Caned Seat Missing? Make a Padded Seat Cover



Picking Treasures from an Old Farmhouse

Remember my pile of musty, moldy junk I scavenged from a farmhouse a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve already made projects with the rake head and the drawer  (it’s buried in there somewhere) and now it’s time to give the old oak chair some much needed lovin’.

Picking Treasures from an Old Farmhouse, Oak Chair

This is his official, “take me home and fix me up” before picture.

Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

The leather seat had seen better days.  It was ripped and brittle and it’s innards were kind of falling  out.

Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

I pulled out all of the old tacks and staples and I sort of got a history of this old chair.  The leather was not it’s original seat, judging by the number of nail holes, it may have been a 3rd , or even 4th seat covering.  The innermost ring showed the remnants of a cane seat.

 If the rest of the chair didn’t have so many nail holes I may have considered replacing the cane.

Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

There was a time when I would never have painted an oak chair (so I apologize to all the wood lovers out there) but these days I have way too much wood in my house and I needed something a bit lighter, and what could be lighter than white?

ReReplacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

After a coat of primer and two coats of paint I was ready for the seat cover.

Cut 4 pieces of upholstery webbing a few inches wider than your opening.  I found mine at Joann’s where you can buy it by the yard.

Stretch the webbing horizontally across the chair, staple one end then pull  as tight as you can and staple the other end.  

Do the same with the vertical straps but weave them through the horizontal straps.
Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

Fold over the ends of the webbing and staple again.

Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

Cover the webbing with a layer of material.  I used a piece of  canvas drop cloth. This material will keep any of your padding from pushing down through the gaps in the webbing.Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat coverBefore adding all the seat padding, make a pattern for your seat.  Mine had to be large enough to cover up the previous nail holes.


Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

I could have used a layer of  foam  for the padding in my chair seat but  this is what I had on hand…polyester fiberfill and quilt batting.

A pile of the fiberfill for the  middle of the seat…
Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

…followed by 2 layers of the quilt batting.  I stapled the edges of the batting down so it wouldn’t shift when I added my final layer.

Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

Use the pattern you made to cut out your seat cover.  I really wanted a faux zebra or maybe even cow, (wouldn’t that have looked cool?), but since I couldn’t find zebra I settled on a faux black leather.  I’m still going to look out for zebra though.

Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

Just like you would cover a chair seat, start stapling in the center, alternate sides, and work your way into the corners.

Try to keep your staples as close to the edge as possible and in a straight line.
Replacing a cane seat with a padded seat cover

Use decorative upholstery nails and trim to cover the exposed staples.  I believe the official name for the trim upholsterers use is gimp, but mine was just some nice weight trim that I found in the ribbon aisle at Joann’s.

If you’re interested, I found these Large-headed Upholstery Nails/tacks  at Amazon, 100 nails for $8.99.

Space your nails evenly around the border of your seat.  Both ends of the trim were hidden under the last nail head.

Replace a Caned Chair Seat with a Padded Seat

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If I hadn’t rescued him, this chair was headed for the dump. Now he’s a beautiful and comfortable side chair.

Have a great weekend, stay inspired.

Shared at Salvaged Junk Projects,

Metamorphosis Monday,

2 Comments

  • Pam says:

    Great piece and you did a fantastic job with it.

  • Frances Rubis says:

    This was simple and direct and gave me more confidence to try an upscale project. Thank you!

    By the way if you want to find animal hides many taxidermists have scrapes from customer orders. I have seen them repurposed in artisan boutiques. I feel bad for any animal killed for their hide but equally bad for the waste of discarded hide. It is an ethical dilema.

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