to, designed by Kai Kristiansen for SVA Mobler. All of the chairs are in great shape but the upholstery is plain – and a little smelly. I am not entirely sure if this is the original upholstery.
I am going to reupholster them myself. Crazy, maybe, but it will cost an arm and a leg to have it done professionally. I have reupholstered chair seats but not one with a fabric back such as this. It doesn’t look too complicated – if I choose a solid color! There is piping where the back meets the arm that appears to have been nailed in underneath:

And there is a lot of staples under the chair back where it appears the fabric was tucked in:

From what I am learning, and from deconstructing clothing, I am taking lots of pictures of the original chair, then will take pictures when I am taking the original fabric off so I don’t forget how everything went together. I can then use the original fabric as pattern pieces.
One more hobby to add to the list – oh dear!

2 thoughts on “What Am I Working On….”

  1. Michelle, I found your site from your comment on my post on PatternReview. I love Danish furniture too, and when you mentioned your own upholstery project for danish dining chairs I had to see if you had anything on your blog about it! And here it is! They are awesome, do you have any idea of what fabric you will use?

    Taking pictures helps immensely when you are trying to figure out how to put your new project together. Once I got too stressed to take pictures and I regretted it when it was time to put it together!! Good luck, and I hope to see the finished product!

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  2. Hi Richy, Thanks for checking out my blog! I have another blog for our Napa remodel called http://www.napaproject.com. I don't know what fabric I'm going to use. It's tough, because I want bright, but don't want to take away from the teak. The current fabric is slubby – if I choose the same type of slub fabric, our one cat will make mincemeat out of it. I'm currently perusing websites such as modern-fabric.com and drooling over the choices at knoll.com!

    Reply

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