This little antique (late 1800s, early 1900s maybe?) sewing rocker was among the items salvaged from my grandmother’s home post-hurricane. While the larger pressed back rocker was with the reupholsterer, I worked on refinishing this one to make it more modern and neutral for my home. Here’a a recap of the process.
[Read the origin story of these heirloom restorations here: Heirloom Restoration]
before 
after
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My friend Sarah identified the chair as a sewing rocker and sent a screenshot from a LOVEtoKNOW article about antique chairs. Mine is really close to the picture, but with slightly less leg ornamentation. I don’t have any pictures of it befor my grandmother Nonna had it refinished, but I suspect it was caned or had a leather seat, or both during it’s life. I learned it had belonged to my great-(great-?)grandparents and was in a guest bedroom. Nonna was proud to take it home and have had it refinished and reupholstered in the 1990’s, but it really didn’t fit my decor, and I was also concerned something icky was lurking in the fabric from water damage.
I popped the seat off with ease as the soft wood was being held in place with only two screws. I went ahead and tossed the seat, resigned to make my own a little larger and a little more padded than the first. I liked the simple construction of the seat and would duplicate that. I needed to remove the varnish without chemically stripping, so I spent a week sanding the chair with extra fine grit sanding sponges (3M Sanding Sponge, Extra Fine Grit, 6-Pack).
To make a seat patter, I wrapped the seat with interfacing and marked the seat opening and screw holes with a sharpie. With a sewing ruler (Sliding Gauge Measuring Sewing Tool) I marked a line 2″ in from the edges in pink. This was roughly how large I wanted the new seat to be.
before staining 
espresso! 
after 1 coat 
after 2 coats
The chair was already stained slightly reddish light brown, so I knew that would blend with whatever stain I added. Wanting a neutral dark brown, I selected a penetrating oil-based stain in espresso so I wouldn’t be adding any more red. I used an old cut up t-shirt material to apply the stain in 2 coats all over, and some additional spots in places that were still too light. I let the rocker dry/cure for about a week before upholstering. I was surprised that it was already a little satiny so I chose not to add a clear top coat. My plan is to condition the wood with Linseed Oil as needed.
For the upholstery fabric, I used a Potter Barn sham (the Allegra pattern) with a delightful floral motif in a very sturdy linen. If you’re familiar with my costumes, you’ll recongize this as the bedding that was sacrificed and made into 18th century clothing. Anyway, realizing the pink line wouldn’t cover prior nail holes, I stepped out 1/4″ and cut on the blue line. The inside pattern would be used for cutting the wood, and the outside pattern would be used to place and cut the fabric.
While the rocker was curing in air conditioning, I prepped double piped welting trim. I cut 2 horizontal strips from the the sham and sewed them together to make one long one. I know cutting on the bias (diagonal) is better, but this fabric had enough 4-way stretch that I wasn’t worried about it. I used my zipper foot on my sewing machine, folded the strip around 550 cord, and stitched on the edge of the cord. Then I folded in the second cord and stitched over the first stitching in the center. When I reupholstered two dining chairs, I cut the excess fabric off the trim, but for this project I left it on so I could use it as an anchor under the seat.
I had my husband cut two seat boards for me on hard 1/4″ plywood meant for crafts. I bevelled the top eadges with a sander. I figured he’d mess one up, I’d mess one up, or I’d want to change the upholstery on the seat later. As it turned out, neither seat was harmed so I selected one for now and tucked the other one away for later.
I had 1″ upholstery foam leftover from the dining chairs restoration so I cut a seat shaped layer and bevelled the top with scissors. I also covered it with 2 layers of quilt batting, and then finally the linen. I used a pneumatic/air gun and 1/4″ staples working in opposite edges until everything was nice and tight. I cut off excess fabric and batting and placed the seat on the rocker. Yes, the nails holes were covered!
I added the trim by hot gluing the excess fabric to the underside edge of the seat. And then attached the seat to the rocker with screws in the 4 corners as shown above. This way there’s no glue on the wood, and if I want to replace the seat later with something else, it will be very easy to do so.
So I’d say it’s done! She’s a cute and sturdy little thing with a nice rocking feel to it. It’s currently in the upstairs hallway by our bedroom with a little side table next to it. What do you think?
For more in the series, click here: Heirloom Restoration or follow the corresponding board on Pinterest.
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