Wow, always fun to see real, serious upholstery at work. I wish I knew how to do all that!

Out of curiosity, were the chairs ever have caning in the backrest? That could be the next big learning project! :D

This is really neat! I am now searching local arts schools to see if there are any courses in my area. And that chair turned out looking really fantastic.

Oh, well done! The chairs are gorgeous.

I have always wanted to take an upholstery course but no one offers them where I live.

Hair? Now I have to know what kind of hair that is. If it were from a sheep, I'd assume you would call it wool, so by the looks of it I'm going to guess Giant Schnauzer. Am I close?

@Kaete - The chairs have no holes in the back, so I think they were only originally caned in the seat. I did think of upholstering the backs, but opted to take baby steps with my first project ;)

@UrbanCricket - I admit, my original plan was to paint the chairs white (it was a phase I went through, thankfully I'm over it now), but once I began to sand off the dark varnish I was smitten with the wood. I opted not to use any chemical strippers, so there are still places where you can see the various layers of varnish that were used over the years - in the scrolling on the legs, and where there are occasional nicks and chips. I finished the wood with a few coats of natural beeswax, and it's held up well so far.

@Hyzen - The "mixed hair" I used is actually a combo of horse hair, wool and coconut fibres! The black stuff is the coconut- it's really coarse. It's an alternative to using 100% horse hair, is a bit cheaper and more suited to certain styles (like these seats, which are very firm).

good work.
Is the finished chair having a day out at Clapham Common?

I am learning to crochet. It seemed like a useful thing to know when the zombie apocalypse happens.

@Decoro Creativity - Haha, Blackheath actually! I had to carry them home individually, and I'd stopped for a breather when I realised that the outdoor light would make a good photo - luckily I had my camera with me. Gives a truer idea of the colours than any of the in-situ shots I took later on.

I took an upholstery class years ago and did a large wing back chair. I do feel a sense of accomplishment but mostly what I learned is that next time I'll pay someone else to do it. There's a lot that goes into upholstering a chair.

I should have started smaller, I guess.

Love your chairs, btw.

My goal this year is to build closet organizers for our room-sized closet. And, then, maybe a playhouse. Both involve learning lots more about woodworking.

the blue fabric looks great with the tone of the refinished wood. i would loveeee to learn how to reupholster! someday.

I love the natural wood, and I know how much work stripping varnish it! Nice work. Looks great, even if the detail is perfect.

I am also learning how to upholstery. There aren't any furniture upholstery classes in my city (Vancouver, Canada) so I ended up taking an auto upholstery class and am learning the rest on my own. I'm blogging about it in hopes that I don't feel totally alone during the process.

I love learning a traditional trade, not to mention all the hilarious things you find tucked away in old chairs (coins, candy wrapper). Every piece of furniture has a story in my view.

Bonnie

www.sittvancouver.com

An upholstery class, so lucky! Seems like a rare breed. Googling for such in my area is a futile effort that turns up lots of inquiries to little effect. >.>

Good job on the chairs, obviously. The corners seem especially neat!

Happy to see these chairs were not painted white and covered with a "modern" fabric!

Loved it, I need to check out if there is a similar course in Kingston Adult Ed.Centre! I have a teak Art Deco stool that I re-upholstered twice but Im not entirely satisfied..

Great color choice!!

wow, great to see the traditional upholstery techniques in action !