Recovering...On So Many Levels.

I was going to leave a tiny note to say that I'm still here and that I have had a lovely, little respite from the chaotic frenzy of 31 Days.

I've been party planning for this handsome fellow and have been up to my elbows in loot from various thrifting adventures while we were visiting family in Waco.  My to-do list seems a teensy bit overwhelming at the moment...Thanksgiving in 2 weeks, then the Kiddo's birthday the next weekend, then 3 weeks to Christmas.  It is totally going to blow by SO fast.  And to be honest, I've been playing Scarlett O'Hara and telling myself "I'll think about it tomorrow" with a "fiddle-dee-dee" thrown in for good measure.

BUT I have been dying to share this lovely lady with you!  So without further ado...

I rescued her from a garage sale down the street awhile back.  She was a much loved chair who needed a new home.  And I was quite happy to oblige.  I really was drawn to her coral upholstery.  You might be thinking 60's day-glo orange...but I saw vintage coral, reminiscent of Pillow Talk with Doris Day.

I loved her just the way she was.  But a closer inspection showed her seat to be worn and threadbare.

 

She really deserved to be properly reupholstered, but that wasn't in my budget.  I loved the Nester's furry new friend, so I decided to try my hand with fur {faux, of course}.

I gave her legs a quick paint job.  Usually I'm one of those who loves wood grain and thinks it's a sin to cover good, solid wood with paint...but I have to say I love how the crisp white paint draws attention to the detail of the chair legs.

Then on to the fur.  Let me just say fur is not for the faint of heart.

 

It sheds.  Everywhere.  

But I played with draping the fabric and just started hacking away at all that fur.  Instead of using hot glue like the Nester, the staple gun was my weapon of choice.  No burned fingers for me!  When I got done, my lovely lady looked like this...

 

To be honest, I wasn't super thrilled.  

The seams were kind of bulky with all those staples.  It held up okay at first...but I started noticing the occasional staple sticking out {which is definitely not child proof}.  Then one day my Fabulous Aunt M came to visit, and thinking the chair was slipcovered, she pulled up the "skirt" to see what the original fabric looked like.  Oops!  Staples went flying and I was secretly happy to have an excuse to do this one over.

This time I didn't mess around.  After removing elventy-hundred staples, I decided to sew the fur on the sewing machine as if I were slipcovering the chair.  Then I used staples at the bottom and hammered them in with gusto to make sure the fur won't budge.

It's the best of both worlds - because I can guarantee you I will never try to wash this beast in my washing machine.  But the seams from sewing a "slip" look so much nicer and less bulky than the stapled seams.

Anywhere there I found a line of demarcation from a sewn seam, I used a fine tooth comb to fluff out the fur.  Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine I'd be grooming a chair.

She is pretty, though, and a household favorite.

Someday I will have her reupholstered in the most. beautiful. fabric. ever.  But until then, I think she's enjoying playing the lady in fur.  ;)