Design Bleuprint: The Education of Bleubelle, The Beginning

This is Bleubelle. She is MY chair. You know that one I drink my morning coffee in, and the one I relax in in the evening. She has served me well, but she is plum worn out and in desperate need of a make over.

She is a swivel rocker, slip covered in a blue twill printed paisley fabric. The print is wearing off the arms.

The padding on the arms has broken down and you can feel the frame. It actually hurts if you leave your arms resting there too long. The seat cushion needs to be replaced. And the back cushion needs some love too.

It’s a long list of things needing attention to bring my sweet chair back to life.

I considered just buying a new chair. It would have to be a swivel rocker! And tall enough to rest my head back. I’d see new swivel rockers in stores and give them a try. Oh they were so comfortable. They made me realize just how far gone Bleubelle was. But they were expensive, and I know they weren’t any better really than my sweet Bleubelle. AND I didn’t like the fabric choices. I am certainly not going to buy a brand new chair only to reupholster it in my choice of fabric. No, Bleubelle needed to get a makeover. After all, that is the beauty of upholstery! You can get just what you want!

But I want Bleubelle done right. I want to get the arms right and the cushions right. So I decided to slow this one down and make it a learning opportunity.

Time to learn about:

• Foam
• Develop a cutting plan
• Study deck and nosing and how to make them with ease
• Templating cushions and covers
• Learn about new products like cushion wrap and envelopes
• Practicing Zippers to make them more perfect
• Sewing cushions covers to make them easier and better looking

This will largely be a self-study project. If you just do a little searching, there are many great resources. My current fav instructor is Cynthia Bleskachek  at The Funky Little Chair. Her YouTube channel has some amazing videos. She has a whole series call Aunt Bea that I will be closely watching on repeat. But I also have…

My 3 Fav Books

• Spruce: A Step-By-Step Guide To Upholstery And Design by Amanda Brown
• Singer Upholstery Basics Plus by Steve Cone
• Profession Upholstery:  All The Trade Secrets by Frank Destro Jr.

I will be diving into these and studying all they have to offer. I’ll be exploring some suppliers like Fabric Supply for foam, Ronco for envelopes etc. And there will be field trips to check out products like my fav local upholstery fabric store that also sells Dacron and foam.

I’ve just added one more resource to utilize on this learning journey. I am a strong believer in learning from different teachers. Each teacher has their own style of teaching, but even more important, they may use different techniques and approaches to upholstery. See there is more than one way to do many upholstery projects. Learning from different sources gives you a more rounded education. So I’ve just joined Kim’s Upholstery Membership Forum. Kim is a very well respected Upholstery Educator. I’ve been following along on some of her Facebook Live upholstery projects and I am excited to dig into her video classes.

I can’t wait to get going. This little adventure that Bleubelle and I are taking, we’re going to have so much fun! I hope you’ll join us.