DIY: Button-Backed Chair

CasaSugar — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:49:10 -0700

My grandmother, who's always had a great waste-not-want-not philosophy, has jars upon jars of buttons. When I was a little girl I used to spend hours going through all of the cool, decade-spanning buttons she'd collected, trying to think of a good use for them. And now, thanks to iVillage, I've found an awesome use for them. (Grandma? Are you reading? Need a project?)

I'm liking the funky vibe that the DIY element adds to this prim and proper chair. This project is from the book Simple Sewing with a French Twist: An Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes and Home Accessories with Style, by Celine Dupuy. As long as you can sew a button on a shirt, you can complete this project.

What You'll Need

Medallion chair
1 rectangle thick cotton fabric, 16 by 15 inches (40 by 38 cm)
1 rectangle thick iron-on interfacing, 16 by 15 inches (40 by 38 cm)
3 sheets paper, 11 by 17 inches
Scotch tape
Lots of buttons
Pencil
Dressmaking scissors
Tailor's chalk
Fine sewing needle
Tape measure or ruler
Spray textile adhesive
3 spools thread

For step-by-step instructions and a link to a slideshow, read more

First of all, if you're having any trouble following these directions, I suggest skipping directly to the slideshow on iVillage. But if you're crafting-savvy, just read on.

How to Make It

Join the sheets of paper together with Scotch tape. Position against the oval of the chair back and draw the outline to make a pattern. Cut out the oval of the pattern, draw the outline onto the iron-on interfacing, and cut out.
Press the oval of iron-on interfacing onto the thick cotton fabric using a hot iron. Let cool and then cut out the fabric, leaving a seam allowance of 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) around the iron-on oval (top illustration). Cut V-shaped notches around the edge of the fabric, press, fold down, and stick the notches to the iron-on interfacing with textile adhesive.
Cover the front of the oval with different-sized buttons, overlapping them slightly and stitching by hand with double pearlized thread . Then, stick the oval to the chair back with spray adhesive
Take a well-deserved sitdown on your lovely new chair!

Weekend DIY Potpourri

CasaSugar — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:30:36 -0700

Since weekends are the best time to tackle a DIY project, I thought I'd round up some more for you to try. Depending on how much patience you have, maybe you'll opt to make this gorgeous button-backed chair, which is an awesome way to glam up a basic chair with recycled materials. Check out the slideshow for more ideas.
Source

View Slideshow ›