It is finished!! I can't tell you how elated I am that I finally got around to recovering our nasty butterfly chair. My sister so kindly gifted this lovely chair to me when my parents moved & they were just going to donate it to D.I. or throw it out. Come on. I remember seeing a leather butterfly chair at Urban Outfitters for somewhere around $250, so naturally thought I'd better hold on to this chair - purple fuzz & all - because I may actually recover it in leather someday.
I was incredibly tempted to do a
hair-on calf skin, or some sort of antiqued leather, but I kept wussing out because I dreaded sewing the thing. Nearly a year later, I bought some rad striped fabric from Ikea & just did it! It didn't take me nearly as long to sew it as I had anticipated, but deconstructing the purple fuzzy cover for the pattern took 3 times as long as I thought it would. From start to finish, it took about 2 days worth of Penelope's naps (about 6-8 hours). Now, if I have to do it again, I'd venture it'd take me under two, since I now have the pattern already made.
I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I'm so excited to show you the results! I feel like it's much better constructed with much higher quality materials than the last cover, but for some reason, I just don't feel like Chris should sit in it (yet). Maybe it's because I don't trust my own craftsmanship.
For now the legs are going to remain silver. I think it'd really pop with white legs (or perhaps bright yellow?!), but I'm not about to open up the garage & spray paint something in 20º weather. NO thanks. That'll be a job for next spring or summer.
Here's what I spent for my chair makeover:
- Ikea striped fabric: $5
- black backing: leftover from a previous project, like $2-3?
- The grand total: Somewhere around $7
NICE. That makes me happy. The best part about this chair is that it's perfect for my studio. It folds up tightly so I can have it out of the way, but if Penelope's hanging around while I'm crafting, or I need to take a little break, BOOM! I can just pull it out. I love the portability! So, what do you think? Do you like it?
You can purchase the butterfly chair pattern here.